Mistrial declared in Lindsay Clancy child killings case after jury deadlocks
Defendant Lindsay Clancy watches jurors enter the courtroom during her murder trial on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The judge has declared a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether she was criminally responsible for killing her three young children.
The mistrial, in the seventh day of deliberations, leaves the case unresolved and allows prosecutors to try Clancy again.
The deliberations took a dramatic turn late in the week when the judge said he was going to declare a mistrial earlier today before suddenly changing course and giving her defense attorney a chance to appeal to the state’s highest appeals court.
That came a day after the foreperson told the judge that a lone holdout was refusing to follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt, offering a rare glimpse at possible conflict inside the jury room. Clancy’s attorney demanded the juror be kicked off the case.
The livestreamed trial drew attention to maternal mental health after childbirth and was closely watched by a polarized public. Clancy’s sympathizers saw her as a loving mom who had realized something was badly wrong in the months ahead of the killings and sought help, including checking herself in to a psychiatric hospital. Her detractors said she deserved to be punished for an evil and selfish act.
The jury was instructed to reach a unanimous decision on whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three young children in 2023.
Clancy’s attorney said she was suffering from a rare condition called postpartum psychosis when she strangled her kids, the youngest just 8 months old, then tried to take her own life.
Prosecutors said Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, knew what she was doing.
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