DA Says Lindsay Clancy Made 'Calculated Decision' To Kill Children — OPENING STATEMENT

Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham addressed Lindsay Clancy's mental health defense in her opening statement this morning (Monday, July 27) in Clancy's murder trial for the strangulation deaths of her three young children. "This was not a woman in the throes of psychosis on January 24, 2023,” Buckingham told jurors. “This was a woman who acted intentionally, rationally, and swiftly to accomplish a very specific goal – to kill.” Buckingham said Clancy "made a choice – a deliberate and intentional decision – that she did not want to try anymore." “And because no one could take care of her kids in the way she wanted them to, she had to take them with her," Buckingham said. Buckingham began her 20-minute opening by telling jurors about Clancy's three children. Cora "had just turned five. She was sweet, silly, smart. She loved sparkly dresses and wearing bows in her hair. She loved princesses and baby dolls...." Dawson "was three, a boy's boy. He was a bit rambunctious but funny, full of energy. He loved trucks, construction trucks, fire trucks, and he spoke with a raspy little voice." "Callam was just eight months old. Always smiley, with chunky cheeks, a sweet little baby." 05:34 "the defendant searched on her phone for kids' MeraLAX. ... she opened the Apple Maps on her phone and searched the route that it would take to get from their house to the ThreeV restaurant in Plymouth. She searched how much time and how far it was." 07:23 "She knows that it's about five miles from their house to get to the restaurant. She knows approximately how much time she has for him to go there and come back. She then takes the children down into the basement. She separates Dawson from Cora and Calla n, and then she proceeds to wrap exercise bands around each child's neck and pull until they are dead." 08:03 "In the middle of this, she misses a call from Patrick. He's at CVS. He misses the call. She calls him right back, and they talk for 14 seconds. Nothing that she does or says in that phone call is of concern to Patrick. He proceeds on his task, and she proceeds with hers. She goes to the second floor master bedroom, locks the door, crushes up some pills, and attempts to take her own life. She uses the knife she got in the kitchen to slash her wrists and her neck." "She moves the bed away from the wall, away from the window. She opens that window and goes out. She lands on the cold, hard ground. Shortly thereafter, around 6 p.m. Patrick comes home. He's got the takeout bag and the CVS bag with the medicine. He enters into the house through the mudroom door into the kitchen area, places the bags down, eerily quiet. He calls to the kids, no answer. He calls to the defendant, no answer. He takes out his phone and dials the number for Lindsey's phone, defendant's phone, no answer. He then goes upstairs and finds the master bedroom door locked. He opens it and enters the room, sees blood and the window open. He then goes to the backyard, and that's where he finds the defendant. He's on the ground outside that window, moaning and mumbling." 10:29 "Efforts made to resuscitate Cora and Dawson were futile, but first responders from Duxbury and the surrounding communities were persistent, and they kept trying to resuscitate them all the way to the hospital. But when they arrived at the hospital, there was nothing more that medical staff could do for Cora and Dawson." 14:40 "You'll also see a side of Lindsay Clancy that's different. Somebody extremely controlling, meticulous, and manipulative. The days were laid out with specificity. Strict schedules were expected to be maintained. Food was planned carefully. Sleep was scheduled to the minute, and in the time after Callan was born, her last baby, the family had to adjust. And by all sources that I expect you're going to hear at that trial, that summer was great. But after Patrick had finished his paternity leave and was back to work full time, when she no longer had a nanny to watch the baby do laundry, tidy up the house, follow her schedule, when she was responsible for it all, it was hard. It was hard for her to maintain that control. It was hard for her to bond with her kids, and in efforts to maintain control, she withheld information from her husband, from her doctors. She reported serious symptoms that were inconsistent with her daily activities." 15:50 "And ultimately, on January 24, 2023, the defendant made a calculated decision. This was a woman who no longer liked the life she thought she wanted. It was getting harder and harder to control, and when she saw the opportunity to escape, she made the selfish choice to take it and to take Cora, Dawson, and Callan first before attempting to take her own life." 16:24 "this is not a public debate about women's mental health and how the medical system treats women.."