Jury returns to courthouse for day 4 of deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial
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PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts — The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended deliberations Monday without reaching a verdict and will return to court for the fourth day of deliberations on Tuesday.
The 12-person jury, made up of nine women and three men, has deliberated for around 17 hours since Thursday.
Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the killings of her children Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months. The jury is able to consider first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter charges.
Both prosecutors and her defense agree Clancy was mentally ill when she fatally strangled her children with exercise bands and attempted suicide at their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on January 24, 2023. The key question for the jury is whether she is “criminally responsible,” a legal term meaning she appreciated the wrongfulness of her actions and was able to follow the law.
Prosecutors called over 70 witnesses as they argued Clancy “acted intentionally, rationally and swiftly” when she killed her children. They argued she still knew right from wrong at the time, noting she sent her husband out to run errands before killing the kids, and upon waking in a hospital she was “horrified” and asked for an attorney.
Her defense attorney called 10 witnesses as he argued she was a good mother who suffered from postpartum psychosis. In the months leading up to January 2023, she had been prescribed over a dozen psychiatric medications and several times checked herself into a hospital to treat her depression, anxiety, insomnia and suicidal thoughts.
Her downfall came “because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she got,” defense attorney Kevin Reddington said in closing arguments.
The trial has put a renewed spotlight on maternal mental health and prompted a group of pink-wearing women to rally outside court in a show of support for and sympathy with Clancy last week.
Clancy did not testify in the trial. She is now partially paralyzed due to her suicide attempt and has been held at Tewksbury hospital since 2023.
She faces life in prison if found guilty of murder. If the jury finds her not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, prosecutors could petition the court to have her committed to a psychiatric facility.