Copyright The Boston Globe
Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury woman who allegedly killed her three young children in 2023, is seeking a three-month delay to the start of her murder trial currently scheduled to begin in February, records show. In a motion filed Wednesday in Norfolk Superior Court, Clancy’s attorney Kevin J. Reddington requested that the Feb. 9 start date be pushed back until at least May 11. Reddington cited “a number of significant pretrial matters and events to resolve including government evaluation by government physicians of the defendant, the defendant’s consultation with [a] toxicologist and psychopharmacologist, [and] preparation and filing of substantive motions.” Reddington has previously stated an intent to assert a defense at trial commonly known as the insanity defense, arguing that Clancy’s mental health condition at the time of the killings made her unable to conform her behavior to the law. Should she be found not guilty by reason of insanity, Clancy would not immediately walk free but would be housed in a state psychiatric hospital where she’d come up for periodic reviews to determine whether she can be released. Advertisement Clancy, 34, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. After the killings, Clancy cut herself and jumped out of a second-floor window of the family home, officials have said. She survived the fall but remains paralyzed and is confined to a wheelchair, Reddington told the court during a September hearing. Clancy is being held at Tewksbury Hospital, where she continues to undergo mental health treatment, records show. Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’s office alleges that she strangled the children after sending her husband, Patrick, out to pick up a takeout order. In asking for Clancy to be held without bail during her October 2023 arraignment, prosecutors said that seven medications were detected in blood samples taken from Clancy in the hours after the fatal attacks, which she allegedly perpetrated with exercise bands. Advertisement Clancy was being treated for postpartum depression at the time, the defense has said. Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
