As jurors deliberate in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, what could they decide when it comes to her fate?
Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, with her lawyers arguing she was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy at the family’s home in coastal Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. The rare mental illness is linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth.
Prosecutors say Clancy planned the killings and understood her actions were wrong.
Jurors must decide whether she was criminally responsible and, if so, exactly what crimes she committed.
Clancy’s mental state is at the center of the closely watched trial that has drawn attention to maternal mental health after childbirth. The debate has stirred deep divisions among the public.
Here’s what to know as the case now rests in the jury’s hands:
What is the trial about?
The trial hinges on Lindsay Clancy’s mental health and whether she understood that killing the children was wrong.
Prosecutors contend that she did and that she acted intentionally. They noted she was involved in everyday activities the day of the killings, such as taking her children to the doctor and playing with them in the snow. The prosecution claims she deliberately sent her then-husband on errands to get him out of the house, and prosecutors have questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.
Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, maintains that she was so mentally ill that she shouldn’t be held criminally responsible for the killings. According to her defense, she had bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis and, ultimately, it led her to believe she heard a voice telling her to kill the children so she could end her own life.
Clancy, now 36, had sought treatment from multiple providers in the months before the killings and even checked herself into a psychiatric hospital. Less than three weeks after being discharged from that hospital, Clancy strangled Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months, with exercise bands in the basement of their home south of Boston. She then jumped from a second-floor window and remains paralyzed from the waist down.
In diary entries Clancy wrote in the months before the killings, she described feeling anxious, overwhelmed, preoccupied with the details of her infant’s care, beset by “brain fog,” and “desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone.”
During more than four weeks of testimony, jurors heard opposing views from medical experts about Clancy’s mental state after the birth of her third child and her culpability.
One forensic psychiatrist, testifying for the defense, said Clancy was “clearly psychotic” and held a delusional belief that her children would be better off dying with her than being left behind. The prosecution’s experts agreed that she had serious psychological problems, but said she wasn’t psychotic. They also questioned Clancy’s account of being commanded by a voice and asserted that she knew right from wrong and had control of her behavior.
Both Clancy’s mother and sister testified that she became anxious, paranoid and suicidal.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Jennifer Sprague argued that Clancy’s decision not to tell her mental health providers about thoughts she had in December 2022 of harming her children showed that she understood those thoughts were wrong.
The prosecutor acknowledged that Clancy sought help for her mental health struggles, but said she did not always take medications as prescribed or give her providers complete and accurate information.
Reddington said the prosecution tried to paint Clancy’s attempt to take her life after killing her children as “a fake suicide.”
“You know that is not what happened,” he said.
Reddington held up a copy of the book “Good Moms have Scary Thoughts” that investigators found at the Clancy house. He said prosecutors tried to use it as evidence against Clancy but that it was a mental healthcare provider who gave it to her.
“This woman lived for her kids,” he said.
He showed jurors a small “wish box” that Clancy and then-husband Patrick bought on their honeymoon. Over the years, the couple filled the box with slips of paper wishing to have healthy, successful kids, Reddington said as Lindsay Clancy wiped away tears.
Reddington told the jury that after Clancy started seeing a psychiatrist that “it was not a wonderful life anymore.”
“You heard the testimony. You know her concerns. You know her fears,” he said.
Clancy chose not to take the witness stand. She watched the proceedings from the defense table, occasionally weeping, as when prosecutors showed autopsy photos of the children to the jury.
What could the jury decide?
If Clancy is convicted, her sentence could be as severe as life in prison without the possibility of parole. If she’s found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, the court will decide whether she can be released from custody or should remain confined in a state mental health facility.
If the jury can’t reach a verdict, prosecutors would have to decide whether to retry the case. If a mistrial were declared for some other reason, the next steps could depend on the circumstances.
Before the jury left the courtroom, Judge William Sullivan appointed one of the jurors, identified only as No. 257, as foreperson.
He told them a deliberation is not an easy task, and to respect each other’s opinions.
He reminded jurors that Clancy is innocent until proven guilty, and went over the elements of the charges.
He said a defendant is not criminally responsible for their conduct if they have a mental diseases or defect.
Sullivan tells the jury that they will consider three counts of murder in the first degree for each of the children but can consider murder in the second degree.
“If you find the defendant guilty of murder you shall decide the degree of murder,” he told the jury.
The judge says a defendant may form the required intent needed to prove a murder charge and act with premeditation even if she suffered from a mental impairment or consumed prescription.
What is postpartum psychosis?
It’s a rare and serious condition that can cause disorganized thinking, delusions, hallucinations and other symptoms. It affects an estimated one to two out of 1,000 women after childbirth, but the risk is somewhat higher for people with certain mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder.
Postpartum psychosis is different from postpartum depression, a more common mood disorder.
Experts at the Cleveland Clinic describe it as a mental health emergency affecting someone’s sense of reality.
“[Mothers] don’t behave like themselves. In fact, they start lose touch with reality and symptoms of this illness can wax and wane. That means that sometimes they might be acting normal or be able to do different things,” said Dr. Susan Feingold, a psychologist who advocates for women with postpartum psychosis and helped create legislation that allowed the condition to be considered a “mitigating circumstance” in criminal proceedings in Illinois. “And other times, they have, you know, they might be having hallucinations or delusions with beliefs, they can be very confused and they don’t understand what’s happening.”
Though most people with postpartum psychosis don’t harm their children, mothers with severe cases may try to do so, and also may try to harm themselves.
Postpartum psychosis usually happens within several days of giving birth but can occur up to six weeks afterwards.
Symptoms may include hallucinations, delusions, paranoia or other behavior changes.
A woman may also have mood changes, such as mania or depression, disorganized thinking or behavior, insomnia, irritability or agitation.
Moms with the condition need inpatient mental healthcare, which can include involuntary hospitalization. Treatments include medications or electroconvulsive therapy, a procedure done under anesthesia in which small electric currents pass through the brain, intentionally causing a brief seizure.
Experts say getting help early increases the odds of a good outcome.
Dr. Nicole Cirino of Baylor College of Medicine said women in the grip of postpartum psychosis often believe they are helping their children.
In their own minds, “they may be saving their children from damnation,” Cirino said.
What does the law state?
Awareness of postpartum psychosis has grown in recent years, but maternal mental health advocates said it’s rarely considered in criminal prosecutions. Illinois is the only state with a law allowing for undiagnosed or untreated postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis to be a mitigating factor in sentencing.
According to the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, Illinois’ Public Act 100-0574, which became a landmark law in 2018, “allows postpartum illnesses like depression and psychosis to be mitigating factors in sentencing.”
“That means mothers who are serving sentences for child neglect or infanticide may apply for a new sentencing hearing if they are serving more than the minimum sentence,” the group stated, “Mothers who can prove they suffered from postpartum mental illness when they committed these crimes can reduce their sentencing.”
In addition, the state in 2025 amended the Illinois Unified Code of Corrections to allow the Prisoner Review Board to consider such factors when decided whether to grant or deny parole or medical release.
“The Board must now evaluate evidence that a petitioner suffered from postpartum psychosis or postpartum depression (as defined by the Code of Civil Procedure), if those conditions were contributing factors to the person’s criminal behavior or participation in the offense,” the police center wrote.
Similar cases have led to insanity verdicts, however.
Possibly the best-known is Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in a bathtub in Texas in 2001. Her attorneys said she suffered from postpartum psychosis and believed killing her children would save them from hell.
Her initial murder conviction was overturned, and in a retrial she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state mental hospital.
Regardless of the outcome, experts and Clancy’s attorney said the case has raised awareness around maternal healthcare.
“And I think the main thing is whatever the verdict is for Lindsay, you know, we need to identify these women earlier,” Feingold said. “We need to get them the correct treatment. We need to educate people so that they’re more aware. We need to pass these laws so that when they end up in the judicial system, this mental illness will be taken into consideration, because these women are not criminals. They don’t have a history, a criminal history, and it could happen to other women and there’s been far too many tragedies. So it’s been enormous the nation’s finally talking about [it].”
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