Psychologist: Clancy Not Responsible for Killing 3 Kids

Plymouth Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham pressed Zeizel on everything Clancy managed to do the day of the killings: driving, going to the doctor, directing her then-husband to pick up medicine for Cora. Zeizel answered that someone in psychosis might struggle with new tasks but could still handle routine ones. "Psychosis doesn't lower your ability to do those things," he said.

Buckingham asked where in the medical records Clancy told any provider she heard a voice telling her to kill herself. "It was not in the records," Zeizel said. He also testified Clancy has not heard voices since the killings.

The prosecutor challenged his impartiality, noting a court filing in which Zeizel called Clancy his patient. "If I examined her, she's my patient," he said. Asked whether 60 visits was typical, he answered: "It does happen, but it's not typical."

Buckingham also read Tewksbury Hospital notes describing Clancy on her children's birthdays and the anniversary of the killings — accepting medications, socializing with select patients, engaging with staff, sitting in the TV room, and receiving dinner visits from her parents. On redirect, defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked whether that reflected her mental state; Zeizel said no.

Zeizel testified Clancy has not attempted suicide since that night but still has suicidal ideation and is accompanied round-the-clock by a staff member at Tewksbury Hospital. "Lindsay Clancy has bad days and worse days," he said.

Reddington asked whether he cared about his patient. "I do," Zeizel said, telling the jury that developing empathy can be appropriate within forensic ethical standards.

The trial also produced a flashpoint Tuesday. Cross-examining Susan Clancy, Buckingham established that she is an active Catholic, then asked: "So you're aware that murder is considered a mortal sin?" Judge William Sullivan called a sidebar and the jury was later instructed to disregard the question. Fox News' Chaley Painter, seated in the gallery, described a "collective gasp" in the courtroom. Attorney and true crime podcast host Casey Jordan called the question "far beyond inappropriate" and "a huge misstep on behalf of the prosecution," telling CT Post the inference was that a Catholic must believe Clancy "not only murdered the children, but deserves to die for it."