Trial against Lindsay Clancy threatens to be canceled due to jury disagreement

The trial against a mother for the killing of her three small children is at risk of being aborted. The jury in the Lindsay Clancy case was unable to reach a unanimous decision for the second time, as US media reported on the trial in Massachusetts. Negotiations are now scheduled to continue for another day on Thursday.

Judge William Sullivan then gave the jury special instructions for deadlocked deliberations and sent the jury back again. They should reconsider their positions and continue trying to reach a unanimous verdict. If the jury continues to disagree after this, it will be closer to ending the trial without a verdict.

The nine women and three men had already declared on Tuesday that after many hours of deliberation they could not make a unanimous decision. At the time, Sullivan had simply asked her to provide further advice. The jury has now been deliberating the case for around 27 hours.

Three murders, one severe psychosis

36-year-old Lindsay Clancy has admitted killing her five-year-old daughter Cora, her three-year-old son Dawson and her eight-month-old son Callan in January 2023 in the family home. At the heart of the trial is the question of whether she is criminally responsible.

The defense argues that Clancy suffered from severe postpartum psychosis - a rare mental illness that can occur after childbirth and can involve delusions or loss of contact with reality. The public prosecutor counters that she planned the crimes and knew what she was doing. The defendant faces life imprisonment.

The trial is televised in the US and increased the discourse about women's mental health after childbirth. Judge Sullivan warned Wednesday, before the jury was brought into the courtroom, against influencing witnesses or the jury. A woman was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly trying to film jurors.

Read why other mothers show solidarity with Clancy here.