No verdict after 3 days of deliberations in Lindsay Clancy trial over US child killings

Jurors at the Massachusetts court must determine whether the ex-nurse is criminally liable for killing her 3 children in 2023

Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial on Monday spent a third day deliberating without reaching a verdict on whether the former labour and delivery nurse is criminally responsible for killing her three children in 2023 – a case that has drawn attention to maternal mental health after childbirth.

The jurors began discussing the case on Thursday in Plymouth County Superior Court in Massachusetts after hearing testimony from more than 70 prosecution witnesses, including her former husband, and 10 defence witnesses over five weeks.

While Clancy does not deny strangling her children, her lawyer said she did it because she had lost her grip on reality due to postnatal 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 knew what she was doing. They say she strangled the children because she was depressed and tired of living, and made a conscious choice to kill them before attempting suicide.

The jury could find her guilty of murder or the lesser crime of manslaughter, or it could acquit her if it finds that she was not in control of herself due to psychiatric problems. Clancy’s sentence could be as severe as life in prison, or she could be released or remain confined in a mental health facility if acquitted.