Jury deliberating in trial of Lindsay Clancy, US woman accused of killing her children

Warning: This story contains distressing details and discussion of attempted suicide.

Key points

• The fate of US mother Lindsay Clancy is now in the hands of a Massachusetts jury.
• Key moments in trial of Lindsay Clancy, the mother accused of murdering her three children.
• For five weeks, the trial has gripped the country as Clancy's lawyers have argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her children.
• The jury could find Clancy guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of lesser charges, or not guilty.
• Attorneys for both sides created closing arguments on Thursday before the jury began deliberating.

In practice, the fate of US mother Lindsay Clancy is now in the hands of a Massachusetts jury. This person must decide if she is guilty of first-degree murder – the intentional and premeditated killing of another person – in the deaths of her three children.

For five weeks, the trial has gripped the country as Clancy's lawyers have argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her children. This person ranged in age from eight months to five years. Clancy does not deny killing her two sons and daughter.

For context, the prosecution argued she created a calculated decision to intentionally murder them.

For context, the jury could find Clancy guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of lesser charges, or not guilty.

In the state of Massachusetts, a first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life in prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

For context, the jury could instead find Clancy guilty of second-degree murder – committed with malice or extreme recklessness, but without prior planning – or involuntary manslaughter – causing death since of extreme carelessness. Those convictions, too, would lead to some prison time.

If Clancy is discovered not guilty by reason of insanity, then she will not be set free, but instead sent to a psychiatric hospital, where she possibly could remain for life.

Kevin Reddington, Clancy's attorney, repeated the defence's argument that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed the children with exercise bands at their home and then attempted to end her own life by jumping out a window. Clancy was paralysed by the attempt and has attended the trial in a wheelchair.

"This young lady is not guilty of the killing of her children because she was suffering from a disease and defect, " Reddington remarked, adding that he believed prosecutors were "not going to be able to prove otherwise".

Notably, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) defines postpartum psychosis as a rare and serious mental health illness that can affect someone shortly after having a baby, and which should be treated as a medical emergency.

One of the more tense moments of the closing arguments came when Reddington directly addressed the prosecutors and asked them to explain why they tried to prove Clancy's suicide attempt was not serious over the course of a week. The judge interrupted and ordered him to address only the jury.

Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague did not dispute that Clancy was mentally ill, but informed the jury that Clancy could tell the difference between right and wrong at the time of the killings.

"It's not the system or the DSM that caused her to strangle her kids, " Sprague informed the jury, referencing the US encyclopedia of mental heath diagnoses. It does not include postpartum psychosis.

Sprague additionally stated Clancy had an "abundance of care", but had hidden thoughts regarding harming her kids from doctors.

If you are suffering distress or despair and need backing, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers backing. Details of support available in numerous countries can be discovered at Befrienders Worldwide.

In the UK a list of organisations that can support is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Taken together, the developments around jury deliberating in trial of Lindsay Clancy, US woman accused of killing point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.