Dr. Heilbrun reveals details about the $54,000 payment related to the Lindsay Clancy case, sparking public controversy
THE final witnesses are set to take the stand in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial on Tuesday after a furious fight over religion brought proceedings to an abrupt halt and sparked a failed motion for a mistrial.
Jurors will return after Judge William Sullivan sent them home on Monday following explosive testimony that referenced Clancy’s Catholic faith and beliefs about sin.
Defendant Lindsay Clancy talks with her lawyer Kevin Reddington during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court, Monday, August 24, 2026Credit: AP
Judge William Sullivan sent jurors home after Dr. Heilbrun’s testimony that referenced Clancy’s Catholic faith and beliefs about suicide on August 24, 2026Credit: Reuters
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague after making her argument against a mistrial at the Plymouth Superior Court trial of Lindsay Clancy on August 24, 2026Credit: Reuters
Patrick Clancy with his children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month old CallanCredit: Handout
The drama erupted at Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts while prosecution witness Dr. Kirk Heilbrun was testifying about Clancy’s mental state when she killed her three children.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington immediately objected after Heilbrun discussed questioning Clancy about her Catholic beliefs surrounding suicide.
The clash was particularly sensitive because the issue of “mortal sin” had already caused controversy earlier in the trial when prosecutors questioned Clancy’s former mother-in-law about the Catholic view of murder.
Reddington moved for a mistrial and accused prosecutors of “intentional misconduct,” but Sullivan refused to throw out the case.
The judge nevertheless made his frustration clear, demanding, “How is any of that proper at this point?”
Sullivan later told jurors that “the religion that the defendant was raised with” was irrelevant and instructed them to disregard that portion of the testimony before dismissing them for the afternoon.
Heilbrun is expected to return to the stand on Tuesday as prosecutors race to finish their rebuttal case, with at least one further witness expected before the state rests.
Reddington told The U.S. Sun after court that he remained confident jurors would follow Sullivan’s instruction and put the religious reference aside.
“I have no doubt that the jury will listen to the judge’s instructions and be able to overlook it,” he said.
Closing arguments are now expected Wednesday before jurors begin deciding whether Clancy was criminally responsible when she strangled Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan at the family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts, home on January 24, 2023.
Clancy’s defense maintains she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and experiencing a command hallucination, while prosecutors argue she was mentally ill but still understood that killing her children was wrong.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington clashed with prosecution psychologist Dr. Heilbrun after the witness appeared to chuckle during cross-examination.
“That’s funny?” Reddington shot back.
Heilbrun denied he was laughing at the subject matter and said he was reacting to what he believed was a repeated question.
“No, it’s not funny. It’s just that you ask me whether I agree with something that I testified to yesterday,” he replied.
Dr. Heilbrun grilled over postpartum psychosis experience
Heilbrun was questioned about his expertise on postpartum psychosis as defense attorney Kevin Reddington continued his cross-examination.
Reddington highlighted an article Heilbrun previously wrote titled, “Handling difficult cross examination, combining substance with style.”
Heilbrun said the piece focussed on how experts can effectively present the findings of an evaluation while under questioning.
But he acknowledged that he has never published an article specifically about postpartum psychosis.
Dr. Heilbrun reveals $54,000 bill for Clancy case
Dr. Heilbrun told jurors he has been paid roughly $54,000 to evaluate Lindsay Clancy.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington pressed Heilbrun over the fact that he assessed Clancy’s state of mind about three years after the killings.
Heilbrun acknowledged it is generally better to evaluate someone closer to the time of an alleged offense.
He and psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack interviewed Clancy over several days in April at Tewksbury Hospital, where she is being treated.
Asked exactly how much the government had paid him, Heilbrun said he could not give a precise figure but estimated the total at about $54,000.
Heilbrun says Clancy was “criminally responsible”
Dr. Heilbrun delivered his bottom-line opinion, telling jurors he believes Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible when her three children were killed.
The conclusion directly rejects the defense argument that Clancy was unable to understand or control her actions because of postpartum psychosis.
He told jurors he believes Lindsay Clancy’s actions were driven by a serious suicide attempt coupled with killing her children “out of love.”
He also told the court that Clancy appeared noticeably more guarded when discussing what happened on the night her children died.
According to Heilbrun, she repeatedly said she could not remember certain details during their interviews.
Those gaps included which wrist she had been wearing her Apple Watch on at the time.
The testimony forms part of the prosecution’s effort to challenge the defense claim that Clancy was acting under a psychotic command hallucination when she strangled her three children.
Heilbrun says Clancy made series of choices before killings
Prosecution psychologist Dr. Heilbrun told jurors Lindsay Clancy had to make a string of decisions before killing her three children and attempting to take her own life.
Prosecutors walked Heilbrun through Clancy’s actions one by one, repeatedly asking whether each step required her to make a decision.
Heilbrun agreed, pointing to choices including taking the children to the basement, selecting what she would use to strangle them and deciding the order in which they were killed.
He also cited what Clancy said to the children during the killings and the way she later attempted suicide.
The testimony bolsters the prosecution’s argument that Clancy was capable of deliberate decision-making rather than simply obeying a hallucinated command.
Heilbrun also discussed “peritraumatic dissociation,” which he described as feeling detached from yourself during an intensely traumatic event.
He said Clancy described feeling as though she was watching herself and maintained that she was simply following the voice in her head without making decisions.
But Heilbrun testified that the number of choices she made during the killings did not fit that account.
Dr. Kirk Heilbrun returns to stand
Prosecution witness Dr. Kirk Heilbrun returned to the stand on Tuesday as the state moved closer to wrapping up its rebuttal case against Lindsay Clancy.
The forensic psychologist will finish his testimony after Monday’s dramatic mistrial bid.
Judge Sullivan told the jurors that Heilbrun and one additional prosecution witness are expected to be the final people to testify before the case moves toward closing arguments.
Final witnesses set to take stand
The final witnesses are expected to take the stand today in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial after a dramatic mistrial bid brought court to an abrupt halt a day earlier.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington moved for a mistrial on Monday after prosecution psychologist Dr. Kirk Heilbrun referenced Clancy’s Catholic faith and beliefs about sin while discussing her mental state.
Judge William Sullivan denied the motion but sharply questioned why religion had been brought into the case and instructed jurors to disregard the testimony.
Heilbrun is expected to finish testifying Tuesday before prosecutors call their remaining witness and rest their rebuttal case.
The trial is then expected to move toward closing arguments, with jurors likely to begin deliberating later this week.
SOURCE: THE SUN
https://www.the-sun.com/news/16893731/lindsay-clancy-final-witnesses-testimony-fury-judge/
