The ongoing trial of Lindsay Clancy, who faces charges for the 2023 deaths of her three children in Duxbury, Massachusetts, has become a focal point for intense social media scrutiny. While prosecutors allege that Clancy orchestrated a plan to remove her husband from the home before the incident, the defense maintains she is not criminally responsible, citing a severe episode of postpartum psychosis.
Since the trial commenced on July 20, the discourse on platforms like TikTok has shifted from initial sympathy toward a more conspiratorial tone. Users have been actively analyzing courtroom livestreams, debating a “hot mic” incident, and creating content centered on defense attorney Kevin Reddington. Some online observers have even begun questioning the innocence of Patrick Clancy, the defendant’s husband, despite his being cleared by law enforcement.
The defense team’s strategy briefly intersected with this online interest on August 11, when Reddington attempted to call TikTok creator Emily Thorndike to the stand. Reddington had identified Thorndike through her viral commentary regarding McLean Hospital, where Lindsay Clancy had sought treatment on New Year’s Eve. He argued that her critique of the facility would challenge the prosecution’s depiction of the hospital as a “five-star institution.”
However, Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan denied the request to have Thorndike testify. Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague successfully argued that the creator lacked the necessary expertise, noting, “This isn’t someone who’s proposed to be an expert … She’s been following the trial.” Regarding his awareness of the platform, Reddington remarked, “I hardly know what TikTok is.”
The fascination with the case has drawn comparisons to “forensic fandom,” a term used by Boston University assistant professor Katy Coduto to describe the compulsion to treat real-world criminal cases as solvable puzzles. Coduto’s research, conducted in 2025, suggests that such engagement often involves compulsive posting and the development of parasocial relationships with the subjects involved.
Matty Addison, a TikTok user who recently posted a video about the case, said that he became invested after a friend mentioned the trial. He described his involvement as an attempt to piece together a “puzzle,” noting that he felt a need to share his theories for a sense of community. “I have been up for the past three nights ’til 2 am, trying to put this together like a puzzle because of my ADHD; and I can’t, like, not solve a puzzle,” he stated.
The trial has also brought public attention to the realities of postpartum psychosis, a condition estimated to affect between one and two out of every 1,000 women. Defense witnesses, including psychiatrists and a former nanny, have testified that Clancy was a “loving mother” who suffered from depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation following the birth of her third child.
Despite this, online speculation persists, particularly regarding Patrick Clancy’s alibi. Some users have baselessly suggested that a body double was used at the pharmacy where he claimed to be during the incident. In a 2024 interview with The New Yorker, Patrick Clancy expressed his belief that his wife was not a “monster” but was instead suffering from a severe medical condition, describing the immense difficulty of distancing himself from his past.
The phenomenon of online sleuthing is not new, with the 2021 disappearance of Gabby Petito serving as a prominent example of how social media can drive public interest in active investigations. While some argue that such attention can be educational or therapeutic, experts remain cautious about the efficacy of these efforts.
“When you look at the amount of true crime sleuths who are out there compared to their actual successes, I think you see where the imbalance is,” Coduto noted. While she acknowledged that some cases warrant public attention due to their potential impact on law or policy, she emphasized that the hit rate for amateur investigators remains questionable.
In the ongoing trial that has been dominating headlines in recent weeks, Clancy is charged with murdering her three children in Duxbury, Mass., in 2023.
But after the trial began on July 20, social media commentary turned, with users sharing clips from the courtroom livestream, spinning conspiracy theories, analyzing a “hot mic” controversy and even posting thirst trap
“I’d bet $1000 Reddington has a Gen Z legal aide with a burner TikTok account combing through edits and comment sections,” reads a comment with over 15,000 likes under @glennbostontv’s video updating TikTok with the deve
Many are closely watching the livestream for clues and creating videos to back up their theories, a conspiratorial fascination in line with current cultural obsession with true crime.
When Clancy was first charged, mothers sympathetically shared their own stories of postpartum struggles and even acute psychotic episodes.
“I’d bet $1000 Reddington has a Gen Z legal aide with a burner TikTok account combing through edits and comment sections,” reads a comment with over 15,000 likes under @glennbostontv’s video updating TikTok with the development.
Has reached out to reps from both Reddington and Sprague’s legal teams for comment.
In 2025, Coduto conducted research on true crime followers’ online engagement and found many had compulsive posting behaviors, parasocial relationships and negative feelings surrounding the stories they followed.
“And I think that’s because true crimes, especially ongoing ones, people put them into a narrative format, even if they aren’t really a coherent narrative.”
The “van life” influencer was traveling with her fiancé Brian Laundrie, but was reported missing when he returned to his family’s home without her.
Internet users then scoured Petito’s social media, looking for signs of abuse, largely sparked by body cam footage from before the couple disappeared.
He then fled, a manhunt ensued and his remains were found a month later with a notebook containing his confession.
Many writers opined at the time that engaging with Petito’s case to try to solve the crime ended up being therapeutic and educational, and opened up a discussion about relationship violence.
The Clancy trial has shed light on postpartum psychosis, which affects between 1 and 2 per 1,000 women, according to one study.
Online sleuths think his alibi that he was at CVS picking up medications is too perfect; they’ve gone so far as to say that a body double walked into the pharmacy that night.
Others have tried to paint a motive by baselessly drawing conclusions from his later remarriage and move to New York City.
I just think it could be very rare,” Coduto said.
