By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter
A prosecutor in the Lindsay Clancy trial is facing criticism for questioning the defendant’s mother-in-law about mortal sin and her Catholic faith, a moment that reportedly left the courtroom stunned.
Susan Clancy, the mother of Lindsay Clancy’s ex-husband Patrick Clancy, testified for the defense on Tuesday at her former daughter-in-law’s murder trial. Lindsay, 36, a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, is facing murder charges for the January 2023 deaths of her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan.
During cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham asked Susan Clancy whether she is an active member of the Catholic Church, and the mother-in-law answered yes.
The prosecutor then asked Susan Clancy, “So you’re aware that murder is considered a mortal sin?”
Judge William Sullivan called a sidebar in response to the prosecutor’s line of questioning, with the jury later receiving instructions to disregard it.
Fox News’ Chaley Painter, who was present during the cross-examination and seated in the gallery, said there was a “collective gasp” in the courtroom after they heard the question from the prosecutor.
Casey Jordan, an attorney and the host of the true crime podcast “Criminal Appeal,” criticized Buckingham’s question, describing it as “far beyond inappropriate.” Jordan believes that the prosecution was using the question about Susan’s faith to try to argue that her daughter-in-law “committed the worst crime ever under the canons of the Catholic faith.”
The true crime podcast host said she yelled “Objection!” the moment she heard the question from Buckingham, calling it “a huge misstep on behalf of the prosecution.”
“The inference is that if you’re a Catholic, you have to believe that Lindsay Clancy not only murdered the children, but deserves to die for it,” Jordan argued, according to CT Post.
Susan Clancy also testified on Tuesday that she and her former daughter-in-law had a good relationship, but recounted that Lindsay Clancy appeared to become increasingly anxious starting in the fall of 2022. She described Lindsay as a “wonderful mother” who was “very nurturing, very loving.”
The mother-in-law said the family had become concerned about Lindsay Clancy in the months leading up to the murder of her three children.
At one point, the jury saw a text that Lindsay Clancy sent her mother-in-law on Nov. 30, 2022, two months before the murder, that read, “I’m not okay and I’m terrified of taking meds tonight.” Lindsay Clancy was reportedly struggling to sleep without the aid of benzodiazepines, but she was afraid of developing a dependency on the medication.
Patrick Clancy found the bodies of the couple’s children in the basement of their home on Jan. 24, 2023. Attorneys for Lindsay Clancy argue that the mother killed her children and then attempted to take her own life because she was overmedicated and struggling with bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis.
Lindsay Clancy’s attorneys maintain that these factors, combined with stress and sleep deprivation, mean that she should not be held criminally responsible for her actions.
Prosecutors have made the case that Lindsay Clancy planned the murders of her three children, arguing that the mother should be held criminally responsible for their deaths.
On the day of the murder, Lindsay Clancy asked her husband to go pick up takeout food and medication, which prosecutors argue was an excuse to make Patrick Clancy leave the house so she could kill the children.
During his testimony earlier in the trial, Patrick Clancy recalled finding his wife injured and bleeding after she attempted to kill herself by jumping from the second-story window of their home. Lindsay Clancy allegedly told him that she had tried to end her life and that their children were in the basement. But she didn’t tell him that she had killed them.
Earlier in the trial, the jury listened to a recording of Patrick Clancy’s 911 call and heard the moment that the father discovered the bodies of the three children who had been strangled to death with exercise bands.
Patrick Clancy has said in interviews following the deaths of the children that he forgives his ex-wife, claiming that she was ill at the time.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman