Lindsay Clancy murder trial: Jury enters 2nd day weighing if psychosis drove killings of children

The judge dismissed jurors Friday afternoon until 9 a.m. Monday in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial.

Before sending them home for the weekend, the judge reminded jurors not to discuss the case with anyone or consume outside information about it.

The jury has spent two days deliberating whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children. It previously asked to review prescription pill bottles and the knife used during Clancy’s suicide attempt.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Prescription drug evidence received fresh attention in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial after jurors asked to review pill bottles during deliberations.

Dr. Marc Siegel, FOX News senior medical analyst, said the request puts the sharply disputed medication issue back in focus. Clancy’s defense has argued that a complex medication regimen contributed to her mental decline, while prosecutors have argued that the drugs she took did not cause postpartum psychosis.

Siegel said many of the prescription bottles collected in the case were unopened and that Clancy was taking a smaller number of medications at the time of the killings. He said only a few of those drugs could even conceivably trigger psychosis — and that there was no direct evidence the medications did so here.

“I don’t see any direct evidence that the pills were causing it,” Siegel said, distinguishing that question from whether Clancy may have been psychotic.

The jury also asked to see the knife used during Clancy’s suicide attempt. FOX News contributor Joshua Ritter said the request could indicate jurors are examining the prosecution’s argument that Clancy’s wounds were superficial and that she had an internal conflict about whether she wanted to die.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

A Plymouth Superior Court jury weighing Lindsay Clancy’s fate took its customary lunch recess Friday afternoon without reaching a verdict.

Court officers said proceedings would not resume until at least 2 p.m. Clancy’s family left the courtroom floor as the break began.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington returned to court around 3 p.m. but had little to say, telling reporters only, “It’s Friday.”

The jury is deciding whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

A psychiatrist who testified that Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children is no longer employed by a Delaware children’s health system.

Nemours Children’s Health confirmed to Fox News that Dr. Avram Mack no longer works for its Delaware Valley division, adding that he resigned from his post on Monday. The health system did not provide a reason for his departure or say whether it was related to his testimony in the closely watched Massachusetts murder trial.

Mack took the stand as a prosecution rebuttal witness and told jurors Clancy had major depression — not postpartum psychosis or bipolar disorder — when her children died. He said she was in control of her actions and “retained the capacity required for having criminal responsibility” for the killings.

His testimony directly countered defense experts who said Clancy was in the grip of postpartum psychosis. Mack also told jurors he found no sign of mania or hypomania in her records from the period surrounding the deaths.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

If jurors find Lindsay Clancy not criminally responsible for strangling her three children, her civil commitment to a mental institution could come up for review every year — making it difficult to predict how long she could remain hospitalized, according to a retired judge.

Clancy would not face "a 'life sentence in a public mental hospital,'" Carol Erskine, a retired Massachusetts judge and child welfare advocate, wrote in a post on X. "She could remain hospitalized for many years — even indefinitely — but only as long as the legal criteria for civil commitment continue to be met."

The first move is in the trial judge's hands, Erskine later told Fox News Digital.

"The initial aspect of what happens is an order by the judge," she said. "If the judge so orders it, a 40-day evaluation in a locked unit."

Find out what else Erskine said about what would happen if the insanity defense prevails.

This is an excerpt from a story by Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz.

When the courtroom reopened for a jury note in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial, the judge’s clerk was standing by with a plastic bag containing pill bottles.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said the jury asked to see two bags of pills and the knife.

The court did not address the contents of the note in open court before taking a recess.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

The judge and attorneys have finished discussing the jury’s question in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial, but did not address the note in open court.

The courtroom is now in recess as the jury continues deliberating.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial has sent a question to the court as deliberations enter a second day.

Court officers are preparing to reopen the courtroom to the media. Prosecutors have arrived, and we are awaiting word on what the jury wants to know.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

A Massachusetts jury resumed deliberations Friday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the mother who killed her three young children in 2023.

Clancy’s parents were seated in the courtroom as the jury entered shortly after 9 a.m. Clancy, wearing a green blouse, sat at the defense table. The courtroom appeared less crowded than it was Thursday, with about 40 members of the press and roughly a dozen members of the public.

The nine-woman, three-man jury deliberated for about 3½ hours Thursday without sending any notes to the court before breaking for the day. Deliberations are not scheduled to continue through the weekend.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Sharing fiery views at work about the Massachusetts mom accused of killing her three young children could get you canned and still be legal, according to an expert on employment law who is following the case.

Lindsay Clancy, 36, is accused of strangling her children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — and trying to end her own life by dropping from a second-floor window after sending her husband to pick up takeout and something from a pharmacy, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office.

The case has drawn national attention, pro-Clancy protesters to the courthouse and impassioned discussions about who is responsible online after her defense argued she is not guilty by reason of insanity or mental defect.

"That disciplinary measure, it's not on its face illegal if you get fired for starting, you know, fiery speech about Lindsay Clancy and how you support her," said Nicole Brenecki, a New York-based attorney who specializes in employment law.

Find out what else Brenecki said on expressing views about Clancy.

This is an excerpt from a story by Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz.

The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial returns Friday for a second day of deliberations, weighing whether she was criminally responsible when she killed her three children.

The panel of nine women and three men must decide between first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter, or a finding that Clancy was not criminally responsible because she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis, as the defense argues. Prosecutors say she knew right from wrong.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.