The judge in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial has ordered jurors to keep deliberating after they said they could not reach a unanimous decision.
The jury sent the judge a note Tuesday around the start of the fourth day of deliberations. It marked the first time the jury gave any indication they were at an impasse on whether to hold the Massachusetts mother criminally responsible for killing her three young children at her home in 2023.
On Friday, the jurors had asked to look at a knife that Clancy used to cut herself and bags with empty prescription pill bottles found in her house.
Clancy stared straight ahead as the jury entered and then looked toward them as the judge spoke to the panel.
“I know that this was a long trial, all right,” Judge William Sullivan said in response to the jury’s note Tuesday. “I know there were over 80 witnesses. There were over 300 exhibits. But because of that, I’m going to ask you to go back out.”
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children but says postpartum psychosis led to her actions. Prosecutors argue she knew what she was doing. The 36-year-old has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
Lindsay Clancy verdict options
The jury could convict her of murder or manslaughter, or acquit her if jurors believe her deteriorating mental health was to blame. A conviction could lead to a life prison sentence. If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines she is a danger to the public.
The jury began deliberating on Thursday afternoon. There had been little indication of whether they are making progress, outside of their request Friday to look at a knife that Clancy used to cut herself and bags with empty prescription pill bottles found in her house.
During more than four weeks of testimony, jurors heard differing views from medical experts about Clancy’s mental state after the birth of her third child, as well as her culpability.
Clancy's lawyer argued she loved her children, but killed them because she lost her grip on reality — and on herself — due to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that can follow childbirth.
Both Clancy’s mother and sister testified that she became anxious, paranoid and suicidal. Clancy sought treatment for her worsening mental health, including a stay in a psychiatric hospital, in the months before killing Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.
Less than three weeks after being discharged, she sent her husband out on an errand and killed the children with exercise bands in the basement of their home south of Boston. She then jumped from a second-floor window and remains paralyzed from the waist down.
Prosecutors said Clancy was depressed and tired of living, and made a conscious choice to kill the children before attempting suicide. A forensic psychologist who testified for the prosecution said he concluded that Clancy killed the children because she wanted to end her life but didn’t want to leave them behind.
Lindsay Clancy sought help before children’s killings
According to her defense, she had bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis that, ultimately, led her to believe she heard a voice telling her to kill the children so she could end her own life. A psychologist who took the stand for the defense said Clancy didn’t recognize the “wrongfulness” of killing her children because of her mental health issues.
Clancy chose not to testify. She watched the proceedings from the defense table, occasionally weeping, as when prosecutors showed autopsy photos of the children to the jury.
Jurors also spent two days listening to testimony from her former husband, Patrick Clancy, and his anguished 911 call. He was still on the phone when he discovered the children's bodies, minutes after finding his wife badly injured in the yard.
Patrick Clancy has said in interviews that he forgives his ex-wife, whom he viewed as ill rather than evil. The trial marks the first time he has seen Lindsay Clancy since the killings.
Postpartum psychosis, the condition that Clancy’s attorney says she had when she killed the children, is more serious and less common than postpartum depression.
Researchers estimate that the condition afflicts 1 to 2 out of 1,000 women after delivery. Although most who develop it don’t harm their children, mothers with severe cases might try to harm themselves or their kids.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI) or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you
