Procedural timeline: January 2023 to September 2026
Commonwealth v. Lindsay M. Clancy, Plymouth Superior Court, docket 2383CR00199. [S148]
One document in this timeline was read in the original: the District Attorney's 2023-10-26 news release [S82]. Everything else is as reported. Reliability grades are in sources.md.
2023
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 01-24, ~6:11 pm | 911 call to Duxbury Police reporting a suspected suicide attempt at 47 Summer Street; three children found in the basement | [S82] |
| 01-24 | Cora and Dawson pronounced dead at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Plymouth; Callan medflighted to Boston Children's | [S82] |
| 01-24, 8:15 pm | Blood drawn from Clancy; seven psychiatric drugs later identified | [S114] |
| 01-25 | Arrest warrant: two counts of murder, three of strangulation, three of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Cruz: "an unimaginable, senseless tragedy" | [S179] |
| 01-27, late morning | Callan died; third murder count followed | [S179][S82] |
| 02-03, Fri | Plymouth District Court Judge John A. Canavan III waived hospital security rules so forensic psychologist Paul Zeizel could examine Clancy privately at Brigham and Women's | [S178][S177] |
| 02-04 and 02-06 | Zeizel's first visits; the phone calls to Patrick | [S43][S105] |
| 02-07, Tue, 2 pm | District Court arraignment by Zoom from Brigham and Women's before Judge Canavan. Not guilty. No bail set; ordered held in hospital until fit for rehabilitation. Sprague: "She planned these murders"; "she is not paralyzed" | [S175][S176] |
| 05-02 | Transferred from Brigham and Women's to Tewksbury State Hospital; probable cause hearing moved from 05-02 to 07-25 | [S171][S172] |
| ~05-10 | Lowell District Court Judge John Coffey commits her under G.L. c. 123, s. 18, six months to 11-10; she waived the hearing | [S173][S174] |
| 06-12 | MSP search warrant for the shingles where blood was noticed | [S10] |
| 07-25 | Scheduled probable cause and status hearing; outcome not reported and mooted by the indictment | [S171][S174] |
| 09-15 | Grand jury indictment: three counts each of murder and strangulation. Case moves to Superior Court | [S82][S170] |
| 10-25 | Search warrants unsealed | [S169] |
| 10-26 | Superior Court arraignment at Tewksbury. Not guilty. Held without bail. ADAs Sprague and Amanda Fowle. Sprague argues the "regret" note, "created the situation," and "lowered herself out of the window." Held six more months as a danger to herself | [S82][S168] |
| 12-15 | Next scheduled date | [S82] |
2024
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 01-17 | Plymouth Superior Court sitting in Brockton: DNA buccal swab allowed, unopposed; judge finds "serious risk of imminent self-harm"; continued hospitalization unopposed | [S165][S166][S167] |
| 01 | Family home at 47 Summer Street sold to a third party | [S141] |
| 03-26 | Discovery motions hearing | [S167] |
| 05-15 | DNA collected at Tewksbury | [S10] |
| 10 | The New Yorker publishes Eren Orbey's profile of Patrick Clancy | [S83][S88] |
| 12-13, Fri | Defense files one-page notice of lack of criminal responsibility; DA moves for a September 2025 trial | [S161][S162] |
| 12-18 | Status; trial set for 2025-12-01; DNA and expert reports outstanding. Same day, subpoena issued to Orbey and Conde Nast | [S161][S87] |
2025
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 01-14 or 15 | Sullivan orders psychiatric examinations by Commonwealth-chosen experts; trial moved to 2026-01-05 | [S163] |
| 02-07 | Sullivan grants the New Yorker motion; production due 03-14 | [S86][S87][S164] |
| 03-14 | Conde Nast moves to quash: New York shield law, First Amendment | [S87][S88] |
| 03-26 | Globe editorial against the subpoena | [S89] |
| 05-16 and 06-02 | Original subpoena withdrawn and quashed; reissuance in New York permitted; never reissued | [S87] |
| 05-28 | Motions hearing by Zoom from Tewksbury. Rule 14 expert-materials exchange set for 06-27. Trial moved 01-05 to 2026-02-09 at defense request | [S160][S13] |
| 06-27 | Expert-materials deadline and status | [S160] |
| 10-29 | Assented motion to continue to 05-11-2026 or later: state physician evaluation, toxicologist and psychopharmacologist consultations pending | [S93] |
| 11-03 | Venue motion: Suffolk County, "courtroom 817," 100-plus pages of clippings | [S158] |
| 11-18 | Venue change denied from the bench. Trial set 2026-07-20; status 2026-01-27; final pretrial 2026-07-13 | [S91][S92][S159] |
2026, pretrial
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 01-07 or 08 | Accommodations hearing. Reddington: "very real probability" of suicide during trial. Transport agreement ordered within two weeks | [S154] |
| 2025-11-17 | South Shore Health discovers that an employee inappropriately accessed Patrick's and the three children's medical records. Disclosed to Patrick 2026-01-15; becomes Count III of his suit | [S205] |
| 2025-12-03 | Patrick Clancy appointed personal representative of the three estates, Plymouth Probate Court PL25P1826EA, PL25P1827EA, PL25P1828EA | [S205] |
| 01-20 | Patrick Clancy files 2682CV00071, wrongful death, Norfolk Superior Court, four defendants. Docketed 01-21; jury trial demanded | [S205][S207][S85][S156] |
| 02-03 | 2682CV00071 specially assigned to Hon. Michael Doolin by Chief Justice Ricciuti | [S207] |
| 02-20 and 02-27 | Service accepted in 2682CV00071: Tufts and Aster on 02-20, Jollotta and South Shore on 02-27 | [S207] |
| 03-27 | Patrick Clancy files an amended complaint in 2682CV00071, superseding the complaint read for this corpus | [S207] |
| 04-22 | All four defendants move to dismiss all counts of the amended complaint; Patrick opposes. Docketed 04-24 | [S207] |
| 07-23 | The Rule 12 hearing of 2026-10-07 is canceled by the court and moved to 2026-10-28 | [S207] |
| 01-22 | Lindsay Clancy files 2682CV00081, medical malpractice, Norfolk Superior Court, six defendants. Docketed 01-23; jury demanded | [S206][S208][S84][S157] |
| 01-27 | Amended complaint filed in 2682CV00081, apparently adding the further clinician defendants | [S208] |
| 01-29 | 2682CV00081 specially assigned to Hon. Michael Doolin; approved 02-03 | [S208] |
| 03-20 | Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and William J. Thompson of Lubin and Meyer appear for Lindsay Clancy in the civil case | [S208] |
| 06-04 | Motion to file a second amended complaint ALLOWED over Dr. Madva's opposition to being added | [S208] |
| 06-08 | Second amended complaint filed, eleven defendants. The operative pleading | [S209][S208] |
| 06-17 to 08-11 | Answers filed by all appearing defendants in 2682CV00081, each with a jury demand. Diaz and Dukes never appeared | [S208] |
| 07-08 | Lindsay Clancy files her offer of proof under G.L. c. 231 s. 60B | [S208] |
| 08-06 | Dr. Tufts demands a medical malpractice tribunal, specialty "Other-Psychiatry" | [S208] |
| 08-18 | Jollotta and Paul demand a tribunal | [S208] |
| 01-27 | Status; ambulance dispute still open | [S155] |
| 02-20, Fri | First in-person court appearance since 2023. Evaluation-recording dispute; motions set 03-02 | [S151][S152] |
| 03-02, Mon | Bifurcation, evaluation recording, and juror-list motions argued | [S153] |
| 03-31 | Bifurcation denied in a written order; Commonwealth-expert statements admissible only in rebuttal; forensic evaluation set 04-10 to 04-12; status 04-23 | [S145][S146] |
| ~04-03 | Motion for reconsideration with a written offer to stipulate to the conduct | [S147][S148] |
| 04-10 and 04-12 | Mack and Heilbrun interview Clancy at Tewksbury | [S189][S106] |
| 04-23 | Reconsideration denied. Karen Read discovery motion argued, under advisement | [S149] |
| 05-28 | Status: Commonwealth list at 168, defense about 50; transport settled by Sheriff's van; homeowner to object to the view | [S150] |
| 05-29 and 06-04 | Saathoff interviews Clancy by Zoom | [S107] |
| 06-11 | Commonwealth's 911-call and jury-view motions filed | [S141] |
| 06-18 | Final pretrial conference: 911 call, photographs, jury view allowed; blood-pattern demonstration deferred | [S140][S12] |
| 07-10 | Strangulation counts dropped as redundant | [S12] |
| 07-13 | Key rulings: lay postpartum witnesses excluded; sequestration denied; 18 jurors | [S142] |
| 07-20 | Undisclosed defense experts barred. Jury selection begins | [S143][S139] |
| 07-23 | Panel of 18 seated. Patrick Clancy's impoundment motion argued; the "circus" exchange | [S144] |
| 07-24, Fri | Impoundment of the 911 call and autopsy photographs allowed; motion to limit first responders denied | [S137][S138] |
2026, trial
| Date | Day | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07-27 | 1 | Openings; Patrick Clancy called, direct 11:45 am to 3:06 pm | [S6] |
| 07-28 | Dark. Defense motions to strike filed | [S3] | |
| 07-29 | 2 | Patrick Clancy concludes; 911 call played; Krause; Schelgren | [S3] |
| 07-30 | 3 | First responders Hall, Josephine, Hussey, Stratton | [S18] |
| 07-31 | 4 | Jury view of the house, ThreeV and CVS; custody officers; ER doctors Tenerowicz and Kaufman | [S31] |
| 08-03 | 5 | Snyder, Capraro, Amede, Shah, Biswas; Melo and Santos on the journals | [S32][S57][S185] |
| 08-04 | 6 | Crook on blood; O'Loughlin on prints; the chain-of-custody stipulation | [S33][S70] |
| 08-05 | 7 | Rossi; Brower on toxicology | [S34][S25] |
| 08-06 | 8 | Springer on Callan; Rosshirt; Christopher Clancy; Carney; Chiachio; Hennigan; DeCollibus; Bevins; teachers. Hot-mic incident | [S10][S44][S98] |
| 08-07 | 9 | Tufts direct; Goodheart; Hardy; S. Carney (58th) | [S100] |
| 08-10 | 10 | Tufts cross; Julie Paul begins | [S19][S37] |
| 08-11 | 11 | Paul concludes (61st); Jollotta; Clancy turns 36 | [S102] |
| 08-12 | 12 | Jollotta cross; Dukes; medical examiners Stonebridge and Olson; two recesses; Lawlor | [S11][S68][S38] |
| 08-13 | 13 | Pavao; Chiappini; McKelligan; crime scene video | [S7][S76] |
| 08-17 | 14 | Whiffin; Commonwealth rests after 74; required-finding motion denied; defense opens with Hamp, Ozga, Musgrove, Vulfovich; Susan Clancy also placed here by one account | [S104][S39] |
| 08-18 | 15 | Zeizel; Laposata; Condie; Susan Clancy; the mortal-sin question; first mistrial motion denied | [S105][S16] |
| 08-19 | 16 | Early dismissal; Zeizel continues | [S12] |
| 08-20 | 17 | Early dismissal; Cavanaugh; Thorndike heard outside the jury; rally | [S12][S43] |
| 08-21 | 18 | Resnick by Zoom; defense rests after 10; Mack begins | [S9][S15] |
| 08-24 | 19 | Mack cross by Zoom; Mack resigns from Nemours; Heilbrun; second mistrial motion | [S106][S97] |
| 08-25 | 20 | Motion denied; Heilbrun cross; Saathoff begins | [S17][S109] |
| 08-26 | 21 | Saathoff concludes; both sides rest; charge conference | [S28][S107] |
| 08-27 | Closings; instructions; deliberations begin | [S8][S46] |
2026, deliberations and mistrial
| Date | Day | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08-27 | 1 | About 4 hours | [S120] |
| 08-28 | 2 | About 7 hours; the only substantive question; pill bags, the knife and two other bottles sent back | [S120] |
| 08-31 | 3 | About 17 hours total; "Just stay the course" | [S121] |
| 09-01 | 4 | First deadlock note after more than 17 hours; sent back. Dawn Light arrested 3:40 pm | [S48][S49] |
| 09-02 | 5 | Light arraigned; jurors questioned; second note after 28 hours; Tuey-Rodriguez charge | [S20][S21] |
| 09-03 | 6 | Third note: 11 to 1, holdout "refuses to listen to the law"; heated sidebar; jurors questioned individually; removal motion denied | [S50][S63] |
| 09-04 | 7 | 9:06 no-sidebars motion; 9:16 inquiry refused; 11:24 final note; 11:26 intent to declare; one-hour stay; ~12:30 SJC petition; 1:30 Zoom hearing before Justice Wendlandt; 2:14 denied; 2:25 mistrial; 09-29 status set; juror list impounded 14 days | [S122][S124][S126] |
Pending as of 2026-09-05
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ~09-18 | Juror impoundment expires unless extended | [S62][S119] |
| 09-29, 9 am | Status hearing; Sullivan has said he wants to retry in the fall; Reddington expected to seek a required finding of not guilty | [S61][S119] |
| 10-15 | Dawn Light's next court date | [S49] |
| 10-28, 2:30 pm | Rule 12 hearing on the motions to dismiss all counts of Patrick Clancy's amended complaint, Hon. Michael Doolin, in person at Dedham | [S207][S84] |
| 2027-06-15 | Sullivan turns 70, the mandatory retirement age | [S119] |