The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children, has gripped the US. The 36-year-old does not deny strangling her children to death but claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.
Clancy is charged with killing Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months old, in 2023, while she was on maternity leave. Her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, found the bodies in the basement when he returned home. The former labour and delivery nurse has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
Jury deliberations continue
The trial started at the end of July, but Tuesday ended a fourth day of deliberations without a verdict. Jurors had previously said they could not agree on whether the mother is criminally responsible. The prosecution argues she knew what she was doing, according to The Mirror.
Judge William Sullivan has urged the jury to keep trying to reach a verdict, with deliberations expected to resume on Wednesday.
What happened to the children?
The family had been at their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on January 24, 2023, when Patrick said he nipped out in the evening. He told the court the mother had been outside with the kids building a snowman and was having "one of her best days". Clancy had reportedly told her husband she was having thoughts about harming her children or suicide.
Later, Patrick left to pick up dinner and medication, but when he returned, he found all three children dead and Clancy injured in the garden from a suicide attempt. She remains paralysed from the waist down and requires a wheelchair. All three children were strangled with exercise bands.
The trial and the defence
Clancy is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of assault and battery. The trial is largely about whether the killings were intentional, given her mental health. Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, says she was so mentally unwell she could not be held criminally responsible.
The trial heard she had bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, which led her to believe she heard a voice telling her to kill the children so she could end her life. In diary entries before the killings, Clancy wrote of feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and "desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone".
Prosecutors argue she acted intentionally, noting she was involved in everyday activities on the day of the murder, such as taking the children to the doctor and building a snowman. They claim she deliberately sent Patrick away on errands and have questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.
Postpartum psychosis and help sought
According to the NHS, postpartum psychosis is a serious mental health illness that can affect someone soon after having a baby. Symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions, mania, low mood, and confusion. It affects around one in every 1,000 mothers after giving birth and should be treated as a medical emergency.
Around three months after her youngest child was born, Clancy's mental health started to decline, according to court testimonies. She sought help from multiple providers and programmes in September 2022 and checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for several days in early January 2023. Her defence claims her care was disjointed and her medication was not managed well.
The clinic that saw Clancy testified she denied having plans to harm herself or anyone else and did not exhibit signs of mania or psychosis, but did report feeling suicidal. Her mother claimed Clancy told her and Patrick in December 2022 that she thought about harming the children.
Testimony and potential outcomes
The court has heard from Clancy's ex-husband, lawyers, and more than 70 witnesses, including family members and medical staff, but Clancy has not taken the stand. She has been held at Tewksbury Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, and has been seen crying in court, such as when prosecutors showed autopsy photos of the children.
The jury could convict her of murder or manslaughter, or acquit her if they believe her mental health was to blame. A conviction could see her spend the rest of her life in prison. If acquitted, a judge could still order her to be confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines she is a danger to the public. If the jury cannot reach a verdict and a mistrial is declared, the charges would remain and prosecutors would decide whether to retry the case. Alternatively, Clancy could be offered a plea deal, though her lawyer is more likely to push to drop the charges, according to Boston defence attorney and former prosecutor Brad Bailey, who is not involved in the case.
