Jurors in Lindsay Clancy trial deadlocked but judge asks them to keep trying

ByAna Faguy Reporting fromMassachusetts court. 1 September 2026, 17: 37 BST.

Key points

• Clancy, a resident of Massachusetts, is facing murder charges for killing her three children at their family home in 2023.
• On Tuesday, audible gasps could be heard in the courtroom as Judge William Sullivan read out a note from the jury indicating that it was deadlocked.
• Clancy is accused of strangling her kids – Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan.
• Jurors in the trial of Lindsay Clancy are deadlocked after three days of deliberations, but a judge has asked them to keep trying.
• As the prosecution argues she created a calculated, intentional decision to kill them, the Massachusetts mother is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Her lawyer does not dispute that the 36-year-old former nurse killed the children, but argues that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time and was unable to distinguish right from wrong.

In practice, the jury, created up of nine women and three men, began deliberating last week after hearing weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses.

Clancy, who was left paralysed after jumping from a second-floor window shortly after the killings, appeared stoic as she sat in a wheelchair beside her lawyer.

It is not uncommon for jurors in high-profile trials to struggle to reach a decision, and judges have protocols for such situations.

Notably, a deadlock among the jury such as this one happens in "complex and emotionally charged trials", Heather Cucolo, a New York Law School professor and expert in mental health law, informed the BBC.

"If the deadlock persists, the judge might issue an additional 'dynamite' instruction [known as a Tuey-Rodriguez charge in Massachusetts] to encourage the group to consider alternative perspectives and strive for an agreement while upholding their genuine convictions, " Cucolo remarked.

But it is "typically a last-ditch effort" from a judge, she remarked.

Meanwhile, the judge can declare a mistrial if the jury is not able to agree on a verdict.

Clancy is accused of strangling her kids – Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan. This person was eight months – with fitness bands in their Massachusetts home in January 2023.

Notably, the defence argues that Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis, a severe mental health condition that can develop after childbirth, and that she should therefore not be held criminally responsible for the killings.

If discovered guilty of first-degree murder, the intentional and premeditated killing of another person, Clancy will face a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.

She could additionally be identified guilty of a lesser charge, including second-degree murder – committed with malice or extreme recklessness, but without prior planning – or manslaughter – unintentionally killing "by wanton and reckless conduct". In either of those instances, she would face time behind bars.

If she is discovered not guilty by reason of insanity, she will not be set free – she would instead be sent to a psychiatric hospital where her status would be periodically reviewed. She could stay in hospital for the rest of her life.

For now, jurors in Lindsay Clancy trial deadlocked but judge asks them to keep remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.