Lindsay Clancy's Trial Just Lost Dozens of Witnesses

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Brueski and Robin Drake.

**Tony Brueski** (0:07)
One more case to get to before we wrap up today, and that would be the trial of Lindsay Clancy. It is still going on, second week, wrapping up and coming to a close. It's changed the shape of the case. Clancy spoke in open court for the first time, signed away the state's burden on the forensics basis and those basics, which have already been pretty much agreed to, that yes, she killed the children. We don't need to reiterate this 50 ways to Tuesday. And her lawyer confirmed what's been true from the start. She doesn't dispute that she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan. The only question this jury is deciding is whether her mind was her own that night. Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer is with us to break this down. It's been interesting watching the arguments here on August 4th. Reddington stipulated to the forensics, the blood, the DNA, the exercise band told the court it spares the jury dozens of witnesses.
Look at what actually landed here. The jury loses now days of sitting with the physical horror of what happened in that basement. That's meaningful. That's powerful stuff. If you're trying to put Lindsay Clancy behind bars, but it also nobody's arguing it either. But the prosecution also just got a bit shorter as well. Cleaner sprint to the end of this.
Who does this help? Does it help Lindsay Clancy? Does it help the prosecution not continue to hammer this over and over, something she's already admitted doing? I guess it all depends where the minds of the jurors are at. But what do you think?

**Jennifer Coffindaffer** (1:47)
Oh, it helps Lindsay Clancy.
It's a terrible stipulation for them. I mean, not for them, for the prosecution. And this is why.
You want those jurors to understand exactly what happened to those children. That one actually held on afterwards to life. I've tried to explain. It's pretty easy to make somebody lose unconsciousness with a stranglehold. It is very difficult to actually murder them. In other words, to have the oxygen be depleted from their brain for long enough that they actually die. This is not a quick process. It's not a few seconds. This is a long process. And I was really disappointed. I knew that there'd be no cross or anything, but the ME was great and to the point, unbelievable. But there should have been more details. I know they at least get the autopsy photos. But it's such a win for the defense not to have those jurors really understand the breadth of this murderous act committed by Lindsay Clancy.

**Tony Brueski** (2:56)
Did the exercise bands do most of the work for Lindsay, though? I mean, I'm not trying to be cold and callous here. Just arguing the points of the case of, yes, exactly what you said, it would take a lot of work. I've never done that, never put my arm, my hands around someone's neck, but I'll take your word for it that it's not an easy thing to do. But but she didn't do it. The exercise band, she put them around them. And then the exercise bands pretty much went to town and finished the job. So they wouldn't necessarily be sitting there going, and then she took her cold dead hands and squeezed there. I mean, that wouldn't be the argument. It's exercise band. She's out the window.
So I don't know. I mean, I also do wonder, is there a level of churn, if you will, that's going on with this jury? Not that you can churn the jurors out, but but just burnout. Maybe burnout's the right word. Burnout with the jurors of of hearing about what happened and the state hammering it over and over. When we already know what happened, she's already admitted to doing it. She's sitting there crying and sobbing in court every day through all of this.
I don't know, if I'm a juror and I'm sitting there, I'd be like, what are we doing? This is already established.

**Jennifer Coffindaffer** (4:15)
It's established in a very scholastic way, not in an emotional way, not in something that I think you can really picture. I know what you're saying about the bands. I say instead of a wedding next year, we do a self-defense class for the cooing. I show you all that even with a ligature, a band, a belt, a rope, whatever you have, there's still a lot of work to be done.
We saw it. I think it was Callan lived through it. Not Dawson. I pretty much think it was Callan. I recall right from the testimony that lived through it. Because as hard as she tried and as tight as those bands were, it didn't work and that poor kid had to suffer long after.