Lindsay Clancy mistrial declared after jury deadlocks in killings of her three children
Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Friday in Lindsay Clancy’s murder case after jurors said they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the killings of her three children after a week of deliberating at the Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The mistrial followed a dramatic dispute over an alleged 11-1 divide, with Clancy’s defense arguing that the lone holdout juror had acknowledged doubt but was refusing to properly apply the court’s instructions on reasonable doubt.
The alleged holdout is believed to be one of the three male jurors on the 12-person panel after defense attorney Kevin Reddington repeatedly referred to the unnamed juror as "he" in court.
Clancy’s attorneys made an emergency appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in an attempt to stay the mistrial and force further inquiry into the juror. Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt denied the request Friday afternoon, clearing the way for Sullivan to formally declare the mistrial.
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Clancy had been charged with first-degree murder in the January 2023 deaths of her children: 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan. Each of the children had been strangled with exercise bands.
The trial centered on whether she was legally responsible for her actions at the time, and the defense argued she wasn't due to postpartum psychosis.
Her attorneys argued that severe mental illness left her unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of what she was doing or unable to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law.
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Prosecutors maintained that Clancy remained criminally responsible and pointed to evidence they said showed planning, purposeful behavior and an awareness of what she was doing before, during and after the killings.
During the trial, Clancy's former husband, Patrick Clancy, testified about the day of the slayings, which happened while he was running errands that included picking up children's stool softener at a CVS store and takeout for dinner. They spoke on the phone while he was out.
Under Massachusetts law, once lack of criminal responsibility is properly raised, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant was criminally responsible.
The mistrial means the case ended without a verdict and Clancy was neither convicted nor acquitted. Prosecutors can seek to retry her but have not yet announced a decision.
Sullivan said he wants the case retried "sooner rather than later," suggesting a new trial could potentially take place later this fall. Clancy is due back in court Sept. 29 for a status hearing, trial assignment and a defense Rule 25 motion.
All previous bail orders remain in effect.
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The mistrial followed a trial that focused extensively on Clancy's psychiatric condition in the months and weeks before the children died.
Jurors heard testimony about her treatment by mental health professionals, psychiatric medications, anxiety, depression, insomnia and other symptoms documented before the killings.
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On Jan. 24, 2023, authorities responded to the Clancy family's Duxbury home after Patrick Clancy returned and found his wife seriously injured outside the house.
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The couple's three children were found inside.
Cora and Dawson died that night. Callan was taken to a hospital and died several days later.
Lindsay Clancy survived after jumping from a second-story window and suffered injuries that left her paralyzed in a wheelchair.
The prosecution and defense offered sharply different explanations for what happened before the children were killed.
The defense had argued that the deaths occurred after months of worsening psychiatric symptoms and treatment and that Clancy's mental condition had deteriorated to the point that she could not legally be held criminally responsible.
Specifically, the defense contended that Clancy heard a male voice that commanded her to kill her three children. Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist, said it was almost as if she was a "puppet."
"Not only did she hear a command, but she felt that her body was taken over by an external force where she was in a dream state and did not have control of her own body. It was almost like she was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings," Resnick said.
However, prosecutors rejected that claim and their experts argued that Clancy deliberately created an opportunity to be alone with the children and intentionally killed them.
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Gregory Saathoff, a forensic psychiatrist at the University of Virginia who consults for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, told jurors that Clancy's self-described auditory hallucinations were "very unusual."
"What was significant to me is that she had not spoken about hearing voices before to any of the mental health professionals, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, physicians and staff in the emergency department, or at McLean," Saathoff said.
"This was the first time she reported that, and that she experienced an auditory hallucination, according to what she told me. So that was unusual. And then what was very unusual was the fact that the voice stopped with the strangling of her youngest son," he added.
During the trial, members of Clancy's family revealed they were "very concerned" about her mental health in the months before she killed her three kids.
Susan Clancy, Lindsay's mother-in-law, told jurors she was concerned about her mental health during the holiday season in 2022, but said she was a caring mother.
"Lindsay was struggling. We were all very concerned," Susan Clancy said. "She was very nurturing, very loving. She was a wonderful mother. Wonderful."
"She was begging for help," Susan Clancy said.
Paula Musgrove, Lindsay Clancy's mother, also told jurors about the mental health problems. In an Oct. 20, 2022 text message, Lindsay Clancy asked her mother for help.
"Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I'm really sick. Something is wrong. I had horrible insomnia all night, and I just don’t know how I am going to get through the day... It’s just really scary, and I don’t want to be alone," the text read.