The fate of Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial now hangs in the balance after jurors announced for the second time Wednesday that they simply cannot agree on a verdict. The panel’s latest note to the judge came after roughly 28 hours of deliberations across five days.
Judge William Sullivan responded by reading the so-called “Tuey-Rodriguez” charge, a last-resort legal nudge that local jurists have nicknamed the “Dynamite Charge.” The instruction strongly urges jurors to keep working toward a consensus before a mistrial can be declared.
The nine-woman, three-man jury first told the court Tuesday that they were deadlocked, but Sullivan sent them back to keep deliberating. They pushed through another 10 hours before sending their second note Wednesday afternoon, reading: “After much deliberation, we are still unable to come to unanimous decision.”
Inside the courtroom, tension was written all over the faces of Clancy and her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington. The lawyer was seen rubbing his eyes and holding his head in his hands while Clancy sat with a furrowed brow as both sides huddled with the judge.
The jury was ultimately sent home at 4 p. m. and will return Thursday morning at 9 a.
m. for a sixth day of deliberations. Reddington told reporters that the judge could potentially issue the same instruction again if needed.
The case centers on whether Clancy, 36, should be held criminally responsible for the deaths of her three young children: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan. The children were found dead in the family’s Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023, after Clancy allegedly strangled them and then attempted to take her own life.
Her defense team argues she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and hallucinated a voice instructing her to commit the unthinkable acts. Prosecutors, however, maintain she was not in a psychotic state and that the killings were carefully planned.
Testimony in the trial spanned 21 days, with Clancy’s ex-husband, Patrick Clancy, taking the stand as the first witness. He told jurors that Lindsay repeatedly sought help in the months before the tragedy, reportedly seeing a psychiatrist, calling a suicide hotline twice, checking into a mental health facility for five days, and reaching out to two perinatal clinics.
According to testimony, Lindsay had been prescribed at least 13 psychiatric medications by five different providers between November 2022 and the day before the killings. Patrick reportedly told the court that she “kept getting worse and worse” and had opened up about having thoughts of harming the children.
In heartbreaking testimony, Patrick described returning home to find Lindsay in the backyard with wounds on her wrists and throat after jumping from a second-story window. He then rushed inside and discovered the three children unresponsive in the basement.
The haunting 911 call was played for jurors, with Patrick heard screaming, “She killed the kids.”
Lindsay Clancy, who has been paralyzed from the waist down and attended the trial in a wheelchair, reportedly broke down in tears multiple times during the harrowing testimony.
As the jury prepares to return for another day of deliberations, the question remains whether they can find common ground or whether this agonizing case will end in a mistrial.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741. You can also dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or visit SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
What happens when 12 jurors simply cannot agree on a verdict this heavy?
