{"id":2654734,"date":"2026-09-04T15:18:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T19:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lindsay-clancy-murder-case-declared-mistrial-after-dramatic-defense-appeal\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:21:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T19:21:51","slug":"lindsay-clancy-murder-case-declared-mistrial-after-dramatic-defense-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lindsay-clancy-murder-case-declared-mistrial-after-dramatic-defense-appeal\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsay Clancy murder case declared mistrial after dramatic defense appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flindsay-clancy-murder-case-declared-mistrial-after-dramatic-defense-appeal%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2654734&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial in Lindsay clancy\u2019s murder trial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict following seven days of deliberation, resulting in a deadlock.The jury, composed of 12 members, debated whether Clancy was in her right mind or experiencing psychosis when she allegedly murdered her three children. One juror doubted her psychosis claim, leading the defense to appeal, but their request to investigate the juror was denied. The prosecution presented evidence suggesting Clancy meticulously planned the murders, including searches for suicide methods adn mental health issues prior to the acts, and argued she was faking or concealing her psychosis. The defense contended Clancy was suffering from psychosis at the time, citing her mental health history and expert testimony, but the opposing experts disagreed. The case, which involved extensive testimony, remains open for potential retrial depending on the district attorney\u2019s decision.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/massachusetts\/\">Massachusetts<\/a> judge overseeing Lindsay Clancy\u2019s murder trial on Friday declared a mistrial after a hung jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">William Sullivan, who is overseeing the murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court, declared the mistrial after the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jury-system\/\">12-member jury<\/a> spent seven days deliberating and came to a third deadlock, meaning it could not reach a consensus over whether Clancy was in her right mind or experiencing psychosis when she allegedly killed her three <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/children\/\">children<\/a>. One person on the jury who appeared to doubt that Clancy was experiencing psychosis has been holding out, leading to a failed and dramatic last-minute attempt by defense attorney Kevin Reddington to block a mistrial by taking the case to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court over allegations of jury misconduct.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4714008\/lindsay-clancy-verdict-mistrial\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Lindsay Clancy murder case declared mistrial after dramatic defense appeal to higher court fails<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4713728\/watch-live-lindsay-clancy-jurors-deliberate-28th-day-murder-trial\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>WATCH LIVE: Lindsay Clancy jurors deliberate on 28th day of trial<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4712744\/lindsay-clancy-defense-asks-judge-dismiss-holdout-juror\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Clancy defense asks judge to dismiss holdout juror who \u2018refuses to listen\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case could be retried depending on the district attorney\u2019s decision. The prosecution had argued Clancy methodically planned to strangle Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan to death on a cold January night nearly three years ago. Clancy had conceded she killed her children but argued she was in a state of psychosis during the act, rendering her not criminally liable for the murders.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDuring World War II, Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister for England when England pretty much stood against Nazi Germany alone, and so Churchill oftentimes had to talk to the citizens and say, \u2018Let us brace for our duties,\u2019\u201d Sullivan told the jurors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI thought of that phrase when all of you were agreeing to be on this jury,\u201d the judge continued. \u201cI understood that you all gave everything you could, and probably more than you thought you could. And so, on behalf of myself, I just want to thank you so much that you should be proud of what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt, on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, had agreed to hear Reddington\u2019s appeal to stop Sullivan\u2019s declaration of a mistrial, but ended up denying his request to direct Sullivan, by way of superintendence or mandamus, to conduct a voir dire of the holdout juror to determine whether there was cause to remove that juror.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense claimed the person unlawfully refused to \u201cnot apply reasonable doubt to the evidence to return a not guilty verdict.\u201d The prosecution argued the juror\u2019s stance simply \u201cindicates a disagreement about how to weigh the evidence, and that\u2019s deliberation.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-what-did-the-prosecuting-team-say\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did the prosecuting team say?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The verdict caps off roughly five weeks of testimony since the trial started in July, with 85 total witnesses called before the jury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mistrial declaration came after prosecutors, led by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague, said Clancy carefully calculated the timing of the murders, sending her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, on various errands so she could strangle her children during his absence. Clancy looked up suicide methods, bipolar disorder, and insomnia at the end of December 2022, and she searched about postpartum depression in January 2023, according to court testimony. Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Timothy Chiappin testified about a search on Clancy\u2019s phone about \u201challucinations\u201d days before the killings. A Google search asking \u201ccan you treat a sociopath\u201d was also made from her phone days before the murders, he testified.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patrick Clancy testified that on Jan. 24, 2023, the day of the killings, his then-wife \u201cwas having one of her best days,\u201d building a snowman in the yard and playing with the children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That evening, Lindsay Clancy said that after having a brief phone call with Patrick Clancy, she was hit with a hallucinatory spell of psychosis, and voices told her to kill her children. She allegedly murdered the three children in the basement of the house before throwing herself out the window.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patrick called his then-wife at 5:33 p.m., but she did not answer. He called a minute later, at 5:34 p.m., and she picked up the phone, with the pair having a roughly 14-second conversation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Digital forensics expert Ian Whiffin, who testified for the prosecution, said the former nurse\u2019s phone was last unlocked at 5:13 p.m. He said Clancy\u2019s last recorded heart rate on her iPhone Apple Health app and her Apple Watch was 57 beats per minute, which is considered low, while app data showed that she climbed two flights of stairs at 5:03 and 5:33 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sprague said the timeline of the evidence proved Clancy killed her children before the call, arguing that if the murders occurred after the conversation, the mother would have had only 20 minutes to go downstairs, strangle her children in the basement, and carry out her own suicide attempt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause if she\u2019s already killed the kids because of a voice \u2026 and she\u2019s like a puppet, then she can\u2019t get a call and miss it and then call the person back and have a conversation and then hang up,\u201d Sprague said during closing arguments.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA puppet can\u2019t do those things,\u201d she said. \u201cThose are decisions and choices and actions that she\u2019s controlling. So she has to explain away the phone call because her behavior and her ability to have the phone call don\u2019t make sense if she\u2019s being compelled by a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The prosecution also pointed to Clancy\u2019s behavior in the months leading up to the murders, saying it painted the picture of a woman who functioned fairly normally, demonstrated rational thought, and wilfully withheld the hallucinations and psychosis she said she struggled with from multiple health professionals she saw during that time period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWho she didn\u2019t tell is important and very telling,\u201d Sprague said. \u201cThat\u2019s a rational thought. That telling mandated reporters that you\u2019re having a thought of harming your kids, that they might be taken away for their safety \u2026 she knew the difference between right and wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-what-did-the-defense-say\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did the defense say?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense team, led by Reddington,\u00a0argued that the prosecution could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Clancy was not in a state of psychosis. It pointed to over a dozen medications she was prescribed over a short time span to argue that she was the victim of a broken health system that contributed to her severe mental deterioration and state of psychosis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reddington also pointed to Clancy\u2019s journal, saying it proved her deteriorating mental state in the months leading up to the murders. By December 2022, her journal was \u201cchicken scratches because her mind is gone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Searches she made prior to the killings about how long it would take for her husband to pick up takeout and medicine were not evidence of guilt or premeditation, but a signal of distress, Reddington said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe didn\u2019t want him out of the house long,\u201d he argued.\u00a0\u201cShe wanted him home to help with the bathing, to help with the kids, to help putting them to bed. How long is he going to be gone? She googles it. Is that something that is so nefarious?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-did-clancy-suffer-from-psychosis\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did Clancy suffer from psychosis?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The overarching question of the trial was whether Clancy suffered from psychosis. She was never diagnosed with the condition before killing her three young children. She was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, postpartum depression and anxiety, a major depressive episode, and insomnia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts brought in by the defense testified that Clancy did suffer from psychosis. Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that Clancy was \u201cclearly psychotic\u201d on the day she killed the children and not in control of her actions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts brought in by the prosecution disagreed. Dr. Gregory Saathoff, a senior psychiatrist for the FBI\u2019s Behavioral Analysis Unit, said Clancy told him during two video interviews earlier this year that she began hearing a voice on Jan. 24, 2023, after getting a call from Patrick. Saathoff expressed skepticism of Clancy\u2019s account that the voice did not stop until she had strangled Callan, Dawson, and Cora Clancy in the basement of their Massachusetts home. She also gave a different timeline to other evaluators about when she first heard the voice that day, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4687991\/lawrence-massachusetts-mayor-charged-laundering-covid-19-racket\/\"><strong>MASSACHUSETTS MAYOR CHARGED WITH LAUNDERING $1.5 MILLION IN COVID-19 LOAN RACKET<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCommitting the act is not curative of the voice,\u201d Saathoff said of the voice stopping abruptly. \u201cI\u2019ve not ever seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun also expressed skepticism about Clancy\u2019s claim that she had a command hallucination. Heilbrun said he ruled out acute psychosis with command hallucinations because \u201cshe only experienced it for the 18 minutes or so that it took to kill the children.\u201d He said that \u201cto put it mildly, that would be a very, very unusual pattern or manifestation of how this kind of thing comes about.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case after jury deadlock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2654735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP26245682035326.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33010,85148,84295,16544,37890],"class_list":["post-2654734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-criminal-justice","tag-defense-appeal","tag-lindsay-clancy","tag-mistrial","tag-murder-case"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP26245682035326.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2654734"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2654737,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654734\/revisions\/2654737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2654735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2654734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2654734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2654734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}