www.foxnews.com/us/lindsay-clancy-mistrial-declared-after-jury-deadlocks-killings-three-children
Clancy was charged with murdering her children in the family's Duxbury, Massachusetts, home
Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Friday in Lindsay Clancy’s murder case after jurors said they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the killings of her three children after a week of deliberating at the Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The mistrial followed a dramatic dispute over an alleged 11-1 divide, with Clancy’s defense arguing that the lone holdout juror had acknowledged doubt but was refusing to properly apply the court’s instructions on reasonable doubt.
The alleged holdout is believed to be one of the three male jurors on the 12-person panel after defense attorney Kevin Reddington repeatedly referred to the unnamed juror as a male inside and outside court.
"[The other jurors] know that they were robbed — by one man — for whatever his agenda was, who stole seven weeks of the life of these other jurors that were so attentive, so beautiful, so wonderful and listened to this evidence," he told reporters after leaving the courthouse.
"And you could see how defeated they were sitting there. And I got a funny feeling they could go one for another week if they had to. So, I hope that guy can sleep well at night."
Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy. The three children were killed at their Duxbury, Mass., home in January 2023. (Lindsay Marie Clancy/Facebook)
Also speaking outside the courthouse, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz acknowledged the victims in this case — the Clancy children: 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan.
"It is our job to make sure the victims are not invisible," Cruz said. "I am a father and a grandfather, and I cannot imagine the hell this entire family has lived through."
Clancy’s attorneys made an emergency appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in an attempt to stay the mistrial and force further inquiry into the juror. Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt denied the request Friday afternoon, clearing the way for Sullivan to formally declare the mistrial.
Clancy had been charged with first-degree murder in the January 2023 deaths of her children, each of whom had been strangled with exercise bands.
The trial centered on whether she was legally responsible for her actions at the time, and the defense argued she wasn't due to postpartum psychosis.
Her attorneys argued that severe mental illness left her unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of what she was doing or unable to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law.
Lindsay and Patrick Clancy with two of their three children in an undated photo (Lindsay Marie Clancy/ Facebook)
During the trial, Clancy's former husband, Patrick Clancy, testified about the day of the slayings, which happened while he was running errands that included picking up children's stool softener at a CVS store and takeout for dinner. They spoke on the phone while he was out.
Under Massachusetts law, once lack of criminal responsibility is properly raised, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant was criminally responsible.
Lindsay and Patrick Clancy with two of their three children in an undated photo (Lindsay Marie Clancy/Facebook)
The mistrial means the case ended without a verdict, and Clancy was neither convicted nor acquitted. Prosecutors can seek to retry her but have not yet announced a decision.
Sullivan said he wants the case retried "sooner rather than later," suggesting a new trial could potentially take place later this fall. Clancy is due back in court Sept. 29 for a status hearing, trial assignment and a defense Rule 25 motion.
All previous bail orders remain in effect.
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Lindsay Clancy listens to testimony Aug. 10, 2026. (Greg Derr/Pool/The Patriot Ledger)
The mistrial followed a trial that focused extensively on Clancy's psychiatric condition in the months and weeks before the children died.
Lindsay Clancy holding her youngest child, Callan, who was only 7 months old when he died. (Lindsay Marie Clancy Facebook)
Jurors heard testimony about her treatment by mental health professionals, psychiatric medications, anxiety, depression, insomnia and other symptoms documented before the killings.
Attorney Kevin Reddington holds up a display board of a text message Lindsay Clancy sent her mother Paula during her murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court Aug. 26, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool via AP)
On Jan. 24, 2023, authorities responded to the Clancy family's Duxbury home after Patrick Clancy returned and found his wife seriously injured outside the house.
The couple's three children were found inside.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague rested her case as defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked rebuttal witness Dr. Gregory Saathoff one last question during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Aug. 26, 2026. (Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Cora and Dawson died that night. Callan was taken to a hospital and died several days later.
Lindsay Clancy survived after jumping from a second-story window and suffered injuries that left her paralyzed in a wheelchair.
The prosecution and defense offered sharply different explanations for what happened before the children were killed.
Patrick Clancy and Rachel Danis hold hands as they walk through East Midtown in New York City, N.Y. Sept. 2, 2026. (Elder Ordonez/InStar for Fox News Digital)
The defense had argued that the deaths occurred after months of worsening psychiatric symptoms and treatment and that Clancy's mental condition had deteriorated to the point she could not legally be held criminally responsible.
Specifically, the defense contended that Clancy heard a male voice that commanded her to kill her three children. Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist, said it was almost as if she was a "puppet."
"Not only did she hear a command, but she felt that her body was taken over by an external force where she was in a dream state and did not have control of her own body. It was almost like she was a puppet, and someone else was pulling the strings," Resnick said.
However, prosecutors rejected that claim, and their experts argued Clancy deliberately created an opportunity to be alone with the children and intentionally killed them.
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Lindsay Clancy listens to the testimony of Dr. Gregory Saathoff during her murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court Aug. 26, 2026 in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Gregory Saathoff, a forensic psychiatrist at the University of Virginia who consults the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, told jurors Clancy's self-described auditory hallucinations were "very unusual."
"What was significant to me is that she had not spoken about hearing voices before to any of the mental health professionals, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, physicians and staff in the emergency department or at McLean," Saathoff said.
"This was the first time she reported that, and that she experienced an auditory hallucination, according to what she told me. So, that was unusual. And then what was very unusual was the fact that the voice stopped with the strangling of her youngest son."
During the trial, members of Clancy's family revealed they were "very concerned" about her mental health in the months before she killed her three kids.
Susan Clancy, Lindsay's mother-in-law, told jurors she was concerned about Lindsay's mental health during the holiday season in 2022 but said she was a caring mother.
"Lindsay was struggling. We were all very concerned," Susan Clancy said. "She was very nurturing, very loving. She was a wonderful mother. Wonderful.
"She was begging for help."
Susan Clancy, the former mother-in-law of Lindsay Clancy, testifies during Lindsay Clancy's murder trial in Plymouth Mass., Aug. 18, 2026 in Plymouth, Mass. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
Paula Musgrove, Lindsay Clancy's mother, also told jurors about the mental health problems. In an Oct. 20, 2022 text message, Lindsay Clancy asked her mother for help.
"Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I'm really sick. Something is wrong. 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 text read.
