MASSACHUSETTS: A forensic psychologist testifying for the prosecution has told a Massachusetts court that Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children.
Dr. Kirk Heilbrun, a prosecution rebuttal witness, said his assessment was based on three days of in-person clinical interviews. He testified that Clancy understood her actions and had sufficient cognitive clarity and executive functioning at the time of the killings.
The testimony challenges the defense argument that Clancy experienced a severe postpartum psychotic episode and could not control her actions.
Heilbrun told jurors that the deaths of Clancy’s five-year-old, three-year-old and eight-month-old children involved a sequence of actions carried out over 18 to 20 minutes while her husband was away.
The defense has argued that changes in Clancy’s psychiatric medication and other mental health issues contributed to a severely impaired mental state.