Attorneys in the closely watched triple-murder trial of Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy are set to deliver their final words to the jury on Aug. 27.
Clancy, 36, is facing three murder charges in the January 2023 deaths of her three children – Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months – at the family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts, home. She has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
Questioning of the final rebuttal witness for the prosecution wrapped up on Aug. 26.
Judge William Sullivan then sent the jury home and told them to return for closing arguments on Aug. 27. Sullivan said he will give the jury instructions on the law they must apply in the case and they will be able to start their deliberations that day.
Watch the Lindsay Clancy trial live stream at the top of this story.
What time does the Lindsay Clancy trial begin today?
Court is expected to convene at 9 a.m. ET on Aug. 27.
What is Lindsay Clancy accused of?
Prosecutors allege that Clancy planned the killings of her young children by sending her husband out to do errands and then strangling the children to death with exercise bands while he was gone.
After the killings, Clancy cut her wrists and neck and jumped out of a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed. The prosecution rested their case on Aug. 17 after calling more than 70 witnesses, including Clancy’s husband Patrick Clancy and medical providers that treated her in the lead up to the killings to the stand.
Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued that Clancy is not guilty because she was suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis at the time of the killings. Before resting his case, Reddington called 10 witnesses, including Clancy’s mother, and a psychologist who testified that he believes, based on his meetings with Clancy after the killings, she “had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act.”
What are jurors deciding?
Jurors must decide whether Clancy is criminally responsible for killing her children, more commonly known as an insanity defense.
Under Massachusetts law, a person is not criminally responsible for their conduct if they have “a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that mental disease or defect, lacks the substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality or the wrongfulness of her conduct or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law,” according to a definition previously read in court by Sullivan.
What could happen to Lindsay Clancy?
Depending on the verdict, Clancy will likely see one of two outcomes at the end of her trial – a jail sentence or a recommitment to a state hospital.
If the jury finds Clancy guilty, it must determine what degree of murder was involved. If she is convicted of first-degree murder, it carries a mandatory life sentence in Massachusetts.
If the jury finds her not guilty or lacking criminal responsibility, she’d likely be required to undergo a mental evaluation and be taken to a state hospital for treatment. Clancy has been held at Tewksbury Hospital, a facility in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, for court-ordered mental health treatment since May 2023.
Generally speaking, defendants who are committed to a state hospital for long-term mental health treatment are reevaluated periodically. If they are deemed not a danger to themselves or others, they may have a chance to be released, though the process can take years, legal experts say.
If the jury cannot come to a unanimous decision, the judge may declare a mistrial.