A MISTRIAL HAS been declared in the Lindsay Clancy case in the US. The 36-year-old was on trial for the murder of her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three and eight-month-old Callan, by strangulation in her Massachusetts home in January 2023.

The defence’s case was that Clancy admitted killing her children, but pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, due to her suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.

Lindsay Clancy speaks with her lawyer Kevin Reddington during proceedings. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The dramatic mistrial verdict comes after the jury of nine women and three men could not break their 11-1 deadlock. The courtroom descended into chaos on Friday, as the defence claimed one juror allegedly held out on the majority’s preference for an acquittal. The judge gave Clancy’s attorney an hour to appeal.

The ruling stood, however, and Clancy now faces a likely retrial. It’s an outcome no one wanted and one which will no doubt be deeply retraumatising for her, the family and everyone involved.

The world was watching

The distressing case which has gripped onlookers on both sides of the Atlantic for the past five weeks became not only a trial about the tragic deaths of three young children and the devastating family tragedy at its core, but also a de facto trial on maternal mental health and how society views mothers who struggle.

Unlike past similar cases of matricide, Lindsay Clancy received strong public support throughout the trial. Whether this reflects a growing understanding that we can no longer criminalise mental health and instead see the nuance behind the headlines, or an indication of the public’s appetite for true crime, women turned up outside the courthouse wearing pink for Lindsay for weeks on end.

Clancy received boxes full of letters of support from all over the world, as well as the constant stream of armchair sleuths on the internet proffering alternative theories about what might have happened.

Supporters of Clancy outside Plymouth Superior Court. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Many found it almost impossible to make sense of the actions of the former nurse, who was by all accounts ‘a loving mother’ to her three children. During the trial, several witnesses, including family members, former in-laws and nannies, testified that Lindsay........

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