Jury in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial Declared Mistrial After Deadlock

Jurors in Plymouth County Superior Court resumed deliberations Friday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse accused of strangling her three children in January 2023.

• 3 charges are possible: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter.
• First-degree murder requires proof of premeditation and carries life without parole.
• Clancy had been prescribed at least 13 different psychiatric medications before the killings.
• Jurors deliberated three and a half hours Thursday before resuming Friday morning.

Why it matters: Both sides agree Clancy killed her children; the only question is whether she bears criminal responsibility.

• Defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued she suffered from postpartum psychosis and that inadequate medical care worsened her condition.
• Prosecutors argued she planned the killings deliberately, pointing to her routine activities that day and her alleged effort to send her husband on errands beforehand.

How 26 sources split on this story

Where they split: The dispute is not about the facts of the killings but whether Clancy's mental state at the time negates criminal responsibility.

What’s next: If found not guilty, a judge can order a psychiatric evaluation and potentially commit Clancy to a state hospital.

• Clancy and her ex-husband have a separate medical malpractice lawsuit pending against her former care team.
• Will the jury accept that postpartum psychosis eliminated Clancy's criminal responsibility, or find that she retained awareness of her actions?
• Could the verdict influence how Massachusetts and other states handle emergency psychiatric intervention for postpartum women?