Prosecution Expert Rejects Hallucination Claim in Clancy Trial, Says 3 Killings Followed Suicide Plan
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 24
Prosecution Expert Rejects Hallucination Claim in Clancy Trial, Says 3 Killings Followed Suicide Plan
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 24
Summary
Kirk Heilbrun told jurors Monday he saw no acute psychosis when Lindsay Clancy killed her three children, disputing her account that a voice commanded the acts.
Heilbrun said Clancy appeared to be planning suicide and killed the children so they would not “suffer” after her death, citing her statement during the stranglings: “Go to God, baby.”
That testimony directly counters defense experts who said Clancy was clearly psychotic from postpartum illness and unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct.
Judge William Sullivan denied a mistrial request after Heilbrun referenced Clancy’s Catholic faith, but instructed jurors to disregard the religious testimony as inappropriate.
The case is expected to go to the jury this week, with Clancy, 36, facing life without parole if convicted or commitment to a state psychiatric hospital if found not guilty by reason of insanity.