The judge in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial says he’s ready to declare a mistrial but gave her defense attorney a last-minute “Hail Mary” before doing so.
The judge said in court that he saw no choice but to declare a mistrial after receiving a note from the jury Friday stating, “With a heavy heart, we report we cannot come to a unanimous decision.”
In a stunning development, the judge then allowed Clancy’s defense attorney one hour to get a stay from the Supreme Judicial Court. The mistrial ruling is now on hold.
Jurors have deliberated for seven days and told the judge three times that they have been unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
If the judge declares a mistrial, prosecutors must decide whether to retry the case, offer a plea deal, or drop the charges.
open image in galleryA conviction could mean life in prison for Clancy, while an acquittal might lead to confinement in a mental health facility.
Over a five-week trial, the jury heard testimony from doctors, first responders, relatives and even Clancy’s former husband. The jurors were tasked with determining whether she should be held criminally responsible for killing her three young children at her Massachusetts home in 2023.
Both sides agree Clancy did it. But her attorneys argued the former labor and delivery nurse was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time, and that poor mental healthcare exacerbated her condition. Prosecutors argued she intentionally planned the killings.
Clancy’s former husband made anguished 911 call
Clancy’s former husband, Patrick Clancy, was first to take the stand at trial. In emotional testimony, he described the day he found his wife after she tried to kill herself.
Lindsay Clancy had sent him out to get takeout food and medication for their daughter, which prosecutors argue was an excuse to get him out of the house.
open image in galleryHe came home to find the house unusually silent, before finding blood throughout the main bedroom and a window open.
Jurors listened to the 911 call Patrick Clancy made after finding his wife outside in the snow. Clancy can be heard speaking with his wife, then tells the dispatcher he’s going to check on the children.
Moments later, he howls and cries after finding his children in the basement. The confused dispatcher repeatedly asks what happened.
“She killed the kids!” he yells.
Everyone knew Clancy was struggling
Clancy’s mother, mother-in-law, sister, friends and co-workers testified that Clancy struggled with her mental health after giving birth to Callan, the youngest of her three children.
open image in galleryClancy’s mother-in-law, Susan Clancy, said she and her former daughter-in-law were close. Both worked as labor and delivery nurses. She described Lindsay as a wonderful mother.
But Susan Clancy testified that Lindsay had become anxious, paranoid and suicidal, and that the psychiatric care she was getting wasn’t helping.
“She felt unwell. She had insomnia. She was losing her appetite. She was very anxious and sad,” Susan Clancy said. “She was begging for help.”
Lindsay Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that her daughter was scared of sleeping alone, became paranoid and believed the medications she was taking “were destroying her mind.”
open image in gallery“Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I’m really sick. Something is wrong,” Clancy wrote in an October 2022 text message that Paula Musgrove read in court.
“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 defense questioned the quality of Clancy’s medical care
Clancy saw several doctors about her declining mental health, and eventually checked herself in to a psychiatric hospital. Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, argued that she was misdiagnosed and overmedicated.
As he cross-examined one of her psychiatrists, Dr. Jennifer Tufts, Reddington questioned her expertise, prescribing decisions and use of 25-minute video appointments with limited time for talk therapy. At one point, Reddington implied that Tufts was a box-checking “robot.”
“What did you do? You had a woman who was telling you she felt hopeless,” he asked as they discussed an appointment about two months before the killings.
“I told her that this was something we could address, that there was hope, that there are treatments, that there are different types of programs,” Tufts said, “so she knew that she still had options and a reason to hope.”
Clancy said she heard a voice telling her to kill
Paul Zeizel, a clinical and forensic psychologist who visited Lindsay Clancy in the hospital after she killed the children, testified that he overheard her saying that a disembodied male voice had told her she had no choice but to kill her children and then herself. Zeizel said he believed Clancy wasn’t responsible for her actions because of her deep mental illness.
Prosecutors called a rebuttal witness, forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun, who said he didn’t believe Clancy had hallucinated voices.
open image in gallery“One of the things that she said when I asked about what happened, is that in the course of strangling each child, she said, ‘Go to God, baby. Go to God,’” he said. “That was part of her expectation that she and the children would be together in heaven with God.”
Dr. Gregory Saathoff, a senior psychiatrist for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, testified for prosecutors that Clancy “had the capacity to know right from wrong.”
The lawyers got the last word
After testimony was complete, each side got about an hour to make their closing argument to the jury.
Reddington showed the jury a photograph of the Clancy family, looking happy, and a second one of Lindsay Clancy in the hospital.
“How does this turn into this?” Reddington asked. “How? Because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she got.”
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague said criticizing the mental health system was “a distraction.” She said Clancy chose to kill her children because doing so would make it easier to kill herself.
“She was depressed. She was exhausted. She was done. She didn’t want to try anymore. She felt damaged,” Sprague said. “But those kids, those kids were her protective factor. Those kids were keeping her from ending her misery.”
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