WARNING: This article contains details about violence against children, infanticide and suicide.
On Wednesday, as jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial started deliberating for a fifth day, a dramatic scene unfolded in another courtroom.
A 56-year-old woman was arraigned in Plymouth District Court on a charge of intimidation of a witness, jurors, or person in connection with Clancy’s trial. Dawn Light is accused of filming jurors as they left the court a day earlier, not long after they’d told the judge they couldn’t agree on whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children.
Light’s attorney called it a “misunderstanding,” and said she was trying to film Clancy.
Meanwhile, in the courtroom for Clancy’s trial, Judge William Sullivan opened proceedings by giving a general admonishment about following his orders on how people should conduct themselves.
Yet, it was far from the first time the trial has been overshadowed by the frenzy surrounding it. Clancy’s trial has gripped the public for the past five weeks, sparking debates about maternal mental health, launching online conspiracy theories and creating dramatic moments both inside the court and out as the livestreamed trial has generated intense interest.
Clancy, 36, is accused of killing her three children in 2023 while her then-husband was running an errand. Over the past five weeks, jurors at the Plymouth County Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., have heard that she strangled Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and eight-month-old Callan with exercise bands in the basement of their home in the Boston suburb of Duxbury.
Clancy’s defence doesn’t dispute the killings. But they argue she isn’t criminally responsible because she had bipolar disorder and was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare and little-understood mental health condition that can affect a new mom’s sense of reality.
Prosecutors argue Clancy is guilty of three counts of first-degree murder because she plotted to get her husband out of the house so she could carry out the killings.
Here are some of the dramatic moments that have unfolded since the trial started July 27.
‘Crime junkie’ arrested outside court
Let’s start with the most recent: the woman accused of filming jurors.
In a statement to CBC News, Massachusetts State Police confirmed that Light was taken into police custody at approximately 3:40 p.m. ET outside the Plymouth District Courthouse.
A prosecutor said Light was parked in a restricted area behind the courthouse and is accused of filming jurors as they left court. Light told state police she was waiting to film Clancy and denied recording jurors, however, troopers found video of jurors in her phone’s deleted-files folder, the prosecutor said.
In court, Light described herself as a “crime junkie” and Clancy supporter, according to the New Haven Register.
A not-guilty plea was entered on her behalf and she was released without having to post bail, but was ordered to stay away from the court, the jurors and any witnesses in the case.
Lawyer asks for mistrial
Another dramatic moment happened on Aug. 24, when a witness was reprimanded for bringing up Clancy’s Catholic religion.
Dr. Kirk Heilbrun was recalling a conversation he’d had with Clancy in April.
“One of the things that she said when I asked about what happened, is that in the course of strangling each child, she said, ‘Go to God, baby. Go to God,’ ” he said. “That was part of her expectation that she and the children would be together in heaven with God.”
“She was raised as a Catholic. As I understand Catholic considerations, that’s not necessarily what happens. But when I asked her about that, when I said, ‘Isn’t suicide a mortal sin?’ “ he said, before defence objected and the judge called the attorneys to the side.
Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, requested a mistrial, calling it “over the top.” It also wasn’t the first time the prosecution brought up the concept of “mortal sin,” Reddington said, and suggested it was professional misconduct.
The judge denied the request, but later instructed the jury to disregard the reference to “the religion that the defendant was raised with,” calling it “an absolutely inappropriate area of testimony.”
Joe Tamburino, a legal analyst interviewed by CBS News, explained religion has no part in a trial and it was “completely wrong” for the witness to bring it up.
Reporter’s credentials pulled for viral grin
Right around the time Sullivan denied the defence’s request for a mistrial, CourtTV’s livestream showed a moment in the media gallery that caught some observers off guard.
As the camera panned the room, a woman in a green dress appeared to smile at the camera, shrug and wink. The moment with the “green dress woman” quickly went viral, with people accusing her of being disrespectful in a triple-murder trial.
CBC News has viewed the footage. The woman was later identified as Brittany Romano, a freelance journalist meant to be covering the trial for Vanity Fair magazine. Romano has posted online that she was Clancy’s childhood friend.
By the next day, the magazine had pulled Romano’s credentials.
“We were interested in the prospect of a personal essay by Brittany Romano about her experience growing up with Lindsay Clancy,” Vanity Fair said in a statement to the New York Post.
“Yesterday, after clear conflicts with our editorial standards and processes, we informed Romano that we were not moving forward with her essay and informed the court that she is no longer credentialed by Vanity Fair.”
In a statement on Instagram on Aug. 25, Romano posted that “a smile is not a crime,” adding that she smiles when she’s anxious. She said she had received death threats and messages telling her to kill herself since her photo went viral.
The online obsession with the Lindsay Clancy trial has turned a horrific tragedy into a frenzy of speculation, misinformation and conspiracy theories. For The National, CBC’s Ashley Fraser examines how social media’s insatiable appetite for the case both raises, and undermines, awareness about postpartum psychosis.
TikTok witness not allowed to testify
Clancy has generated a lot of interest on TikTok.
One of the many people who posted about her in the leadup to the trial was Emily Thorndike, a former psychiatric hospital employee who worked at the same facility where Clancy was briefly committed before the killings, although she didn’t work there when Clancy was there.
In a video she posted July 27, Thorndike, a social worker, said she “felt it important to address the lies and misinformation the prosecution is telling, particularly about McLean Hospital.” In the 10-minute video, Thorndike claimed the level of care Clancy would have received was misrepresented by the prosecution.
The video has been viewed 6.2 million times as of Wednesday.
Reddington, Clancy’s defence lawyer, tried to add Thorndike to the witness list. Thorndike appeared in a voir dire hearing with Sullivan, the judge, on Aug. 19. She spoke about staffing levels but also introduced herself in a way that some observers said undermined her credibility.
“I actually live in Brooklyn, New York, but I summer on Cape Cod. I’m spoiled like that,” Thorndike said on the stand during the hearing, which was livestreamed by The Associated Press.
Sullivan ultimately ruled that her testimony was credible, but that she wouldn’t be allowed to testify because, “mainly, this witness hadn’t worked there for a year.”
In a TikTok video that was later deleted, but has been viewed by other media outlets, Thorndike apologized for the comment, saying she “didn’t get any prep” before going on the stand.
The prosecution’s bows
In one of the more puzzling details of the trial, a lawyer for the prosecution has received attention for her hairstyles.
Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham has repeatedly worn bows in her hair — an unusual accessory in court.
While Buckingham has not publicly commented on her accessory, many commenters have suggested it’s a tribute to Clancy’s daughter, Cora.
During her opening statements, Buckingham noted that “Cora had just turned five. She was sweet, silly, smart. She loved sparkly dresses and wearing bows in her hair.”
That day, Buckingham wore a black bow in her hair. She’s worn them most days since.
Meanwhile, others have suggested the bows are an attempt to sway the jury.
It’s a matter of contention online, where the bows have been called a cheap gimmick, cruel, taunting, “psychopathic,” and “emotional abuse.” Others on TikTok have called it “courtroom psychology,” arguing that Buckingham is not seeking to torment Clancy, but to provide “jurors with a constant, silent reminder of Cora.”
New Jersey defence attorney David Bruno told CourtTV he found the bows “improper” if they were indeed a tribute to Cora.
“That’s trying to inject her emotions or her belief into that case,” he said.
On Wednesday, after a fifth day of deliberations, jurors once again told the judge they were still unable to reach a unanimous decision, and they were sent back to try again. The jury will return again Thursday morning.
If jurors ultimately can’t agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial.
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