Judge Weighs Dismissal of Suit Over Deaths of Three Clancy Children

A Norfolk Superior Court judge is deciding whether to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of three children killed in 2023. Patrick Clancy sued the psychiatrist and nurse practitioner who treated his ex-wife, Lindsay Clancy, for postpartum mental health issues. He alleges they were negligent in their care.

Attorneys for the medical providers asked Judge Michael Doolin to dismiss the case on Wednesday. They argue that state law protects them from liability because Lindsay Clancy never told them she had thoughts of harming her children. The suit names Dr. Jennifer Tufts, nurse Rebecca Jollotta, and their employers, Aster Mental Health Inc. and South Shore Health System Inc.

Timothy Sweetland, representing Jollotta and South Shore Health, pointed to the state’s duty to warn law. He stated that providers generally cannot be held liable for failing to warn potential victims unless the patient makes an explicit threat. Sweetland insisted Clancy never made such a threat to Tufts or Jollotta.

Mary Alys Azzarito, representing Tufts and Aster Mental Health, added that the tragedy was unforeseeable. She noted that the outcome was shocking and undeniably tragic, implying the providers could not have predicted the specific result.

Howard Cooper, who represents Patrick Clancy and the estate of the children, countered that the suit focuses on medical malpractice rather than the duty to warn. Cooper stated that Lindsay Clancy would testify that she explicitly told the defendants she had homicidal ideation. He argued that the deaths were not random but quite foreseeable given her condition.

Kevin Reddington, the lawyer for Lindsay Clancy in her murder trial, disputed Cooper’s claim in a statement to the Globe. Reddington wrote that Clancy never told any healthcare provider she harbored homicidal ideation. He also noted that no one acting for Clancy ever represented that she intended to testify in the civil suit.

Clancy, 36, admitted to strangling her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, in their Duxbury home basement on Jan. 24, 2023. She then slashed her neck and wrists and jumped from a second-story window. She is currently paralyzed from the waist down. A mistrial was declared in September after a deadlocked jury, and Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not yet decided whether to retry her for first-degree murder or reduce the charges.

During the trial, Tufts testified that she treated Clancy starting in September 2022. Clancy reported intrusive thoughts about dying but denied suicidal or homicidal thoughts. Jollotta had three in-person visits and many messages with Clancy between November and December 2022. In the month before the killings, Clancy messaged Jollotta about intrusive thoughts regarding suicide, which Jollotta attributed to new medications.