Lindsay Clancy’s defense team is asking the court to allow a former psychiatric hospital employee whose TikTok video sharply criticized prosecutors to testify in her ongoing murder trial.
The request was discussed Tuesday, Aug. 11, before the jury entered the courtroom. Judge William Sullivan heard arguments from both sides over whether Emily Thorndike should be added to Clancy’s witness list.
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Clancy is charged with murdering her three young children in January 2023. Her defense does not dispute that she killed them but argues that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and had been overmedicated, leaving her legally unable to understand or control her actions.
Former McLean Employee Becomes Potential Witness
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington previously filed a motion seeking permission to call Thorndike as a witness.
Thorndike is a licensed independent clinical social worker who worked at McLean Hospital for several years. She left the facility in December 2021, approximately one year before Clancy was admitted there.
Clancy was treated at McLean for several days in December 2022 and remained there through part of the holiday period.
Reddington argued that Thorndike could provide relevant information about staffing conditions at the hospital, particularly during holidays such as New Year’s, when Clancy was receiving treatment.
The defense maintains that conditions at the psychiatric facility could be relevant to understanding the treatment Clancy received before the killings.
Viral TikTok Criticized Prosecutors
Thorndike became involved in the case after posting a nearly 10-minute TikTok video discussing her experience working at McLean.
In the video, she criticized the way prosecutors had characterized the level of care at the hospital during their questioning of Clancy’s former husband, Patrick Clancy.
Thorndike accused prosecutors of presenting what she considered an inaccurate picture of the hospital and said she wanted to address what she described as “lies and misrepresentation.”
The video, posted July 29, quickly attracted significant attention and reportedly received more than 280,000 likes.
Her public comments are now at the center of the dispute over whether she should be allowed to testify.
Prosecutors Object to Her Testimony
Prosecutors argued against adding Thorndike to the witness list.
They pointed to her public criticism of the prosecution and noted that she had been following the ongoing trial. They also emphasized that Thorndike was not employed by McLean when Clancy was treated there.
The prosecution therefore questioned how much firsthand knowledge she could provide about the conditions at the hospital during Clancy’s admission.
Judge Sullivan did not immediately issue a ruling.
Instead, he indicated that he was considering having Thorndike questioned outside the presence of the jury through a voir dire process. The same procedure could potentially be used for another witness with direct knowledge of staffing levels at McLean.
Such questioning would allow the judge to determine whether the proposed testimony is relevant and admissible before jurors hear it.
Mental Health Is Central to Clancy’s Defense
The dispute over Thorndike’s potential testimony comes as Clancy’s psychiatric treatment remains a central issue in the trial.
Clancy was admitted to McLean Hospital several weeks before the deaths of her children. Her defense has argued that she was experiencing a severe psychiatric crisis and that medication contributed to the deterioration of her condition.
After leaving the hospital, Clancy ultimately killed her children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months old — using exercise bands at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
She subsequently jumped from a second-story window in what authorities described as an apparent suicide attempt. The fall caused severe spinal injuries and left her paralyzed from the waist down.
The prosecution and defense continue to offer competing explanations for Clancy’s actions and mental state.
Whether Thorndike will ultimately be permitted to testify could add another dimension to the debate over the psychiatric care Clancy received before the killings.
For now, Judge Sullivan has reserved a decision, leaving the former McLean employee’s potential role in the trial unresolved.
