Jury Begins Deliberations in Lindsay Clancy Triple-Murder Trial

A Massachusetts jury has begun deliberating in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse charged with killing her three children in January 2023. The case, which has drawn national attention to maternal mental health, went to the jury Thursday afternoon after a month of testimony and closing arguments.

Clancy is accused of strangling her children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan — with exercise bands at the family's home in Duxbury. She has admitted to the killings but pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, arguing severe mental illness prevented her from understanding her actions were wrong.

Prosecutors contend Clancy acted intentionally and knew right from wrong. They point to her activities on the day of the killings, including taking the children to a doctor's appointment and playing in the snow, and allege she deliberately sent her husband on errands to get him out of the house. They have also questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.

The defense maintains Clancy suffered from bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, which led her to believe a voice commanded her to kill the children so she could end her own life. Her attorney argued that her psychiatric care was fragmented and her medications mismanaged in the months before the tragedy.

Court records show Clancy sought help from multiple providers starting in September 2022, including a brief psychiatric hospitalization in early January 2023. Her mother testified that Clancy had mentioned thoughts of harming the children in December 2022. Prosecution experts acknowledged Clancy had serious psychological issues but said she was not psychotic and retained control over her behavior.

Clancy did not testify. She remains paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from a second-story window following the killings.

If convicted, Clancy faces up to life in prison without parole. If found not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, the court will decide whether she should be confined to a state mental health facility or released.