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Lindsay Clancy trial: Jury to resume deliberations with 5 verdict options on the table

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are set to resume deliberations Friday morning as they continue weighing the fate of the Duxbury mother accused of killing her three young children.

After nearly four hours of deliberations Thursday, the 12-member jury will return to Plymouth Superior Court to continue reviewing more than three weeks of testimony and evidence presented during the closely watched trial.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the January 2023 deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy. Prosecutors allege she strangled the children before attempting to take her own life.

The jury, made up of nine women and three men, heard emotional and often contentious closing arguments Thursday before beginning deliberations. Six alternate jurors also remain assigned to the case but will not take part in the verdict.

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Jurors have five possible verdict options to consider:

  • First-degree murder
  • Second-degree murder
  • Manslaughter
  • Not guilty
  • Not criminally responsible by reason of mental illness

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued Clancy was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and was failed by the healthcare system despite repeatedly seeking treatment and help.

“Visiting doctors, seeing doctors, going to Rhode Island, calling the suicide hotline, calling another suicide hotline. My God, what does she have to do? She was reaching out for help,” Reddington told jurors during his closing argument.

Prosecutors, however, contend Clancy was depressed but understood her actions and should be held criminally responsible for the deaths of her children.

“She was depressed. She was exhausted. She was done. She didn’t want to try anymore,” prosecutor Jennifer Sprague said during closing arguments.

The stakes are significant for Clancy. A conviction on first-degree murder charges would carry a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

If jurors determine Clancy was not criminally responsible because of a mental disease or defect, she would be committed to a state psychiatric hospital rather than sent to prison.

Boston 25 News will continue to provide updates as the jury works toward a verdict.

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