PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are set to enter their fourth day of deliberations Tuesday over whether to hold her criminally responsible for killing her three young children at her Massachusetts home in 2023.
The jury began deliberating in secret last Thursday. It has been quiet since then, with no communications to the judge suggesting how things might be going.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny
strangling her children but says postpartum psychosis led to her actions. Prosecutors argue she knew what she was doing. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
The jury could convict her of murder or manslaughter, or acquit her if they believe her deteriorating mental health was to blame. A conviction could lead to a life prison sentence. If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines she is a danger to the public.
Clancy's lawyer argued at the trial that she loved her children, but killed them because she lost her grip on reality — and on herself — due to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that can follow childbirth. In the months before the killings, Clancy sought treatment for her worsening mental health, including a stay in a psychiatric hospital.
Prosecutors said Clancy strangled the children because she was depressed and tired of living, and made a conscious choice to kill them before attempting suicide.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
