Lindsay Clancy said a voice ordered her to kill children, psychologist testifies
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Updated on: August 18, 2026 / 6:28 PM EDT / CBS Boston
Lindsay Clancy's murder trial continued Tuesday in Massachusetts with the 15th day of testimony. A psychologist who met with Clancy in the hospital after her children's deaths testified that she reported hearing a male voice telling her she had to kill her children and die by suicide.
Four witnesses testified for the defense Tuesday, a day after the prosecution rested its case after calling 72 witnesses in Plymouth Superior Court. One of the first people to testify for the defense was Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove . The children's other grandmother, Patrick Clancy's mother, took the stand Tuesday for the defense.
Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham are handling questioning for the prosecution in the trial while Kevin Reddington is Clancy's defense attorney.
Dr. Paul Zeizel, a clinical and forensic psychologist, took the stand around 3 p.m. He met with Clancy when she was hospitalized. Zeizel was still on the stand when court ended for the day and is expected to resume testimony Wednesday morning around 9 a.m.
Reddington asked Zeizel if there was any indication that Clancy was faking her symptoms.
"My opinion in the testing of Ms. Clancy ... she was not faking," Zeizel said, adding that "she presented as an honest citizen."
Zeizel was a topic of debate earlier in the trial. When she was in the hospital following the children's deaths, no one was allowed into Clancy's room. Reddington eventually got a court order that allowed Zeizel in to speak with her.
Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Dan Lawlor, who was one of the people who guarded the door, took the stand previously. Reddington asked Lawlor if it was his understanding that one of the prosecution's theories was that Zeizel told Clancy to call her husband at the time to tell him she heard voices.
Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham disputed that, trying to show that Lawlor had only heard that theory from a fellow trooper.
Zeizel testified Tuesday that Clancy expressed concern for what had happened. He said she asked for Zeizel's cellphone to call Patrick Clancy. Patrick and Lindsay Clancy were married at the time of the children's deaths, but have since divorced and he remarried.
According to Zeizel, Patrick did not answer the first call and Lindsay left a voicemail. Two days later they tried again and he picked up.
"She told Patrick that she loved him very much. She was able to express a lot of emotion, but expressed love for him. She said she heard a male voice ordering her, telling her that she didn't have any choice but she had to kill her children and then kill herself," Zeizel said.
Reddington asked if Zeizel ever asked Clancy to lie and make up that information. Zeizel said no. He also answered no when Reddington asked if he made any suggestions to Clancy about hearing voices.
The defense attorney asked why he allowed Clancy to use his cellphone.
"I let her call her husband out of human compassion," Zeizel said.
Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, a Brown University professor who was a chief medical examiner in Rhode Island for 12 years, began her testimony after the lunch recess. Her time as medical examiner included work following the 1999 EgyptAir 990 plane crash and the aftermath of the deadly Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people.
Laposata, who is testifying by video conference and was not in the courtroom, also testified in Karen Read's trial . In that trial, Laposata testified for the defense about John O'Keefe's injuries.
Reddington asked Laposata to review various medical records in Clancy's case.
Laposata spoke about the injuries that Clancy suffered when she jumped out a window after killing her three children.
She said Clancy did a "freefall dive head first" out the window.
Prosecutors said Clancy planned the murders before faking a suicide attempt that left her paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
At one point, Clancy was crying while listening to testimony about how long it takes to strangle someone to death.
On cross-examination, the prosecutor noted that when Laposata was the chief medical examiner in Rhode Island, the office was cited for 10 violations and unsafe conditions.
Laposata responded that the unsafe conditions included a lightbulb that was out in the hallways and other minor issues.
The prosecutor also highlighted that while Laposata said Clancy dove head-first out the window, she had no skull fracture.
"You're saying she fell head-first from 13 feet on the hard ground and had no visible injuries to the exterior of her head?" Buckingham asked. Laposata said that was true.
Laposata finished her testimony at about 3 p.m.
The prosecution objected to witness Dr. Donald Condie, saying it was unclear if what he was going to testify about was different from an affidavit.
After arguments without the jury present, Judge Sullivan ruled that he would allow the testimony.
A short time later, Condie took the stand with the jury present. He is trained in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center through Harvard University. He is a clinical and forensic psychiatrist.
Condie said he has spent a great deal of time treating people in the state system with psychotic disorders and mood disorders.
In Clancy's case, Condie reviewed the records of Rebecca Jollotta and Jennifer Tufts , psychiatrists who worked with Clancy for her mental health struggles, along with Brigham and Women's Hospital records. Jollotta and Tufts testified for the prosecution earlier in the trial.
"They are somewhat sparse. There are many check boxes in the records, but not a great deal of sentences that describe what was done during sessions," Condie said of Jollotta and Tufts' records.
Condie talked about the struggles that Clancy was having in late 2022.
"She talked about things like dizziness, feeling sedated in the morning if she got any sleep at all. These are symptoms that people who are experiencing postpartum depression frequently complain about. She…
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