The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial just hit a major roadblock—and the judge isn’t letting them off the hook just yet.
After nearly 18 hours of deliberation, the panel of nine women and three men told Judge William Sullivan on Tuesday that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. The judge responded by sending them back to the deliberation room, urging them to keep working through the evidence.
“I know this was a long trial. There were over 80 witnesses, over 300 exhibits,” Sullivan told the jurors. He asked them to continue their discussions with all of his instructions in mind.
Lindsay Clancy’s parents, Mike and Paula Musgrove, appeared visibly tense in the courtroom as the deadlock was announced. Her father could be seen rubbing his face and neck.
Legal experts following the case say if the jury returns a second time still deadlocked, the judge may deliver what’s known as a “Tuey-Rodriguez” charge—a formal push often called the “dynamite charge” that encourages jurors to try harder for a verdict. If that still doesn’t work, a mistrial could be declared.
The case has gripped the nation since January 2023, when Clancy allegedly strangled her three children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan—using exercise bands in their Duxbury home. She then reportedly tried to take her own life by jumping from a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington has argued that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis, worsened by a cocktail of at least 13 psychiatric medications prescribed by five different providers. He claims she was hearing a voice instructing her to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 the children and herself.
Prosecutors, however, paint a very different picture. They say Clancy was in her right mind and carefully planned the murders, even sending her then-husband, Patrick, on errands so she could be alone with the kids. “She made a calculated decision,” prosecutor Shanan Buckingham told the court.
Patrick Clancy took the stand as the first witness, describing how his wife’s mental health spiraled despite repeated pleas for help—including suicide hotline calls, a five-day psychiatric stay, and visits to two perinatal clinics. He testified that she had opened up about having thoughts of harming the children.
The 911 call played in court captured Patrick’s haunting screams: “She killed the kids.” Clancy broke down in tears as the recording was played, along with family photos and video from happier times.
Medical experts offered conflicting testimony. A defense psychiatrist claimed Clancy was like “a puppet” being controlled by a command voice. Prosecution experts countered that her behavior was “methodical, quite controlled and organized,” pointing to disturbing Google searches like “How to slit throat to die” made in the days before the killings.
Supporters have rallied outside the courthouse, some wearing pink shirts and arguing Clancy should not be held criminally responsible due to her mental state. Others have held signs demanding justice for “the only innocents: Cora, Dawson and Callan.”
As the jury heads back to deliberate, the question remains: will they find common ground, or will this heartbreaking case end in a mistrial?
