Lindsay Clancy broke down in uncontrollable tears as she listened to the nanny’s heartbreaking testimony about the very children she had k!:lled
SHAKING Lindsay Clancy kept her eyes lowered as her former nanny painted a heartbreaking picture of the ordinary lives her three children led before their deaths.
Clancy sobbed, covered her face and clutched a tissue as Elaine Rossi recalled the youngsters she had cared for just months before they were killed.
Elaine Rossi, the nanny to Clancy children, sits on the witness stand during Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, MassachusettsCredit: AP
Lindsay Clancy clutches a tissue after witness Elaine Rossi, the nanny to the Clancy children, testified during her murder trialCredit: AP
The emotional testimony unfolded Wednesday at Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts on the seventh day of Clancy’s murder trial.
Clancy, 35, appeared to avoid looking at Rossi as the nanny described five-year-old Cora as a “girly-girl” who adored arts and crafts.
Three-year-old Dawson was remembered as an energetic and funny little boy who loved being silly.
Baby Callan, who was eight months old when he died, was described as the “happiest, sweetest, easiest baby.”
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“He was just a love,” Rossi told jurors.
Clancy’s shoulders shook as she cried during the testimony, while Rossi recounted the family’s everyday routines before the January 2023 killings.
She buried her face in her hands when prosecutors played a short video showing Callan drinking from a bottle.
Rossi had recorded the clip shortly after beginning work with the family and sent it to Clancy, who was always grateful for pictures and videos of her children.
The nanny testified that Clancy had been a loving and attentive mother despite struggling with her mental health after Callan’s birth.
“I observed a wonderful mom who loved her kids,” Rossi said under questioning from defense lawyer Kevin Reddington.
She said Clancy closely monitored the children’s safety and was particularly concerned about Callan’s eating and sleeping routines.
Rossi told the court she never saw anything that made her fear Clancy could harm herself or the children.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague holds up as evidence the pajamas of Callan ClancyCredit: AP
The knife from which Clancy allegedly cut herself before jumping from the windowCredit: Reuters
“None at all,” she said when asked whether she had concerns about Clancy’s interactions with them.
Reddington also asked whether Rossi recalled telling state police, “I love my Lindsay.”
Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial
Lindsay Clancy is accused of strangling her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, with exercise bands inside their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home on January 24, 2023.
The former labor and delivery nurse does not deny killing them, but has pleaded not guilty and claims she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Prosecutors argue Clancy deliberately sent her then-husband Patrick out to collect medicine and dinner so she could be left alone with the children.
The trial began with Patrick on the witness stand, describing Clancy’s declining mental health before recounting how he returned home, found her injured outside and discovered the children in the basement. Jurors have since heard his harrowing 911 call, seen the bands that were removed from the children’s necks and viewed their pajamas and other evidence from the home.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks, meaning testimony could continue well into September.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin at around 9am ET on sitting days and normally continue through the afternoon, with morning, lunch and afternoon breaks.
Prosecutors will present their case first, calling first responders, police officers, investigators, medical professionals and other witnesses connected to the killings.
The state listed more than 180 potential witnesses, although prosecutors are not expected to call everyone named.
Jurors are also expected to visit the Clancy family’s former Duxbury home with the judge and lawyers to see the scene for themselves.
Once prosecutors rest, Clancy’s defense will begin calling its own witnesses, including people who knew her and experts expected to testify about her medication, mental health and alleged postpartum psychosis.
The defense listed more than 60 possible witnesses, but some overlap with the prosecution’s list and may not be called twice.
After both sides finish presenting evidence, lawyers will deliver closing arguments before the judge instructs jurors on the law.
The jury will then decide whether Clancy is guilty of murder or was not criminally responsible because of her mental state when she killed her children.
“I did love Lindsay, yes,” she replied.
Rossi, an experienced nanny from Kingston, found the job after responding to a Facebook post placed by Clancy in July 2022.
She began working at the family’s Duxbury home that September, several months after Callan was born.
Rossi usually worked three days a week from 8:30am until 1:30pm and was primarily hired to care for the baby when Clancy returned to nursing.
She also prepared food, completed light housework and handled some of the family’s laundry.
Clancy regularly communicated with her through text messages and left detailed notes explaining Callan’s meals, naps and daily schedule.
Rossi mostly cared for the baby while Cora and Dawson were at school, although she once looked after all three children together.
She also recalled taking the older children to a gymnastics center when Clancy was unable to drive them.
The arrangement ended in early December after Clancy decided she would not return to her job as a labor and delivery nurse.
Rossi said she was not told exactly why Clancy had chosen to remain home.
She testified that Clancy lost a noticeable amount of weight during the months she knew her and spoke openly about being unable to sleep.
Lindsay Clancy and Patrick Clancy photos with children shown during emotional trialCredit: Plymouth Superior Court
lancy allegedly murdered her three children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan at her home on January 24, 2023Credit: Plymouth Superior Court
“She shared with me that she was suffering from postpartum,” Rossi said.
Clancy had reportedly begun sleeping in the basement and told Rossi she planned to stop breastfeeding Callan because she was starting another medication.
Rossi said she saw prescription bottles inside the house but did not notice a major change in Clancy’s personality or behavior.
Her testimony offered jurors a glimpse of the children’s lives before Clancy strangled them with exercise bands in the basement of their home on January 24, 2023.
Clancy does not dispute killing Cora, Dawson and Callan but has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder.
Her attorneys say she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible for her actions.
They argue that an undiagnosed bipolar disorder worsened while she was being treated with a shifting combination of psychiatric medications.
Prosecutors contend Clancy knew what she was doing and deliberately sent her then-husband, Patrick, out to collect medicine and takeout before attacking the children.
The state also claims she staged a suicide attempt by cutting herself and jumping from a second-story window after the killings.
Clancy suffered devastating spinal injuries in the fall and remains paralyzed from the waist down.
Earlier Wednesday, physician assistant Eitan Negri testified about treating her at Brigham and Women’s Hospital after the tragedy.
He said she had cuts on her wrists and “superficial” wounds on her neck but was not actively bleeding when he examined her.
Reddington stressed during cross-examination that Clancy was critically ill and that one of the wounds was measured at 3.5 centimeters deep.
Forensic toxicologist Dr. Justin Brower also testified that the amount of medication detected in her body was consistent with therapeutic use rather than a fatal overdose.
“This was not consistent with that,” Brower said when asked whether the levels resembled those normally found when someone tried to die by taking handfuls of pills.
But he agreed with the defense that toxicology numbers alone could not explain what happened to an individual.
Judge William Sullivan abruptly called a break during Brower’s evidence shortly after 10am, although the reason for the roughly 20-minute interruption was not explained.
The trial ended for the day at noon and is expected to resume Thursday.
Jurors have already heard Clancy’s diary entries describing anxiety, suicidal thoughts, “brain fog” and feeling overwhelmed while raising three young children.
They have also seen her prescription bottles, the exercise bands used in the killings and bloodstained evidence recovered from the home.
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Clancy faces mandatory life in prison without parole if convicted.
A verdict finding her not criminally responsible would instead lead to her being committed to a Massachusetts psychiatric facility.
SOURCE: THE SUN
https://www.the-sun.com/news/16799685/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-children-nanny-give-testimony/
