Lindsay Clancy trial day 14 centered on a state police investigator’s testimony that her phone searched “Can you treat a sociopath?” on Jan. 20, 2023. The search came four days before she killed her three children and added a dated digital record to the evidence jurors are hearing.
The testimony came from Timothy Chiappini on Thursday, alongside Kyle Pavao, as the prosecution continued presenting forensic analyses of Clancy’s phone and Patrick Clancy’s tablet. Clancy has pleaded not guilty to three murder charges tied to the deaths of Cora, Dawson and Callan in Duxbury on Jan. 24, 2023.
Timothy Chiappini testimony
Chiappini told jurors that Clancy’s phone was used to search the question “Can you treat a sociopath?” on Jan. 20, 2023. That date places the search inside the last stretch before the killings and gives the jury a concrete digital marker to weigh against the rest of the record.
His testimony followed earlier emotional evidence in the trial, including Wednesday’s autopsy testimony from Renee Stonebridge and Barbara Olson about injuries to Cora and Dawson. Judge William Sullivan excused jurors at times during that testimony and told them they must separate any emotional reaction from the informational value and weight of the evidence.
October 2022 phone notes
The phone search was not the only material jurors heard from Clancy’s device. A note from October 2022 showed her writing about parenting, medication for anxiety and depression, and her wish to feel better as she tried to care for her children.
She wrote, “I'm struggling so hard because I wanted to parent each of my kids like my first, and since I can't, that's depressing to me,” and later, “This is definitely the root cause of all our problems. Now I feel like I'm not parenting any of my kids the way I want to, and that makes me sad too. But I'm going to try my best.” In another note, she wrote, “I'm on the fence about starting a new medication for anxiety/depression.”
Defense and prosecution
Defense lawyers do not contest that Clancy was responsible for the deaths of her three children, but they argue she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. The prosecution’s forensic evidence, including the Jan. 20 search and the October 2022 notes, gives jurors a timeline of Clancy’s phone activity before the killings.
What jurors still have to sort through is how to read those digital traces against the defense theory. The search, the notes and the testimony about forensic analyses all point to the same question for the panel: whether the phone records show a woman in crisis, or whether they support criminal responsibility under the three murder charges.
