State Police investigators testify about search history in Lindsay Clancy murder trial

Lindsay Clancy’s trial for the murders of her three children in Massachusetts resumed Thursday with a 13th day of testimony as State Police investigators took the stand.

Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Kyle Pavao, who once worked in the cybercrime unit, was the first prosecution witness on the stand. His testimony began around 9:45 a.m. He examined the Microsoft Surface Pro taken from Clancy’s home in early 2023.

He was asked, “Did your initial review of the extraction show a visit to a website entitled ‘suicide methods’ on Aug. 23, 2022?” “It did,” Pavao replied.

Pavao also testified that the site mentioning suicide was accessed through a series of clicks on the Wikipedia page for singer-songwriter Tom Hall, who died by suicide. Pavao said that someone had searched for Tom Hall on Google after listening to him on Spotify.

The prosecution concluded its questioning and Lindsay Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, began his cross-examination just after 10 a.m. 

Reddington questioned Pavao about whether or not someone else could’ve been logged in to Clancy’s account on the computer and said that Clancy’s husband at the time, Patrick Clancy, “loved Tom Hall.”

“That search was not actually methods of suicide; it was from the Tom Hall link,” Reddington said. “You don’t know if it was Lindsay Clancy who used the computer to search Tom Hall.”  

Pavao wrapped up his time on the stand just before 10:30 a.m. after a redirect and recross-examination. 

Lindsay Clancy’s notes, texts

Timothy Chiappini, a former State Police detective for Plymouth County, took the stand after Pavao. He currently works as a unit commander for the State Police critical investigations team. He testified that he was asked to do a forensic analysis of Clancy’s iPhone.

Chiappini read entries from Clancy’s notes app on Oct. 25, 2022.

“I am sad and depressed because I cannot parent my third child like my first. I want to treat every one of my babies like my first. But I know that’s not a feasible possibility. I am sad I stopped breastfeeding. I feel not as connected with Cal now. I think I sort of I resent my other children because they prevent me from treating Cal like my first baby. And I know that’s not fair to them. I know that. I was feeling so depressed last evening when Cora and Dawson came home from school. I know it runs off on them so we had a pretty rough evening. I want to feel love and connection with all my kids. I’m also probably having a bit of an internal conflict because my whole life I’ve wanted to have a lot of kids. I still don’t want Cal to be our last, but I have a lot of figuring out to do before I have another. I’m on the fence about starting a new medication for anxiety/depression. I just want to feel happy. I want to be able to relax and take care of my kids. And when they go to bed at night, I want to deeply relax and hang out with Pat and then fall into a deep sleep for 8 hours, get up and pour hard into myself for an hour and a half. Cal was so very planned and desired. I want to be able to give him all the love he deserves,” Chiappini read in court.

The prosecution also asked Chiappini about text messages and calls from Clancy’s phone between her and Patrick on Jan. 24, 2023, the day Lindsay Clancy killed her three young children. Chiappini read out several messages between the two where Patrick and Clancy discussed getting takeout for dinner at a restaurant called ThreeV.

He also testified that the two had exchanged several phone calls after 5 p.m., two from Patrick that Clancy did not answer and one from Clancy where they talked for around 14 seconds.

Reddington began his cross-examination of Chiappini around noon, where he asked Chiappini about Clancy’s texts and search history. Reddington asked if Chiappini remembered several searches on Clancy’s phone, including “How to slit your throat to die?” “Can you turn airbags off on Kia Sorento?”

“I don’t recall,” Chiappini said.

Reddington told Chiappini that Clancy did search for those questions, but Chiappini did not locate them during the forensic analysis of her phone.

“Do you recall, sir, that there was also a search for schizophrenia?” Reddington asked. “Not specifically,” Chiappini answered. “How about psychosis? Did she search for psychosis as well?” 

“There is a keyword search and a Google search,” Chiappini said, referring to documents provided by Reddington. 

During the cross-examination, Chiappini was asked to read through a series of searches from Clancy’s phone, including one from Jan. 19, 2023 about hallucinations. Reddington also asked Chiappini to read through text messages between Patrick and Clancy from Jan. 24, 2023, including one from Patrick that said: “You’re a good Mamma.” 

Chiappini finished his testimony just after 1 p.m. and the jury took a lunch break. 

Joshua McKelligan, a Massachusetts State Police officer in the homicide unit, took the stand after lunch. McKelligan went to the Clancys’ home in the early morning hours of January 25, 2023 to look around. He was shown pictures and videos from the prosecution of the state of the house, including blood spatter. 

McKelligan also testified that he knew that Clancy was on psychiatric meds at the time and included it in the search warrant for the home. His testimony concluded after 20 minutes and a brief cross-examination from Reddington.

Court ended early on Thursday and there will be no testimony on Friday.

Sullivan told jurors to “take these next couple days and rest up. It’s been a long couple of weeks.” Seventy witnesses have testified so far as the prosecution gets closer to the end of its list.  

Commonwealth asks to spea with Dr., and priest

After testimony ended on Friday, the Commonwealth asked for the records of people who have spoken with Lindsay Clancy during the trial, including a priest and medical staff such as psychologist Dr. Paul Zeizel.

Sullivan declined to allow the Commonwealth access to records involving the Roman Catholic priest, but agreed to allow information on Dr. Zeizel.

Lindsay Clancy trial

Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan, in their Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023.

Prosecutors Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham said Clancy planned the murders before faking a suicide attempt. Reddington said she admits to killing her children, but noted she should not be held criminally responsible because she was overmedicated and suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Several jurors were seen crying Wednesday as autopsy photos were shown. Judge William Sullivan sent the jury out of the courtroom twice Wednesday afternoon as Clancy sobbed loudly during testimony about her children.

Clancy faces life in prison without parole if she’s convicted of first-degree murder. If the jury finds that she was not criminally responsible for the deaths of her children, she will be sent to a state psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline here.

For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email info@nami.org.