Commonwealth v. Clancy, July 30, 2026
First responders, ten of them, in roughly the order they reached the house. Eight went unchallenged; the two the defense did cross-examine were the paramedics who had described the defendant's own wrist and neck wounds as superficial.
Key points
- TEN FIRST RESPONDERS, AND THE DEFENSE CROSS-EXAMINED TWO. Eight of the ten — every witness who spoke to the condition of the children, the discovery in the basement and the resuscitation attempts — went entirely unchallenged. The only two Reddington questioned, Robert Costanzo and Daniel Dougherty, were the paramedics who had treated the defendant herself. NBC10 Boston made the minimal cross-examination the subject of its own legal-analyst segment. Whatever the defense case becomes, the Commonwealth's scene evidence from this day stands untested.
- THE REAL FIGHT OF THE DAY WAS OVER WHETHER THE SUICIDE ATTEMPT WAS GENUINE, AND BOTH SIDES SHOWED THEIR HAND. The Commonwealth's line, laid down witness by witness: the wrist and neck cuts were superficial, they were not actively bleeding, no responder thought they needed first aid, and on redirect ADA Sprague added that the ambulance was lit, the hospital heated, the wrists not sutured until the next day and the neck never sutured at all. The defense's answer, put to two witnesses: it was dark, it was — Reddington's phrase — wicked cold, she had been on the ground for some time, and hypothermia constricts blood flow. Dougherty conceded he could not say what effect, if any, the cold had had.
- AGAINST THE COMMONWEALTH, FROM ITS OWN WITNESS: THE MEN WHO CALLED THE WOUNDS SUPERFICIAL DID NOT KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS WRONG WITH HER. Reddington got Costanzo to confirm that when he described the neck cuts as superficial he did not know she had suffered a burst fracture of the cervical spine, had fractured ribs, or was hemorrhaging. That is the defense's structural answer to the superficial-wounds case and it arrived on day three, long before Dr. Vulfovich gave the spinal fractures and the severe hypothermia from the witness box on August 17, 2026. See the self-inflicted thread in evidence.json.
- NARCAN DID NOTHING, AND BOTH SIDES WILL WANT THAT. Costanzo found the defendant with constricted pupils and unresponsive, treated her for a possible opioid overdose and gave her two milligrams of naloxone. She became more agitated — reaching and grabbing a little more — but never fully woke. The defense drew out on cross that there was no real response and that agitation of that kind is also consistent with a head injury. Read alongside the toxicology thread in evidence.json, where ethanol and cannabinoids were negative and the benzodiazepine levels came back lower than expected.
- THE ONLY CONTESTED EVIDENTIARY MOMENT WAS AN INFANT CPR DEMONSTRATION, AND THE DEFENSE LOST IT. Reddington objected when Jennifer Stratton was asked to describe the chest compressions she gave Callan with her thumbs; Sullivan let her answer. No ground and no reasons are reported.
- AN OBJECTION AT 10:11 STOPPED THE MORNING AND WAS NEVER EXPLAINED. Reddington objected as the Commonwealth moved to call its next first responder. The jury went out, counsel went to sidebar, and court did not resume for about twenty minutes. No outlet reports the ground, the argument or the ruling. East Idaho News calls it a renewed objection, which implies an earlier one nobody describes.
- THE TWO RESPONDING OFFICERS PUT THE NECK WOUND ON DIFFERENT SIDES. CNN reports Hall saying the cuts were to both wrists and to the LEFT side of her neck; CNN and East Idaho News both report Josephine describing cuts to the RIGHT side of her neck, minutes later and on the same patient. Recorded in evidence.json as neck-wound-side and not resolved here.
- CALLAN WAS THE ONLY CHILD WITH ANY SIGN OF LIFE, AND HE WAS THE LAST TO DIE. Josephine testified that a faint pulse had been found on the eight-month-old and that he was taken out of the basement first. Officer Cahill, checking earlier, found no pulse on either child he reached. The case reference records Callan meeting brain death criteria three days later, on January 27, 2023.
- THE CHILDREN'S POSITIONS AT THE SCENE, FROM THE PEOPLE WHO TOUCHED THEM. Dawson alone in a back basement room fitted out as a gym, on his back near a gym bag, an exercise band beside him. Cora and Callan face up on the floor of the other basement room, right next to each other, with their father sitting on the couch beside them when Dwyer arrived. This is the first time the scene has been described to the jury by anyone other than Patrick Clancy.
- THE DAY ENDED AT NOON AND THE COVERAGE GIVES THREE DIFFERENT REASONS. The judge's own words to the jury were that there were a couple of issues to hammer out. Boston 25 and East Idaho News record him saying the trial was ahead of schedule; CBS Boston's reporter said the Commonwealth had run out of witnesses; CNN points out that the schedule the judge gave that same morning had the day running its full length; and the Boston Globe simply says he was vague. Nobody reports what the issues were, and nobody connects them to the defense motion to strike filed on July 29, 2026, which is still not reported as ruled on.
- THE COMMONWEALTH IS RUNNING THE CASE IN ARRIVAL ORDER, NOT IN NARRATIVE ORDER. The ten witnesses came in roughly the sequence in which they reached the house, each adding one layer to the same twenty minutes. A researcher reading for the January 24 timeline should read them as overlapping accounts of one interval, not as a chronology.
Witnesses (10)
Stephen HallCommonwealth
Patrol officer, Duxbury Police Department. Among the first officers on scene on January 24, 2023, and the first witness of the day. East Idaho News numbers him the trial's fourth witness.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him. Cross: None. Reddington thanked him for his incredible service and asked no questions.
- Responded to the Duxbury house on the night of January 24, 2023, went through the gate at the side of the house and followed a man's voice calling from the back yard. East Idaho News.
- Found Patrick Clancy in the back yard, upset, and the defendant on the ground with her head toward the house and her feet away from it.
- She had cuts to both wrists and to her neck. None of the cuts were actively bleeding, and on his training he did not feel he needed to give first aid to them. CNN places the neck cuts on the LEFT side; Officer Josephine, describing the same woman minutes later, placed the cuts he saw on the RIGHT side of her neck. Neither account is corroborated by the other outlets and this file does not resolve it.
- She moved between consciousness and unconsciousness, could not speak, and made sounds he took to mean she was in pain. CBS Boston records him saying she sounded as though she was in pain. Boston 25, CBS Boston and CNN describe her as semi-conscious; the Associated Press account carried by PBS describes her as unconscious in the snow behind the house.
- When other officers arrived, Patrick Clancy left to check on the children. Hall heard him say he could not wake them and could not get them up, then heard a loud scream from inside, and ran toward it.
- In the basement he followed the voice into a back room that looked like a workout area and found a child on his back with his feet toward the door, shirtless in a diaper, colored bluish-purple. The child was later identified as Dawson.
- Called for paramedics and saw an exercise band in position with the child. He and Officer Josephine picked Dawson up and rushed him outside to the waiting EMTs.
- Went back down, turned the other way, and found two more children on the basement floor, motionless, with EMTs and paramedics already working on them. He later learned they were Cora and Callan. The paramedics asked him to bring them a heart monitor. Boston Globe.
- Outside again he looked up at an open second-floor window and saw blood marks around the window and on the shingles. East Idaho News adds that no window screens were found on the ground.
- Helped a paramedic who was attending to the defendant. She repeatedly pulled at her oxygen mask and he put it back on. East Idaho News.
- Photographs of the basement taken that night were shown while he testified and he identified them, including the room where Dawson was found and the room where Cora and Callan were found.
- THE MANNER OF THE TESTIMONY WAS ITSELF REPORTED. The Boston Globe describes him struggling to keep his composure, speaking haltingly and softly into the microphone, and at times removing his glasses to wipe his eyes.
Brian JosephineCommonwealth
Patrol officer, Duxbury Police Department; CBS Boston reports he was working an overtime shift. East Idaho News numbers him the trial's fifth witness.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him. Cross: None. Reddington told him he was sorry, he had no questions.
- Reached the house in about three to four minutes. CNN reports three; East Idaho News three to four.
- Found the defendant on the ground and Patrick Clancy standing over her holding a phone, apparently trying to communicate with her. Patrick Clancy then walked past him toward the house.
- Went to the defendant. She mumbled but did not speak. He saw cuts to her wrist and to the right side of her neck. They were bleeding, but not profusely, and he saw no need to apply pressure or use a tourniquet.
- Heard loud screams from inside, ran in and down to the basement with another officer, going to the right. The first room was cluttered; Patrick Clancy was in a back room, came toward them when he saw them, looked up and screamed that she had killed the children.
- Described Dawson: motionless on his back near a gym bag, head tilted to the side, face white-gray, lips blue, eyes bloodshot, red marks on the right-hand side of his neck. Mucus came from the boy's mouth when he lifted him.
- Picked Dawson up chest to chest and carried him up through the kitchen to the ambulance waiting at the main door.
- Went back down and found two firefighters already at work, one on Cora and one on Callan, the two children lying near each other. Cora had a pale tint, bluish lips, bloodshot eyes and dried blood around her mouth, and there was a pool of blood on the floor.
- Gave Cora chest compressions while another officer used a bag valve mask to give rescue breaths. It felt like forever, he said. Boston Globe.
- Callan was taken out of the basement first because a faint pulse had been found on him. The Associated Press account carried by PBS, WBUR and ABC7 attributes directly to Josephine the statement that only the eight-month-old had a faint pulse.
- Said that on his training and previous incidents he knew it was not going to be good.
- Went upstairs and found Patrick Clancy in the kitchen, frantic, screaming and in shock. One of the responders asked for an ambulance for him as well.
PJ HusseyCommonwealth
Captain, shift commander and paramedic, Duxbury Fire Department; East Idaho News reports seventeen years in the department. Sixth witness of the trial.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him. Cross: None. The defense asked no questions.
- Was on a twenty-four-hour shift and was dispatched with six personnel drawn from both Duxbury fire stations. CBS Boston and East Idaho News.
- Was in the back yard with the defendant and two paramedics when he heard screaming from the basement.
- Looked through a basement window and saw a man he now knows to be Patrick Clancy lifting a child whose head was blue and unwrapping something from around the child's head. He demonstrated the circular motion for the jury. East Idaho News.
- Put out an all-call for every Duxbury firefighter and requested mutual aid and more ambulances, including another for the defendant, because of the scale of the incident.
- UNTIL THE CHILDREN WERE FOUND, EVERY PARAMEDIC ON SCENE WAS WORKING ON THE DEFENDANT. Once the children were discovered one paramedic stayed with her and three went to the children, and someone was later assigned to look after Patrick Clancy. CNN.
- It turned very chaotic very quickly, he said. The phrase led the Boston Globe's and CBS Boston's coverage of the day.
Loring "Chuck" NuddCommonwealth
Firefighter and EMT, Duxbury Fire Department. Seventh witness of the trial.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him. Cross: None. The defense asked no questions.
- Arrived in four to five minutes and backed the ambulance into the driveway.
- Dawson was carried out to him. The boy's face was blue, there were marks around his neck and his body was pale.
- Performed CPR in the ambulance and hooked up a monitor, which showed no heartbeat.
- The monitor was then unhooked and taken down to the basement, where the other two children were being worked on.
- Drove the ambulance carrying Dawson to the hospital. Boston 25 and CBS Boston name it as the Plymouth hospital; the case reference records all three children as having been taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Plymouth.
- CBS Boston reports he was on the stand for roughly ten minutes.
Keith NetteCommonwealth
Captain and shift commander, Duxbury Fire Department. Eighth witness of the trial.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him. Cross: None. The defense asked no questions.
- Came in from off duty. Boston 25 records that the call fell on his day off and he went to work; East Idaho News records that he drove to the house in his personal truck.
- Took over Dawson's treatment in the back of the ambulance. The boy was blue, not breathing and had no pulse.
- Started an IV, attempted intubation, used a device to drill into the bone above the knee to deliver epinephrine, gave medications and continued CPR.
- Saw dark red marks around Dawson's neck. CNN.
- Never got a pulse back and never restarted the boy's heart, including during the transfer to hospital.
- CBS Boston reports that he also saw the Marshfield Fire Department bring out another child and helped with chest compressions.
- AGAINST THE COMMONWEALTH, MARGINALLY: the Boston Globe reports him saying Patrick Clancy appeared visibly upset in the emergency room after the children were pronounced dead. East Idaho News records only that he described Patrick Clancy as upset.
Patrick DwyerCommonwealth
Firefighter and paramedic, Duxbury Fire Department. Ninth witness of the trial.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him. Cross: None. The defense asked no questions.
- Was redirected from the back yard into the basement, went to the left, and saw two children on the ground with their father sitting on the couch next to them. CNN.
- Began CPR on Cora while his partner Jennifer Stratton attended to Callan. The two children were right next to each other.
- Described Cora: burst blood vessels around her eyes, blood around her mouth, bluish and pale skin, not breathing, no pulse.
- Rode with Cora to the hospital and used a defibrillator on the way. They shocked her once and did not regain a pulse.
- East Idaho News reports that he transferred her care to staff at Beth Israel; CNN names no hospital.
- Neither Dwyer nor Stratton could say that the child they worked on ever started breathing.
Jennifer StrattonCommonwealth
Paramedic and firefighter, Duxbury Fire Department; Dwyer's partner that night. Tenth witness of the trial.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined her. Cross: None. The defense asked no questions, but did object during her direct examination — see rulings.
- Arrived with Dwyer. An ambulance crew was already kneeling beside the defendant in the back yard when someone shouted for them to get inside the house. CNN.
- In the basement she found Callan and Cora face up on the ground next to each other. She got on the radio and called for more help and more ambulances.
- Went to Callan while Dwyer went to Cora. Removed the baby's pajama jumper and began chest compressions, using her thumbs because of his size. Boston Globe.
- Described deep strangulation marks around the entire circumference of the eight-month-old's neck. CNN.
- A bag mask was brought to deliver oxygen. An attempt to place an intraosseous line in the baby's leg was unsuccessful. East Idaho News.
- Carried him out of the basement in her arms to the ambulance and rode with him to the hospital, which Boston 25 names as Beth Israel Deaconess. He never started breathing on his own.
Robert CostanzoCommonwealth
Firefighter and paramedic, Pembroke Fire Department, responding on mutual aid. Eleventh witness of the trial. East Idaho News and CNN spell the surname Constanzo.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him on direct; CBS Boston names ADA Jennifer Sprague on redirect. Cross: Reddington. THE FIRST CROSS-EXAMINATION OF THE DAY, on the eighth witness of ten.
- Responded to a call for mutual aid and was directed to the back of the house.
- Found the defendant on a backboard wearing a cervical collar, her wrists already bandaged with no blood seeping through the bandages, and superficial cuts on her neck around the collar with no active bleeding. He observed no head injuries.
- She was moaning and groaning with no verbal response.
- Helped transport her to South Shore Hospital. Two IVs were started.
- Her pupils were constricted and she was unresponsive, so he treated her for a possible opioid overdose and gave Narcan — two milligrams, according to East Idaho News.
- SHE NEVER FULLY WOKE. She became more agitated, reaching and grabbing a little more than before, but did not regain consciousness. CNN, CBS Boston, Boston 25.
- ON CROSS: Reddington established that the Narcan produced no real response.
- ON CROSS: that she was already bandaged by the time Costanzo reached her.
- ON CROSS: that reaching and grabbing is also consistent with a head injury.
- ON CROSS, AND THIS IS THE POINT THAT CUTS: Costanzo did not know, at the time he called her neck and wrist wounds superficial, that she had suffered a burst fracture of the cervical spine, that she had fractured ribs, or that she was hemorrhaging. He confirmed he was unaware of all of it. CNN. CBS Boston renders the spinal injury as an adverse fracture of the vertical spine, which appears to be a garbling of the same question.
- ON CROSS: that the scene was dark.
- CBS Boston reports Reddington taking exception to the Commonwealth's characterization of the neck and wrist injuries as superficial.
- ON REDIRECT: he had the defendant on scene for about seven minutes, in the dark, with no exterior lighting and no flashlights.
- ON REDIRECT: he was in the ambulance with her for eighteen minutes, and it was well lit.
- ON REDIRECT: in that time he never saw blood pooling around her neck or flowing from it.
Daniel DoughertyCommonwealth
Firefighter and paramedic, Duxbury Fire Department. Twelfth witness of the trial. East Idaho News spells the surname Doughtery.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him on direct; the Boston Globe names ADA Jennifer Sprague on redirect. Cross: Reddington.
- Treated the defendant at the scene: called for a backboard, put the cervical collar on her and bandaged her wrists. A sterile pad was placed on her neck.
- There was dried blood on her neck. The neck wound seemed somewhat superficial to him because there was no active bleed, and she was not actively bleeding from the wrists either. CNN.
- She was not totally responsive but reacted to painful stimuli, and somewhat regained consciousness as they were moving her.
- He helped load her into an ambulance but did not transport her. He went instead to the ambulance that took Dawson, and operated the bag valve mask on the way.
- ON CROSS: Reddington called the night wicked cold and asked how hypothermia might affect blood flow in the body. Dougherty agreed it was dark and cold and that the defendant had been lying on the ground for some time, and agreed that cold could restrict blood flow.
- ON CROSS, THE ANSWER TO THE COMMONWEALTH'S WHOLE LINE ON THE WOUNDS: asked whether he could say what effect, if any, hypothermia had had on whether blood seeped through the wrist bandages or through the openings of the neck brace, Dougherty answered no. CNN.
- ON REDIRECT: ADA Sprague put it to him that the defendant's wrist wounds were not sutured at the hospital until the following day and that her neck wound never had to be sutured at all. He answered that he had not been given that information afterward, and gave the same answer about the neck. Boston Globe.
- The Boston Globe reports responders testifying on redirect that the ambulance was well lit and the hospital heated, and that the wounds still did not bleed heavily.
Vincent CahillCommonwealth
Patrol officer, Duxbury Police Department. Thirteenth witness of the trial and the last of the day.
Direct: Not reported which prosecutor examined him. Cross: None reported.
- Went into the house and found Patrick Clancy in the basement, screaming. Patrick Clancy directed him to the left-hand side, where two children were.
- Checked Cora for a pulse and found none, then checked Callan. CNN reports that neither child had a pulse. Boston 25's live entry on this point is garbled and cannot be relied on.
- Backed away to give the arriving firefighter-paramedics room, moved a large futon and an ottoman, and put the ottoman up on the couch.
- Helped with CPR and used a bag valve mask to give Cora rescue breaths. She did not start breathing on her own. This matches Josephine's account of an officer working the bag valve mask while Josephine gave compressions.
- Was then assigned to record who came in and out of the scene that night.
Exhibits and evidence
- Photographs of the basement of the Duxbury house taken on the night of January 24, 2023, identified by Officer Stephen Hall: the back room where Dawson was found, and the room where Cora and Callan were found.
- A photograph showing a yellow exercise band next to Dawson's body, which Hall identified. CNN.
- A photograph, submitted as an exhibit, appearing to show blood staining in the carpet of the room where two of the children were found. CNN.
- NO EXHIBIT NUMBERS WERE REPORTED for anything shown or admitted on 07-30. The exhibit index in case-reference.json carries a range 89-108 described as basement rooms, exercise bands, child locations, exterior window and blood marks, which is the same subject matter; no source ties those numbers to this day and this file does not assert the connection.
- Two courtroom demonstrations, which are not exhibits but were done in front of the jury: Capt. Hussey showed the circular motion he saw Patrick Clancy make while unwrapping something from a child's head, and Jennifer Stratton showed the thumb chest compressions she gave to Callan.
Rulings and objections
- -THE ONE CONTESTED EVIDENTIARY MOMENT OF THE DAY, AND IT WENT AGAINST THE DEFENSE. When Jennifer Stratton was asked to describe the chest compressions she had given eight-month-old Callan — she used her thumbs, because of his size — Reddington objected. Judge Sullivan allowed her to answer. ARGUED: no ground for the objection is reported by any outlet, and no reasons were given for the ruling. Reported by the Boston Globe and East Idaho News. Not separately timestamped; it fell inside her direct examination, which East Idaho News opens at 11:24 and Boston 25 runs from about 11:23 to 11:33.
Procedural
- 09:19Court in session. Judge William F. Sullivan addressed the jurors about avoiding publicity and coverage of the case. East Idaho News. CNN's opening post of the day marks the session beginning without a time.
- 09:29Officer Stephen Hall called as the Commonwealth's first witness of the day. East Idaho News stamps it 09:27, Boston 25 09:31.
- 09:50Hall excused without cross-examination and Officer Brian Josephine called. East Idaho News stamps it 09:50, Boston 25 09:51, CBS Boston 09:58.
- 10:11AN OBJECTION THAT STOPPED THE MORNING, AND NOBODY REPORTS WHAT IT WAS. As the Commonwealth moved to call its next first responder, Reddington objected. Sullivan sent the jury out for a recess and took counsel to sidebar; CBS Boston stamps the recess 10:11 and the sidebar at about 10:15. East Idaho News describes it as a renewed objection. No outlet reports the ground of the objection, what was argued, or any ruling.
- 10:33Court resumed. East Idaho News.
- 10:36Duxbury Fire Captain PJ Hussey called. Boston 25 and East Idaho News agree at 10:36; CBS Boston stamps it 10:39.
- 11:32Reddington asked for a sidebar. East Idaho News records that several jurors were looking toward the defendant at this point, and that she sat with her head lowered and her hands over her face. No subject and no outcome is reported.
- 12:06COURT ADJOURNED FOR THE DAY, AT ABOUT NOON, WITH THE REASON UNSTATED. Sullivan told the jurors there were a couple of issues to hammer out and get done, and that rather than have them wait around, unsure how long that would take, he would excuse them for the day. Boston 25 stamps it 12:07 and CBS Boston 12:12. He told them the trial was ahead of schedule. THE EXPLANATIONS IN THE COVERAGE DO NOT AGREE: the Boston Globe says he was vague about the reason; CBS Boston's Kristina Rex reported that court ended early because the Commonwealth had run out of witnesses for the day; CNN notes that the schedule the judge himself had given before testimony began that morning had the day running its full length. No outlet reports what the issues were, and no outlet connects them to the defense motion to strike filed the previous day.
- -FRIDAY'S JURY VIEW CONFIRMED FROM THE BENCH. Sullivan told the jurors they would visit a couple of areas on Friday and then come back to the courtroom for more witnesses, and that he expected Friday to end early. CNN reports him saying the jurors would be able to walk around and that the lawyers were expected to point out significant features. The terms of the view — basement, first floor and second floor, no opening closet doors, no touching or disturbing anything — had been set on the record the previous day. CBS Boston's day-3 page, updated after the fact, says the Friday view took in the Kingston CVS and the Plymouth takeout restaurant as well as the house; that belongs to the July 31, 2026 entry and is recorded here only as this page's account of the scheduling.
- -CBS Boston reports that after the view the Commonwealth was expected to call medical providers from South Shore Hospital.
- -THE DEFENSE MOTION TO STRIKE FILED ON JULY 29, 2026 IS STILL NOT REPORTED AS RULED ON. Nothing read for this compilation places any ruling on it on this date.