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A dispute rooted in a TikTok video arose at the outset of Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial Tuesday, as her attorneys moved to add a former mental hospital staff member to the witness list — one who had publicly accused witnesses of spreading “lies and misrepresentations” about the psychiatric facility where Clancy was treated weeks before she killed her three children.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked Judge William Sullivan to add former McLean clinical social worker Emily Thorndike to the witness list, arguing that her years working on the same short-term unit could rebut what he described as a misleading picture of a “five star” hospital overflowing with treatment options that Clancy refused.
“Her involvement in this case came about after one of the prosecutors — I don’t recall which — made it out on direct examination that McLean is some kind of a five-star institution where the doctors, the psychiatrists, the psychotherapists, and the counselors were all banging into each other in the hallway trying to interview Miss Clancy, who was just blithely refusing care and treatment, which is not the case,” Reddington said.
WATCH: Defense seeks to add former McLean Hospital employee to witness list in Lindsay Clancy case
LINDSAY CLANCY’S HUSBAND COULD TESTIFY FOR HER AT TRIAL OVER DEATHS OF THEIR THREE CHILDREN
“So now the jury is left with that image that McLean is purportedly some kind of a five-star hospital because they are affiliated, quote-unquote, with Harvard,” he continued.
Clancy is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan. (Greg Derr/Pool/The Patriot Ledger)
LINDSAY CLANCY’S EX-HUSBAND DETAILS PILL USE AS EXPERT SAYS EVIDENCE COULD SHAPE MURDER TRIAL
Reddington explained that he tracked down the TikToker, later identified as Thorndike, after she took to the social media platform to expose the level of treatment at the mental health facility.
“I saw her video saying that she could not stand for, and I quote, ‘the lies and the misrepresentations from that witness stand about McLean Hospital’.”
Prosecutors allege that Lindsay Clancy strangled her children “deliberately and meticulously” before attempting suicide because she had grown tired of her life as a mother. (Greg Derr/Pool/The Patriot Ledger)
LINDSAY CLANCY DEFENSE SCORES ‘EXTREMELY HELPFUL’ PSYCHOSIS CONCESSION AS EXPERT FLAGS NEXT HURDLE
Prosecutors, meanwhile, fired back that Thorndike had left McLean roughly a year before Clancy’s stay, had no firsthand knowledge of her treatment and had been following the trial online before posting her opinions online.
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WATCH: Court debates new witness relevance over McLean Hospital staffing
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Sullivan appeared hesitant to let Thorndike to grade the quality of Clancy’s hospital care.
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“This is not Tripadvisor,” the judge quipped, saying he would not permit a battle over whether McLean deserved five stars or two.
WATCH: Judge shuts down ‘five-star’ hospital debate in Lindsay Clancy trial: ‘This is not Tripadvisor’
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But Sullivan called the narrower question of staffing and available programs a “closer call” and took the defense motion under advisement. He has not ruled about whether or not to allow Thorndike to take the witness stand.
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WATCH: Lindsay Clancy’s medical provider details psychiatric treatment and medication changes
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The witness list dispute came before jurors heard a series of desperate messages Clancy sent to her psychiatric nurse practitioner, Rebecca Jollotta, in late 2022 as she struggled with insomnia, medication changes and intrusive thoughts.
Lindsay Clancy listens to testimony on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (Greg Derr/Pool/The Patriot Ledger)
LINDSAY CLANCY’S EX-HUSBAND DETAILS PILL USE AS EXPERT SAYS EVIDENCE COULD SHAPE MURDER TRIAL
- Nov. 30: After saying her depression had worsened, Clancy told Jollotta she was “not at the point of being suicidal” but added, “I’m really feeling as if I can’t go on like this.”
- Later that day, on Nov. 30, she described the worsening depression as “feeling completely hopeless and unmotivated to do anything at all.”
- Dec. 1: She said she had started having “very intrusive thoughts that I never had before” and wanted to change her medication plan.
WATCH: Lindsay Clancy’s MyChart messages detail worsening depression and medication requests
- In another Dec. 1 message, she apologized for repeatedly contacting the clinic: “It’s just a scary, very scary, stressful time for me. And starting new meds with side effects is very scary to me.”
- Dec. 2, 7:51 a.m.: She said she woke with “horribly intrusive thoughts of wanting it to be all over.”
- Dec. 2, 9:04 a.m.: “I’m willing to try anything,” she later said, adding, “I feel like we are throwing all these different meds at my insomnia” and “I feel completely numb.”
- Dec. 3: Clancy reported that after going without Ativan, “all day I had horrible intrusive thoughts and felt deeply depressed.” She said that after taking 0.5 mg of Ativan, “now the thoughts are gone and I feel good.”
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Jollotta testified Tuesday that she interpreted the message as symptoms of depression and anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure, rather than suicidal ideation, and did not direct Clancy to immediately go to an emergency room.
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Digital reached out to McLean Hospital for comment.
