Psychiatrist flags ‘inconsistencies’ in Lindsay Clancy’s account of voice that ordered killings

PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS: A forensic psychiatrist testified Tuesday, August 25, that several parts of Lindsay Clancy’s account of the events leading up to the deaths of her three children do not line up with earlier statements or with what her then-husband told investigators.

Dr Gregory Saathoff, the prosecution’s final witness, focused the jury’s attention on differences involving the timing of the voice Clancy said she heard, the family’s dinner plans and what happened inside the home that afternoon.

Conflicting timeline raises questions

Saathoff examined the nature of the voice Clancy has said ordered her to kill her children, including how she described experiencing it.

The psychiatrist said that, based on his experience treating thousands of people with psychosis, it was unusual for an auditory hallucination to repeatedly issue the same command: “This is your last chance. You have to kill your kids and kill yourself.”

He also pointed to another aspect he found unusual.

Clancy described the alleged voice as the only auditory hallucination she had ever experienced and said it was not accompanied by a delusional belief.

But Saathoff’s testimony also focused heavily on conflicting timelines Clancy had provided about when the voice began. During interviews with Saathoff in May and June of this year, Clancy reportedly placed the start of the voice at about 5:34 p.m. on January 24, 2023, after she had spoken with Patrick Clancy by phone.

She told him she was near the refrigerator and preparing dinner for the children when she began hearing it.

That timeline did not match what Clancy had previously told another doctor.

In that earlier account, she said the voice began around 5:15 p.m., shortly after Patrick had left their Duxbury home.

Saathoff told jurors that the difference was significant, particularly because Clancy had given him a precise time and said the voice continued until after the children were killed.

“It’s markedly inconsistent,” Saathoff said. He told the jury that the conflicting accounts left him unable to determine which timeline should be given weight.

Glaring inconsistencies pointed out

Saathoff also described other differences between what Clancy told him and what Patrick told him during his assessment. One involved the couple’s dinner plans. Clancy said she had suggested ordering from 'ThreeV' in Plymouth.

Patrick gave a different account, telling Saathoff that they had never ordered takeout from the restaurant.

He said they had eaten there previously, but usually ordered from two other restaurants that were closer to their home in Duxbury.

The psychiatrist also pointed to conflicting accounts about what Clancy consumed before she tried to take her own life.

Patrick provided a different detail about what he found when he returned home. He told the psychiatrist that there appeared to be residue from crushed pills inside a tumbler sitting on the couple’s nightstand.

Saathoff also raised a discrepancy over the bedroom door.

Patrick said the door was locked when he came home to a house that was unusually quiet. According to Saathoff, Clancy did not remember locking the bedroom door.

Closing arguments in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are set to begin on Wednesday.