What was the verdict in Commonwealth v. Lindsay Clancy?

No verdict was returned. The trial ran from July 29, 2026 in Plymouth Superior Court; closing arguments were Day 22 and the jury began deliberating that afternoon. After seven days it reported that it could not reach a unanimous decision, and Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on September 4, 2026. A mistrial is neither a conviction nor an acquittal: Lindsay Clancy remains charged, and whether the case is retried is a decision for the Plymouth County District Attorney.

What is the McHoul standard?

Under Commonwealth v. McHoul, 352 Mass. 544 (1967), a person is not criminally responsible if, as a result of mental disease or defect, they lacked substantial capacity to appreciate wrongfulness or conform conduct to law. Burden on Commonwealth beyond reasonable doubt.

Where can I watch the trial?

Each of the 14 transcript pages links its YouTube court recording via Court TV / Law&Crime / PBS NewsHour. No Rev.com paywall. See /transcripts and /media.

Commonwealth v. Lindsay Clancy, Public Records Archive (22 Transcripts)

# Dr. Kirk Heilbrun

Status: Written by hand, not yet checked line by line against the transcripts.

In the record: speaks on 750 turns, on Days 19, 20; named 148 times. These figures are counted from the transcripts.

The prose on this page has no citations and predates the archive's sourcing

rules. Where it differs from the transcripts, the transcripts are the

record. Pages that have been checked carry a Reviewed line instead of

this one.

Entity Type: Person

Role: Prosecution Expert Witness

Profession: Forensic Psychologist

Expertise: Criminal Responsibility, Insanity Defense Evaluation

## Background

Board-certified forensic psychologist

Called as prosecution expert witness in Commonwealth v. Lindsay Clancy

Concluded Lindsay Clancy was "criminally responsible" at time of killings

Testified that Clancy killed children "out of love"

## Expert Testimony

### Qualifications

Extensive experience in forensic psychology

Expert in criminal responsibility evaluations

Published research on insanity defense

Testified in numerous high-profile cases

### Testimony in Clancy Case

Concluded Lindsay Clancy was "criminally responsible" at time of killings

Testified Clancy killed children "out of love" (to prevent them from witnessing her suicide)

Challenged defense claims of psychosis

Presented alternative interpretation of Clancy's mental state

### Key Points

1. Criminal Responsibility

At time of killings, Clancy was able to appreciate wrongfulness of actions

Did not meet criteria for insanity defense under Massachusetts law

Mental state did not rise to level of psychosis

2. Motive Theory

Testified Clancy killed children "out of love"

Argued she wanted to prevent them from witnessing her suicide

Presented as alternative to psychotic episode theory

3. Challenged Defense Claims

Questioned credibility of psychosis diagnosis

Presented alternative explanations for symptoms

Challenged defense expert conclusions

## Research and Publications

Published research on criminal responsibility

Studies on insanity defense evaluations

Work on forensic psychology assessments

Expert opinions on mental state evaluations

## Related Entities

Lindsay Clancy - Defendant

Jennifer Sprague - Lead prosecutor (who called him as witness)

Dr. Phillip Resnick - Defense expert (opposing expert)

Dr. Gregory Saathoff - Prosecution rebuttal witness

Plymouth Superior Court - Where he testified

## Sources

Trial testimony (July-August 2026)

Expert witness report

Published research

Court documents

Media coverage

In the trial record

Generated from the transcripts. Every figure below is counted from the record itself, not estimated.

In their own words

	Testimony	Cited
Credentials	"I am licensed in the state of Pennsylvania, and I'm also part of something called PSYPACT, which allows people licensed in one state to practice on a temporary basis in another state."	Day 19, 01:55:47
Credentials	"I'm board-certified with the American Board of Professional Psychology, which is the oldest and most rigorous kind of board certification agency organization in the country."	Day 19, 01:56:02
Credentials	"Yes. I'm also board-certified in forensic psychology with the American Board of Professional Psychology."	Day 19, 01:56:17
Involvement	"I interviewed her former husband, Patrick Clancy, and his mother, Ms. Clancy's mother-in-law, Sue Clancy."	Day 19, 02:11:40
Involvement	"I reviewed every record that was provided to me."	Day 20, 02:26:13

Called by the Commonwealth. Inferred from the direct examination: Jennifer Sprague asked 10 of the first 10 questions put to this witness. Direct examination precedes cross-examination, so the counsel who opens is the party that called them.

Examined by: Kevin Reddington (Defense), 518 questions; Jennifer Sprague (Commonwealth), 200 questions.

Speaks in the record: 764 turns across 2 days.

Day	Date	Turns	From	To
Day 20	Tuesday, August 25, 2026	643	01:33:09	05:03:40
Day 19	Monday, August 24, 2026	121	01:52:26	03:34:24

Named elsewhere in the archive: 150 times across 25 sources.

Source	Times	Go to
crime-timeline	81	first mention
Day 19: Rebuttal	10	first mention
05-prosecution-expert-testifies	7	first mention
Day 20: Dr. Kirk Heilbrun and Dr. Gregory Saathoff	6	first mention
Day 18: Dr. Phillip Resnick, Defense Rests	4	first mention
Day 21: Argument and Charge Conference	4	first mention
dr-gregory-saathoff	4	first mention
Day 22: Closing Arguments and Jury Instructions	3	first mention
trial-july-august-2026	3	first mention
avram-mack	3	first mention
video-links	3	first mention
08-jury-deliberates	3	first mention

Also appears in the transcripts as: Kirk Heilbrun