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By Hannah Parry
Associate News Editor
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Thursday's testimony in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial brought jurors chilling new details about her internet searches in the days before she killed her three children.
The court in Massachusetts also heard about communications between the former labor and delivery nurse Clancy, 36, and her husband on the same day as the killings of their children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months—and jurors were shown both family footage from weeks before the killings and graphic video from the crime scene.
After the jury was dismissed, prosecutors raised questions about people visiting Clancy while she is being held at the courthouse.
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The testimony continued to focus heavily on the core issue in the case: Clancy’s mental state before and during the killings, and whether she was experiencing postpartum psychosis as her defense contends.
Here are the biggest developments from Thursday's proceedings:
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1. Internet History Reveals Searches About Sociopaths and Suicide Methods
One of the most striking revelations on Thursday came from Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Timothy Chiappini, who walked jurors through information extracted from Clancy’s cellphone.
Among the searches was a January 20 query—just four days before the killings—asking: “Can you treat a sociopath?”
Investigators also found searches involving hallucinations, psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and suicide.
State Police Sergeant Kyle Pavao, who worked in the agency’s cybercrime unit, also testified about internet activity found on a computer in the family home.
The computer accessed a page about suicide methods on August 22, 2022, months before the killings.
There was also testimony during cross-examination that a report showed searches on Lindsay's phone for “carotid artery,” and “how to slit your throat.” However, Chiappini said he did not recall those particular searches before defense attorney Kevin Reddington confronted him with the report. The attorneys then went to a sidebar.
The search history was presented alongside other material from Clancy’s phone documenting her deteriorating mental health. Her digital journal contained entries about depression, anxiety, parenting and her difficulty feeling connected to her youngest child, Callan.
In one lengthy October 25, 2022, entry, Clancy wrote: “I’m sad and depressed because I am not able to parent my third child like my first.”
She wrote that she felt less connected to Callan after stopping breastfeeding and acknowledged that she sometimes resented her older children because they prevented her from giving Callan the same attention she had given her first child.
“I want to feel love and connection with all my kids,” she wrote.
Elsewhere, her phone contained affirmations including “I am strong,” “I will overcome postpartum anxiety and depression,” “I am a great mom” and “I love my kids.”
The defense, however, has argued that the searches and writings are evidence of someone desperately struggling with her mental health.
If prosecutors could establish that Lindsay Clancy was searching for suicide methods before the killings, the evidence could support their argument that she was consciously researching it and thinking about how to carry it out, rather than acting solely under a sudden psychotic delusion as the defense has claimed.
2. Defense Argues Patrick Clancy May Have Been Behind Suicide Searches
The defense pushed back Thursday against testimony about a search for “suicide methods,” questioning whether investigators had any evidence that Lindsay Clancy was the person who made the search.
During cross-examination, Reddington asked investigators about whether they could definitively establish who was using the devices when individual searches were made. He raised the possibility that some searches attributed to activity on the family's devices may have been made by Patrick Clancy rather than Lindsay.
Reddington pointed out that the page on "suicide methods" was accessed within hours of an August 23 search for country singer Tom T. Hall, including information about his death by suicide.
Pavao, on cross-examination, acknowledged he did not know that Patrick was a Tom Hall fan and played guitar.
The defense also raised the fact that Lindsay had appointments involving her children around the time of the August 23 searches.
Investigators acknowledged limitations in determining who was actually using the computer at particular times.
The exchange provided an important qualification to the prosecution’s presentation of the digital evidence: a search found on a shared household device does not necessarily establish that Lindsay conducted it.
The defense's broader argument is that Clancy was experiencing a severe psychiatric crisis before the killings. That makes the question of who conducted individual searches particularly important as jurors weigh what the digital evidence says—and does not say—about her state of mind.
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3. Patrick Told Lindsay 'You’re a Good Mama' on the Day of the Killings
Jurors also heard about text messages between Lindsay and Patrick Clancy on January 24, 2023, the day their three children were killed.
The exchanges appeared, on their face, to be ordinary conversations between a married couple and parents.
At one point, Patrick told Lindsay: “You’re a good mama.”
The couple also discussed their children, the events of the day and plans for dinner. They exchanged messages about getting food from ThreeV, and Lindsay searched for the restaurant on her phone. The messages are notable because they occurred just hours before the killings.
They give jurors a contemporaneous record of how Lindsay was communicating with her husband that afternoon and evening, rather than relying solely on later recollections of her behavior.
The evidence will likely be interpreted differently by the two sides.
Prosecutors can point to the apparently routine exchanges as evidence that Lindsay was communicating coherently and carrying out ordinary activities shortly before the killings.
The defense can counter that apparently normal texts do not establish what was happening inside someone's mind—particularly for the theory that Clancy experienced a severe psychotic break.
4. Jurors Saw a Normal Family Outing—And Then Disturbing Scene Footage
Thursday also brought some of the most visually striking evidence of the trial.
Jurors were shown footage from a January 8 family outing at the Museum of Science in Boston, just over two weeks before the killings.
The video showed Lindsay, Patrick and their three children together during the outing. Lindsay appeared emotional while watching the footage in court.
The footage gave jurors a glimpse of the family during an ordinary outing shortly before the deaths.
It was followed by a very different kind of evidence: video documenting the Clancy home and the aftermath of the killings, including blood evidence and a knife in the bedroom.
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The juxtaposition was striking—footage of the family together, alive and well, weeks earlier alongside graphic evidence from the home where the children were killed.
Importantly, the family video does not by itself establish that Clancy was mentally well or that she was not experiencing psychiatric symptoms. A person can appear outwardly engaged with their family while experiencing serious mental-health problems.
Its significance is primarily chronological and evidentiary: It gives jurors a contemporaneous look at the family shortly before January 24.
5. Prosecutors Raised Questions About Clancy's Courthouse Visitors
After jurors were dismissed Thursday afternoon, the case took an unusual turn when prosecutors asked the judge for access to records showing who has been visiting Clancy while she is being held at the courthouse during the trial.
Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham said prosecutors had noticed people other than Clancy’s lawyers and nurses meeting with her.
One person they specifically identified was Dr. Paul Zeizel, a forensic psychologist working with Clancy’s defense.
Zeizel has already become an important figure in the trial because of testimony about his contact with Clancy after the killings and the prosecution's interest in potentially calling him as a witness.
Prosecutors sought access to records concerning his visits.
The judge agreed to allow prosecutors to obtain information about Zeizel's visits but expressed reservations about similar records involving a priest who has been visiting Clancy.
Reddington identified the priest as “Father Bob,” who baptized Clancy’s children and has supported her since the killings.
Judge William Sullivan said of the priest's records: “The priest, I’m struggling with.”
The issue could become more significant if Zeizel is ultimately called to testify.
What Thursday's Testimony Revealed
Taken together, Thursday's evidence gave jurors a detailed—and sometimes contradictory—picture of Clancy's life in the weeks and hours before the killings.
Her phone contained disturbing searches, including the question “can you treat a sociopath?” as well as searches about suicide and psychiatric symptoms. At the same time, the court heard excerpts from her journal that showed a woman openly documenting depression, guilt and anxiety about her ability to parent.
Meanwhile, the defense was able to push back on one of the prosecution's most potentially damaging categories of evidence by questioning whether investigators could prove that Lindsay herself had made every search found on the family's devices.
What Happens Next
The Lindsay Clancy trial will resume Monday after jurors were dismissed Thursday following another full day of testimony.
The prosecution is expected to continue presenting evidence focused on Clancy’s mental state and her actions in the period leading up to the killings.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Edward T. Cummins.
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