Lindsay Clancy refers to the day she strangled her three kids and tried to kill herself as “my tragedy,” psychologist Paul Zeizel testified.
Zeizel is testifying on Clancy’s behalf and was asked about that phrase during cross-examination by prosecutor Shanan Buckingham.
Jury let go for the day, due back Thursday morning
The jury was let go for the day due to “an unforeseen circumstance,” Judge William Sullivan said around 2:30 p.m.
He didn’t explain what that was in front of the jury or after they left the room.
Trial is expected to continue Thursday morning around 9 a.m.
Judge denies defense bid to call therapist who made TikTok video about Lindsay Clancy trial
Judge William Sullivan sH๏τ down Lindsay Clancy’s bid to call a therapist who made a TikTok video after watching Clancy’s murder trial.
Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, wanted to have Emily Thorndike tell jurors about her time working at McLean Hospital.
Clancy did a five day stint at the mental insтιтution starting New Year’s Day 2023 and Reddington wanted Thorndike to testify about the fact that the facility ran on a skeleton crew on weekends and holiday.
But Sullivan said since Thorndike stopped working at McLean a year before Clancy’s time there, her testimony was not relevant.
The judge also said the jury can be given records about McLean’s staffing.
“If there is a question of whether there was a skeleton crew … that’s reflected in the records,” Sullivan said.
Therapist who worked at mental insтιтution where Lindsay Clancy did five-day stint speaks about facility
Therapist Emily Thorndike told lawyers and Judge William Sullivan that she created a 10-minute TikTok video about mental insтιтution McLean Hospital after she became “emotional” listening to testimony about Lindsay Clancy’s stay there.
“I was emotional because I felt like what was discussed in court was not aligned with my experience,” of McLean, said Thorndike, who has no connection to Clancy’s case and watched a livestream of the trial.
Thorndike worked at McLean as a social worker from 2019 through December 18, 2021 — a year before Clancy stayed there from New Year’s Day 2023 through Jan. 5, 2023.
Thorndike said several things that came out at trial about Clancy’s time at McLean made the hospital appear better than it was.
For instance, she said there was no therapy on the unit, and while patients may see a psychiatrist every day, “it’s misleading” because the meetings could be as short as one minute, especially on the weekends when there was a single doctor monitoring 23 patients, Thorndike explained.
She also said there is “very minimal family contact” for patients.
Thorndike said Wednesday that she watched some days of the trial but stopped after Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, had a private investigator track her down to see if she would testify at the trial about McLean.
Reddington told Thorndike that if she testified she had to stop watching the case.
Jury let go for lunch as lawyers question controversial potential witness
The jury was let go for a long lunch break so that the lawyers could question therapist Elizabeth Thorndike, to see if she can testify on Lindsay Clancy’s behalf.
Thorndike may testify about her time working at mental insтιтution McLean Hospital — to speak about lean staffing there on holidays — after going viral for a TikTok she made about just that.
Thorndike left the hospital a year before Clancy did a five-day stint at the facility, which began on New Year’s Day 2023.
The jury is due back around 2 p.m.