Jurors weighing whether Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three young children told the court Tuesday they had been unable to reach a unanimous verdict, but the judge directed them to continue deliberating after more than three days of discussions.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Jurors in the closely watched trial of Lindsay Clancy told a Massachusetts judge Tuesday that they had been unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether she was criminally responsible for killing her three young children, prompting the court to send them back for further deliberations.
The disclosure marked the first public indication that the jury had reached an impasse after more than three full days of deliberations.
Clancy, 36, sat facing forward as jurors entered the courtroom before turning her attention toward them while Judge William Sullivan addressed the panel.
“I know that this was a long trial, all right,” Sullivan said. “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.”
The jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon following more than four weeks of testimony centered on whether Clancy understood the wrongfulness of killing her children or was suffering from severe postpartum mental illness that left her without criminal responsibility.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
She does not dispute that she strangled her three children — Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months — but her attorneys argue that postpartum psychosis caused her to lose contact with reality.
Prosecutors contend that Clancy was depressed and suicidal but nevertheless understood what she was doing and made a conscious decision to kill the children before attempting to take her own life.
Jurors may convict Clancy of murder or manslaughter or acquit her if they conclude that her mental condition rendered her legally not responsible for the killings.
A murder conviction could result in a life prison sentence.
Even if Clancy is acquitted on the basis of lack of criminal responsibility, a judge could order her committed to a mental health facility if a subsequent evaluation determines that she remains a danger to the public.
Jury Previously Asked to Review Physical Evidence
Before Tuesday’s indication of a deadlock, the jury had offered few signs about the direction of its deliberations.
On Friday, jurors asked to examine a knife Clancy used to injure herself and bags containing empty prescription pill bottles recovered from the family home.
The physical evidence formed part of a much broader record that included testimony from more than 80 witnesses and more than 300 exhibits.
The case has generated intense public attention because of its focus on maternal mental illness following childbirth and sharply differing interpretations of Clancy’s condition before and during the killings.
Her defense maintains that she deeply loved her children but suffered a catastrophic psychiatric deterioration that ultimately caused her to lose her grasp on reality and on herself.
In the months before the deaths, Clancy sought help from multiple medical providers as her mental health worsened.
She also voluntarily admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital.
Less than three weeks after being discharged, prosecutors say, Clancy sent her husband away from their home on an errand and strangled all three children with exercise bands in the basement of their house south of Boston.
She then jumped from a second-floor window.
Clancy survived but remains paralyzed from the waist down.
Experts Offered Conflicting Views of Clancy’s Mental State
A central issue for jurors is the sharply conflicting expert testimony about what Clancy understood at the time of the killings.
A forensic psychologist called by prosecutors testified that he concluded Clancy killed her children because she intended to die by suicide and did not want to leave them behind.
A psychologist testifying for the defense reached a different conclusion, saying Clancy did not recognize the “wrongfulness” of killing her children because of her psychiatric condition.
Her mother and sister also testified during the trial, describing Clancy as increasingly anxious, paranoid and suicidal before the deaths.
Defense attorneys have identified postpartum psychosis as the condition responsible for her actions.
Postpartum psychosis is considerably rarer and more severe than postpartum depression.
Researchers estimate that it develops in approximately 1 to 2 women per 1,000 deliveries. Most women who experience the condition do not harm themselves or their children, but severe cases can involve delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and an increased risk of self-harm or harm to others.
Prosecutors have argued that Clancy’s documented mental health struggles did not eliminate her ability to understand her actions.
They maintain that she planned the killings, waited until she was alone with the children and acted deliberately.
Patrick Clancy Testified for Two Days
Jurors also heard two days of testimony from Clancy’s former husband, Patrick Clancy.
His 911 call was played during the proceedings.
Patrick Clancy was still speaking with the emergency dispatcher when he discovered the bodies of his children, minutes after finding Lindsay Clancy seriously injured outside the house.
He has said publicly that he forgives his ex-wife and views what happened through the lens of severe illness rather than evil.
The trial was the first time Patrick Clancy had seen Lindsay Clancy since the killings.
Lindsay Clancy did not testify in her own defense.
She remained at the defense table throughout the proceedings and at times became visibly emotional, including when prosecutors showed jurors autopsy photographs of the children.
The jury must now return to deliberations after Sullivan declined to accept the initial impasse as final.
The panel’s eventual decision will turn on one of the central disputes presented throughout the trial: whether Clancy’s psychiatric condition deprived her of legal responsibility for killing Cora, Dawson and Callan, or whether she remained capable of understanding the nature and wrongfulness of her actions.
If you or someone you know needs help, the national Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States is available by calling or texting 988.
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