No verdict after 3 days of deliberations in Lindsay Clancy trial over child killings

After three days of deliberation, a jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial has yet to reach a verdict on whether the former labor and delivery nurse is criminally responsible for the 2023 murders of her three young children. The jury in Plymouth County Superior Court, Massachusetts, began their deliberations on Thursday after hearing testimony from more than 70 prosecution witnesses and 10 defense witnesses over five weeks.

Clancy does not deny her actions, but her legal team argues she committed the crimes due to postnatal psychosis, a rare mental illness that can affect mothers after childbirth. Clancy had sought treatment for her worsening mental health in the months leading up to the killings, including a stay in a psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors contend that Clancy deliberately strangled the children, believing she was depressed and weary from life, and then attempted suicide while her husband was out.

The jury can find Clancy guilty of murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter, or they can acquit her if they determine she was not in control of her actions due to her psychiatric condition. If acquitted, Clancy could either be released or remain in a mental health facility. The three victims, Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy, were strangled using exercise bands in their family's basement in Duxbury, Massachusetts, before Clancy attempted to kill herself on January 24, 2023.

Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. Her sentence could range from life in prison to release or confinement in a mental health facility.