The cross-examination revealed a series of shocking details that Lindsay Clancy’s treating psychiatrist admitted she had never known throughout the course of her treatment…
THE psychiatrist who treated Lindsay Clancy just one day before she killed her three children was grilled over her experience as the mom’s defense tore into her care on the witness stand.
Dr Jennifer Tufts faced a bruising cross-examination over how recently she had begun practicing independently, her experience with postpartum conditions and her virtual sessions with Clancy.
Psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Tufts on the witness stand during Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court, in Plymouth, MassachusettsCredit: Reuters
Lindsay Clancy strangled Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan with exercise bands inside the family’s Duxbury home on January 24, 2023Credit: AP
The showdown unfolded Monday at Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts, where Clancy, 35, is on trial over the deaths of her three young children.
Clancy strangled Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan with exercise bands inside the family’s Duxbury home on January 24, 2023.
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Defense attorney Kevin Reddington zeroed in on Tufts’ credentials after the doctor revealed she finished her psychiatric residency in July 2022.
She began practicing the following month independently, just weeks before she first started treating Clancy in September.
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Tufts said she had treated around 50 patients with postpartum depression during her four-year residency.
But she had treated only a few postpartum patients independently before Clancy came under her care and said she had never treated someone with postpartum psychosis.
Reddington also questioned how Tufts’ practice advertised her interest in postpartum depression and challenged whether her experience justified presenting herself that way.
Tufts said she had never claimed to be a postpartum “expert,” but described the field as one of her interests.
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She also acknowledged she had not attended training or symposiums on postpartum depression since beginning independent practice, though she had received training during her residency.
When Reddington suggested it was negligent to advertise postpartum depression as an area of focus given her experience, Tufts pushed back.
“I don’t believe I’d be negligent,” she told the court.
The defense then attacked the way Clancy was treated, including appointments conducted by video and the limited amount of each session.
A list of medications that attorney Kevin Reddington posted next to his lectern during Lindsay Clancy’s murder trialCredit: AP
Prosecutors say Clancy knew what she was doing and deliberately sent her then-husband Patrick out on errands before killing the childrenCredit: Plymouth Superior Court
Tufts testified that roughly 17 minutes of a 30-minute virtual appointment could be spent on therapy, with the remaining time devoted to medication management.
Reddington asked why Clancy had not been brought in to see Tufts face-to-face as her condition worsened.
Tufts maintained that speaking to Clancy through video had not made her believe she was missing warning signs.
The grilling became particularly pointed as Reddington went through records showing Clancy repeatedly describing severe emotional distress.
“What did you do? You had a woman who was telling you she felt hopeless,” he demanded at one point.
Tufts said she tried to reassure Clancy that treatments and programs remained available to her and that there was still reason for hope.
The questioning also exposed information Tufts said she did not know while treating Clancy.
Reddington asked whether she knew Clancy had called a suicide hotline twice around the period when she was reporting worsening symptoms.
“It would surprise me,” Tufts replied.
Tufts also acknowledged she did not obtain records from an emergency department Clancy had visited because she believed her patient was accurately describing what had happened there.
She did not get records from Women & Infants Hospital in Rhode Island either, according to her testimony, and did not ask Clancy to keep a diary tracking medication side effects.
The exchanges came after Tufts revealed what Clancy told her during their final appointment on January 23, 2023 — just one day before the children were killed.
Clancy said she had “no motivation,” felt “numb” and had gone several days without feeling emotion, according to Tufts’ testimony.
Tufts said she was worried Clancy was depressed and decided to gradually increase an antidepressant.
But the doctor testified that Clancy denied having suicidal or homicidal thoughts and showed no signs of psychosis during that final session.
Tufts said Clancy had also never reported hearing voices or displayed the manic episodes that would have supported a bipolar diagnosis while under her care.
On Monday, Tufts stood by her treatment despite Reddington’s sustained attack.
“I do not believe that I’ve been negligent,” she testified.
On the night of January 24, 2023, Clancy strangled Cora, Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan with exercise bands.
She then cut her wrists and jumped from a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.
Her attorneys do not dispute that she killed the children but argue she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from severe mental illness, including postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder.
Prosecutors say Clancy knew what she was doing and deliberately sent her then-husband Patrick out on errands before killing the children.
Lindsay and Patrick Clancy have filed civil claims against medical providers, including Tufts, over the children’s deaths.
Reddington raised that lawsuit during cross-examination and questioned whether the outcome of the criminal trial could affect the civil case.
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“I don’t know that,” Tufts responded.
If convicted of murder, Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If jurors find her not criminally responsible, she would instead be committed to a state mental health facility.
