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Psychologist who met with Lindsay Clancy says she heard male voice
Lindsay Clancy's murder trial continued Tuesday in Massachusetts with the 15th day of testimony. A psychologist who met with Clancy in the hospital after her children's deaths testified that she reported hearing a male voice telling her she had to kill her children and die by suicide.Four witnesses testified for the defense a day after the prosecution rested its case after calling 72 witnesses in Plymouth Superior Court. One of the first people to testify for the defense was Clancy's mother, Paula Musgrove. The children's other grandmother, Patrick Clancy's mother, took the stand Tuesday for the defense.Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham are handling questioning for the prosecution in the trial while Kevin Reddington is Clancy's defense attorney.Dr. Paul Zeizel, a clinical and forensic psychologist, took the stand around 3 p.m. He met with Clancy when she was hospitalized. Zeizel was still on the stand when court ended for the day and is expected to resume testimony Wednesday morning around 9 a.m.Psychologist says Clancy "heard a male voice ordering her"Reddington asked Zeizel if there was any indication that Clancy was faking her symptoms."My opinion in the testing of Ms. Clancy … she was not faking," Zeizel said, adding that "she presented as an honest citizen."Zeizel was a topic of debate earlier in the trial. When she was in the hospital following the children's deaths, no one was allowed into Clancy's room. Reddington eventually got a court order that allowed Zeizel in to speak with her.
Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Dan Lawlor, who was one of the people who guarded the door, took the stand previously. Reddington asked Lawlor if it was his understanding that one of the prosecution's theories was that Zeizel told Clancy to call her husband at the time to tell him she heard voices.Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham disputed that, trying to show that Lawlor had only heard that theory from a fellow trooper.Zeizel testified Tuesday that Clancy expressed concern for what had happened. He said she asked for Zeizel's cellphone to call Patrick Clancy. Patrick and Lindsay Clancy were married at the time of the children's deaths, but have since divorced and he remarried.According to Zeizel, Patrick did not answer the first call and Lindsay left a voicemail. Two days later they tried again and he picked up.
"She told Patrick that she loved him very much. She was able to express a lot of emotion, but expressed love for him. She said she heard a male voice ordering her, telling her that she didn't have any choice but she had to kill her children and then kill herself," Zeizel said. Reddington asked if Zeizel ever asked Clancy to lie and make up that information. Zeizel said no. He also answered no when Reddington asked if he made any suggestions to Clancy about hearing voices. The defense attorney asked why he allowed Clancy to use his cellphone."I let her call her husband out of human compassion," Zeizel said.Dr. Elizabeth Laposata called as witnessDr. Elizabeth Laposata, a Brown University professor who was a chief medical examiner in Rhode Island for 12 years, began her testimony after the lunch recess. Her time as medical examiner included work following the 1999 EgyptAir 990 plane crash and the aftermath of the deadly Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people.Laposata, who is testifying by video conference and was not in the courtroom, also testified in Karen Read's trial. In that trial, Laposata testified for the defense about John O'Keefe's injuries.Reddington asked Laposata to review various medical records in Clancy's case.