Lindsay Clancy Trial: Friend's Testimony Reveals She Called Herself "A Zombie"

**Susan Bertolo** (0:00)
This is live courtroom coverage of the trial of Lindsay Clancy from the Hidden Killers podcast in True Crime Today.

**Stephanie Williams** (0:08)
Now, back to the courtroom.

**Kevin Reddington** (0:13)
Good morning.

**Susan Bertolo** (0:14)
Good morning.

**Kevin Reddington** (0:14)
All right, I'm going to ask you to speak into that microphone.

**Susan Bertolo** (0:17)
Okay.

**Kevin Reddington** (0:17)
All right?

**Stephanie Williams** (0:18)
And keep your voice up so that we can hear you.

**Susan Bertolo** (0:20)
Okay.

**Kevin Reddington** (0:20)
All right, come on.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:22)
Thank you. Good morning. Could you please tell the jurors your first and last name?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:26)
Susan Bertolo.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:27)
And if you could just speak as loud as you can into that microphone, okay?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:30)
Yep.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:31)
Can you spell your last name for the record?

**SPEAKER_6** (0:33)
B-E-R-T-O-L-O.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:35)
And what city or town do you live in?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:38)
Plymouth, Massachusetts.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:39)
And where do you work?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:41)
Leaping Frogs Preschool.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:43)
Prior to working at Leaping Frogs, did you work at another preschool?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:47)
Yes.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:48)
Where was that?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:48)
Learning Sprouts in Duxbury.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:50)
And how long had you been with Learning Sprouts?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:53)
Four years.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:54)
Okay. Did you teach a particular age group at that preschool?

**Susan Bertolo** (0:59)
Yes. I taught the older preschool group. Okay.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:02)
And at Learning Sprouts, are the classes kind of divided up in some way?

**Susan Bertolo** (1:07)
They're divided by age. Toddlers, younger preschool, older preschool.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:12)
And is there a particular label to the rooms that they're in? Are they referred to in a particular way?

**Stephanie Williams** (1:17)
Yes, we were sunflowers.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:19)
So your group, the three to five year olds, is the sunflower group.

**Stephanie Williams** (1:24)
Yes.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:24)
And can you tell us a little bit about how the day is broken up for kids in the sunflower group?

**Susan Bertolo** (1:31)
Sure. So some children came in early at eight, and then the rest of the kids came in at 9.15. And then some are half day and some are full day.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:41)
And as far as, excuse me, your role with the kids in the sunflower room, you primarily interacted with them in the mornings, correct? Correct. And when the kids get dropped off, is it fair to say the bulk of the kids get dropped off around nine?

**Susan Bertolo** (1:55)
Yes.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:56)
And does that happen kind of like in a wave where parents drop off and they're kind of taken into the room as a group?

**Susan Bertolo** (2:03)
Yes. So the way our classroom was set up, we met them. They were dropped off to us at the door, and then we brought them into our classroom.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:10)
And they stayed with you in that classroom throughout the morning, correct? Yes. And the kids who stayed for the afternoon, did they stay with you in the sunflower room or did they go someplace else?

**Susan Bertolo** (2:21)
No, they did not stay with us. We closed up our room and our kids, the majority of our kids, we had a couple went over to the sweet pea room, which was across the hall.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:32)
And so are you familiar with Cora Clancy or were you familiar with Cora?

**SPEAKER_6** (2:36)
Yes.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:37)
And was she in the sunflower room with you?

**Susan Bertolo** (2:39)
Yes, she was.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:41)
Drawing your attention to September of 2022, what was her schedule, if you can recall?

**Susan Bertolo** (2:49)
I believe she was scheduled.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:50)
I don't remember the days.

**Susan Bertolo** (2:51)
I think she came three days.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:52)
Okay. And for the three days that she came, do you remember if she was just in the morning group or were there any days that she eventually did in afternoon?

**Susan Bertolo** (3:02)
So in the beginning of the year, she was three days and then went full day. And then towards the end of her time in our room, she did one afternoon, I believe. I'm sorry, one half day.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:13)
Okay. So fair to say, you then interacted with her at least three days in the morning and then she went to the Sweet Pea Room in the afternoon.

**Susan Bertolo** (3:22)
Yes.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:23)
And who was the teacher in the Sweet Pea Room?

**Susan Bertolo** (3:25)
Stephanie.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:28)
Would you be present when Cora was dropped off in the morning?

**Susan Bertolo** (3:33)
Myself or my coworker Karen, we took turns.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:36)
And fair to say, there were always the two of you assigned to one room with the number of kids in the class. Correct.