Prosecution expert says witness testimony on timing of alleged hallucination is inconsistent
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Gregory Saathoff testified that the defendant's account of when she heard a commanding voice differed from the defense expert’s version, highlighting a key discrepancy in the murder trial.
A forensic psychiatrist for the prosecution, Dr. Gregory Saathoff, told a Massachusetts jury on Tuesday that the defendant, Lindsay Clancy, gave conflicting statements about the timing of an alleged auditory hallucination that preceded the killings of her three children on Jan. 24, 2023. Saathoff said Clancy told him in interviews conducted in May and June that the voice began at 5:34 p.m., after she ended a phone call with her husband, and continued until she strangled the children with exercise bands and attempted suicide. In contrast, the defense’s expert, Dr. Margaret Spinelli, reported that Clancy said the voice started around 5:15 p.m., shortly after her husband left the house.
“It’s markedly inconsistent,” Saathoff said, adding that the discrepancy made it difficult to determine which account to rely on.
Saathoff, who has worked with hospitals, prisons and the FBI, also noted other differences between the spouses’ narratives of the hours before the murders. He is expected to finish his testimony on Wednesday after the prosecution has called roughly 90 witnesses.
Earlier, psychologist Dr. Kirk Heilbrun testified that Clancy described feeling detached from her actions, as if she were watching herself, and that the single occurrence of the hallucination was unusual. Heilbrun said the voice appeared to be a “convenient way of lessening your responsibility” and affirmed that Clancy remained criminally responsible.
Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, argues that severe postpartum psychosis, exacerbated by multiple prescription medications, should absolve her of criminal liability. The case has drawn public attention, with supporters gathering outside the courtroom and expressing empathy for Clancy while condemning the killings.
Jurors have heard that Clancy sought mental-health treatment for insomnia, anxiety, depression and intrusive thoughts in the months before the incident, including calls to a suicide hotline, a brief stay in a mental-health facility and visits to perinatal clinics. Prosecutors maintain that she was not psychotic and that the murders were premeditated.