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The Clancy case — Duxbury, Massachusetts
Mistrial declared September 4, 2026 (hung jury). A hearing on September 29, 2026 is to set the schedule; the district attorney has not yet said whether he will retry the case. Lindsay Clancy is presumed innocent; she is held at Tewksbury Hospital.
On the evening of January 24, 2023, in Duxbury, Massachusetts, Lindsay Clancy's three children — Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months — were found gravely injured at the family's home while her husband, Patrick, was out picking up food and a prescription. Cora and Dawson died that night; Callan died three days later at Boston Children's Hospital. Lindsay Clancy, a labor-and-delivery nurse, was found with self-inflicted wounds after falling from a second-story window and was left paralyzed from the waist down. She has been held without bail at a state psychiatric hospital since.
She is charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Her defense has never contested that she killed the children. It says she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis — that she heard a voice telling her to do it and could not resist — and that she is therefore not criminally responsible. Prosecutors say the record shows a woman who planned: none of her treating clinicians observed psychosis, she denied suicidal or homicidal thoughts to her psychiatrist the day before, and she arranged for her husband to be out of the house.
The trial ran five weeks in Plymouth Superior Court in the summer of 2026 — 84 witnesses, more than 300 exhibits — and ended without a verdict. After seven days and 38 hours of deliberation, the jury of nine women and three men told Judge William Sullivan, "with a heavy heart," that it could not agree. Notes from the foreperson described a single juror who would not join the others; the defense asked the state's highest court, in an emergency petition, to have that juror removed rather than let the trial fail, and was denied within the hour. Judge Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday, September 4, 2026.
What happens next is the district attorney's call. Timothy Cruz said the murder charges were "warranted" and that he would decide on a retrial "soon — but not today." Defense attorney Kevin Reddington, who said the jury stood 11–1 for acquittal, has asked for an immediate retrial date and has signaled a double-jeopardy argument. A hearing on September 29 is set to take up the schedule. Patrick Clancy, who publicly asked for forgiveness for his wife in the weeks after the deaths and has since divorced and remarried, said through his lawyer that the prospect of reliving the case in a second trial is "extraordinarily painful."
The case has become the reference point in the country's argument about postpartum mental illness and the law — and, in September 2026, it was cited by prosecutors in a second case on this desk, the death of Barrett Walsh in Frankfort, Illinois (the Walsh case). The Blotter reports the two cases separately and on their own records.
- Cora Clancy, 5; Dawson Clancy, 3; Callan Clancy, 8 months — the children. Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Plymouth on January 24, 2023; Callan died on January 27 at Boston Children's Hospital.
- Lindsay Clancy — their mother, a labor-and-delivery nurse at the time. Charged with three counts of first-degree murder; pleaded not guilty; defense of lack of criminal responsibility (postpartum psychosis). Held without bail at Tewksbury Hospital since May 2023; paralyzed from the waist down from her fall. Presumed innocent.
- Patrick Clancy — the children's father. Testified for the prosecution in the first week of the trial. Publicly urged forgiveness for his wife in early 2023; later filed for divorce and remarried in 2026. Filed a civil malpractice suit against her mental-health providers (hearing October 28, 2026).
- Judge William Sullivan — Plymouth Superior Court; presided over the trial and declared the mistrial.
- Timothy Cruz — Plymouth County District Attorney; decides whether to retry. Prosecutors at trial: Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham.
- Kevin Reddington — defense attorney.
- Expert witnesses — for the prosecution, psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff and psychologist Kirk Heilbrun, who questioned whether she heard voices; for the defense, forensic psychiatrist Phillip Resnick ("clearly psychotic") and psychologist Paul Zeizel (no appreciation of wrongfulness).
- Cora, Dawson and Callan are found gravely injured at the family's Duxbury home after Patrick Clancy returns from picking up takeout and calls 911; EMTs find the children in the basement. Cora and Dawson die that night. Lindsay Clancy is found with self-inflicted wounds after a fall from a second-story window. — WBUR, arraignment coverage (Feb. 7, 2023)
- Callan, eight months, dies at Boston Children's Hospital. — WBUR, arraignment coverage (Feb. 7, 2023)
- Arraigned from her hospital bed in Plymouth District Court on two counts of murder, three of strangulation and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; pleads not guilty; held without bail. Prosecutors say she planned it; her lawyer says she was overmedicated and "loved her children." — WBUR, arraignment coverage (Feb. 7, 2023)
- A Plymouth County grand jury indicts her on three counts each of murder and strangulation; the case moves to Superior Court (the strangulation counts were later dropped as redundant). — NBC News, indictment (Sept. 15, 2023)
- Lindsay and Patrick Clancy file separate civil suits in Norfolk Superior Court against her mental-health providers — hers naming 11 defendants, his a wrongful-death claim against four. — Boston.com, where the civil suits stand (Sept. 10, 2026)
- Trial opens in Plymouth Superior Court before Judge William Sullivan. — ABC News trial explainer
- Closing arguments; the jury of nine women and three men begins deliberating. Options on the verdict slip: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. — PBS NewsHour
- After the jury reports it is stuck, Judge Sullivan gives the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction and sends it back. — WBUR
- Two notes from the foreperson say one juror "had expressed doubt about the evidence, yet refused to follow the law regarding reasonable doubt." The judge declines the defense's request to remove the juror. — The Boston Globe
- The jury's final note: "It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision, and we will not be able to." The defense's emergency petition to the Supreme Judicial Court is denied within the hour; Judge Sullivan declares a mistrial after seven days and 38 hours of deliberation. — WBUR
- DA Timothy Cruz: the charges were "warranted"; a decision on a retrial "soon — but not today." Patrick Clancy, through his lawyer, thanks the jurors and calls the prospect of another trial "extraordinarily painful." — The Boston Globe
- Tue., Sept. 29 Hearing in Plymouth Superior Court on the schedule — the defense has asked for a prompt retrial date; the DA's retrial decision is pending.
- Oct. 28 Hearing in Patrick Clancy's wrongful-death suit against four of her providers, Norfolk Superior Court (motion to dismiss). Lindsay Clancy's own malpractice suit has no hearing scheduled.
- Open Whether Plymouth County retries the case, and the defense's double-jeopardy argument if it does.
No editions have filed on this case yet.
- Judge declares mistrial in Clancy case after jurors, with 'heavy heart,' fail to reach verdict — WBUR, Sep 4, 2026
- Mistrial declared in Lindsay Clancy case after seven days of jury deliberation; DA Cruz to decide on retrial — The Boston Globe, Sep 4, 2026
- Lindsay Clancy trial: Judge declares mistrial after emergency request denied — ABC News, Sep 4, 2026
- Jury deliberates in Lindsay Clancy trial after hearing closing arguments — PBS NewsHour, Aug 27, 2026
- Who Is Lindsay Clancy? All About the Trial of the Duxbury Mother Accused of Killing Her 3 Children — Biography.com, 2026-08
- Duxbury mother pleads not guilty as prosecutors describe a horrifying scene in the family home — WBUR, Feb 7, 2023
- Grand jury indicts Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy on charges of killing her three children — NBC News, Sep 15, 2023
- Where Patrick and Lindsay Clancy's civil lawsuits stand — Boston.com, Sep 10, 2026
- Lindsay Clancy trial: What to know about the testimony, postpartum psychosis and more — ABC News, 2026-08