Lindsay Clancy’s attorney addresses jurors wearing hot pink after 'hidden meaning' speculation
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide and the death of children, which some readers may find distressing.
Supporters of Lindsay Clancy have taken to wearing pink as they've gathered outside the court where she's standing trial over charges of murdering her three children.
Clancy, 35, does not dispute that she killed Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan in January 2023 before attempting to take her own life.
Her defence, led by attorney Kevin Reddington, argues that she suffered from serious mental health issues and is not criminally responsible for killing her children.
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Prosecutors accuse her of murdering them and knowing right from wrong in the moment she did it.
The jury have several options, not guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity, first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter, but thus far they have been unable to reach a verdict.
Supporters of Lindsay Clancy wearing pink
Crowds of people have gathered outside the court to show support for Clancy and many of them have been wearing pink, hence the claim that some people wearing it inside the courtroom are doing it to display some kind of allegiance.
Jurors are not allowed to wear clothes that show support for a defendant, but if any of them in the Lindsay Clancy case were wearing pink it would be difficult to prove that the attire was connected to the supporters outside the courtroom and not just part of their wardrobe.
With pink being suggested as the colour of showing support to Clancy there has been some attention on the attire of the deadlocked jurors, with the media picking up on some jurors wearing the colour.
On Monday (31 August) reporters asked Reddington if he had any opinion about 'at least one juror wearing hot pink'.
"A lot of people enjoy wearing pink"
"I'm wearing hot pink," the attorney replied to the claims as he stood outside the courthouse.
When he was told that a lot of his client's supporters were wearing that colour and asked if he made anything of it as a possible connection he shook his head and said 'a lot of people enjoy wearing pink'.
Reddington's comments appear to dismiss any connection between what the jurors are wearing and the possible connection between pink and support for Clancy.
Jury deliberations continue in search of a verdict but have twice told Judge William Sullivan they are deadlocked and cannot reach a unanimous decision.
A unanimous decision or a mistrial
The judge yesterday hit them with a 'dynamite charge', a means to encourage jurors to come to a decision.
He said: "There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to twelve persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it or that more or clearer evidence will be produced."
If the jury remains unable to deliver a verdict then the judge could declare a mistrial in the case.
Reddington said that he doesn't think Clancy could deal with another trial, but insisted he was more than ready to argue her case again if the need arose.
Under Massachusetts law the verdict will need to be unanimous, and if it isn't then it will result in a mistrial.
Timeline of Lindsay Clancy case
May 2022
Lindsay gives birth to her third child, Callan.
She’s open about her postpartum struggles with her other two kids on social media. Six weeks after Callan’s birth, she posts that she’s feeling ‘dialed in’ while focusing on exercise, nutrition, and mindset, and ‘it has made all the difference’.
September 2022
As the end of her maternity leave nears, Lindsay, who works as a labour and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, starts to experience anxiety about returning to work.
She visits two different psychiatrists and receives a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.
Lindsay is prescribed several different psychiatric medications.
October 2022
According to court docs, she writes in a note on her phone: “I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby. And I know that’s not fair to them. I know that. I was feeling so depressed last evening when Cora and Dawson came home from school, I know it runs off on them, so we had a pretty rough evening, I want to feel love and connection with all my kids.”
December 2022
Lindsay undergoes an evaluation at the Women and Infants Hospital Center for Women’s Behavioral Health. She is not diagnosed with postpartum depression, prosecutors say.
Lindsay’s husband Patrick tells police she is having suicidal thoughts and thoughts of harming their children, according to his testimony in court.
1-5 January, 2023
Lindsay admits herself to McLean Hospital for psychiatric treatment. She is discharged after five days as clinicians do not believe she poses an imminent danger to herself or others, prosecutors say.
22 January, 2023
Lindsay, Patrick, Cora and Dawson have dinner at family friend Kyle Carney’s home. Kyle later tells police that Lindsay ‘seemed fairly normal’.
23 January, 2023
According to prosecutors, Lindsay pens a note on her phone which says she has ‘a touch of postpartum anxiety’ about going back to work.
24 January, 2023
Prosecutors allege the following took place this day:
Morning: Lindsay takes Cora to a scheduled pediatrician appointment. After returning home, they play in the snow with Dawson. She sends photos of the kids to Patrick and her mom.
4:02pm: Lindsay searches for ‘kids Miralax’ (a laxative) on her phone, and 11 minutes later looks up ‘take out 3v’, referring to restaurant ThreeV in Plymouth. She uses Apple Maps to calculate how long it would take to drive from the family’s home to ThreeV.
4:47pm: Lindsay rings a CVS in Kingston to ask if they have any Miralax in stock. A manager tells her they don’t, but they do have similar medications.
The manager later tells authorities that she did not slur her words or sound impaired during the call.
4:35pm: Lindsay texts Patrick, who is working from home: “Any chance you want to do takeout from 3V … I didn’t cook anything … It’s been a long day.”
Patrick says yes, and Lindsay asks him to ‘check the menu when you can’.
5:10pm: Lindsay calls ThreeV to place the order.
5:15pm: Lindsay allegedly texts Patrick: “Pedialax liquid stool softener.” He then leaves to pick up the medication.
5:33pm: When Patrick arrives at CVS, he rings Lindsay, but she doesn’t pick up. She rings back one minute later and confirms the medication.
5:54pm: Patrick gets to ThreeV, pays for the food and leaves.
6:09pm: Patrick returns home. “The first thing he noticed was the silence,” prosecutors say. “He did not see or hear the defendant or the children.”
Patrick calls for his wife but gets no response. He discovers their second-floor bedroom is locked. Patrick eventually manages to get in the room but sees blood on the floor. He runs outside and finds Lindsay lying on the ground, according to prosecutors.
6:11pm: Prosecutors say that Patrick rings 911 and Lindsay is saying: “I tried to kill myself.”
He is then said to ask Lindsay: “Where are the kids?” She responds: “In the basement.”
While on the call, Patrick goes down to the basement and is heard ‘screaming in agony’,
Cora and Callan are discovered on the floor of the den. Dawson is found in his dad’s home office.
When officers arrive at the scene, Patrick alleges: “She killed the kids.”
Lindsay is taken to hospital, where she is treated for injuries that leave her paralysed below the waist. The three children are also rushed to hospital.
7:28pm: Cora and Dawson are pronounced dead. Callan is medically flown to another children’s hospital.
25 January, 2023
Police issue Lindsay an arrest warrant, charging her with two counts of murder, three counts of strangulation or suffocation, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
27 January, 2023
Callan is pronounced dead at 11.18am.
According to Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague, Lindsay later wakes up and uses a whiteboard to ask: “Do I need an attorney?”
6 February, 2023
While in the presence of a psychologist hired by her lawyer, Lindsay calls Patrick and tells him she had a ‘moment of psychosis’ and heard ‘a man’s voice telling her to kill the kids and kill herself’ after he left on January 24.
7 February, 2023
On the day of her arraignment, Lindsay’s attorney says that she’s still suicidal. She pleads not guilty to three counts of murder.
October 2024
Patrick asks the public to forgive Lindsay, telling The New Yorker: “I wasn’t married to a monster - I was married to someone who got sick.”
January 2026
Lindsay and Patrick file a civil lawsuit, accusing medical providers of not properly diagnosing, treating and monitoring her for a ‘severe postpartum psychiatric condition’.
9 July, 2026
The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says the three counts of strangulation would be subsumed into the murder charges.
27 July, 2026
Lindsay’s murder trial begins.
Topics: Lindsay Clancy, US News, Crime
Joe Harker