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Lindsay Clancy Trial Updates: The Complete Timeline

By

Uzoma Chinaka

Updated on :

Lindsay Clancy’s Trial Takes a Turn After 70+ Witnesses
Image Credit: via CBS News Live (Screenshot)

Last updated: Friday, September 4, 2026

Lindsay Clancy, 36, is on trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, on three counts of first-degree murder in the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. She does not dispute killing them. Her defense argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should be found not criminally responsible; prosecutors argue she acted deliberately. This timeline is organized with the most recent developments first.

Friday, Sept. 4 — Judge Declares Mistrial After Third Deadlock

Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended without a verdict Friday after jurors reported for a third time that they could not reach a unanimous decision, prompting Judge William Sullivan to declare a mistrial. The 12-member jury had deliberated for more than 36 hours across seven days after hearing testimony from 85 witnesses, according to CBS Boston.

Before deliberations resumed Friday morning, defense attorney Kevin Reddington renewed his challenge involving the juror at the center of the previous day’s dispute. He asked Sullivan to conduct additional questioning of the juror, but the judge declined. Sullivan said the foreperson’s note, when read carefully, did not establish that the juror was refusing to follow the law. The jury returned to deliberations at about 9:30 a.m.

Around 11 a.m., jurors sent Sullivan another note saying they remained deadlocked. Sullivan indicated that he would declare a mistrial, but Reddington made a last-minute effort to prevent the proceeding from ending. He asked for time to seek emergency intervention from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, requesting a stay of Sullivan’s decision. The judge granted him one hour, temporarily delaying the mistrial.

The effort ultimately did not prevent the case from ending in a hung jury, and Sullivan officially declared a mistrial, the Associated Press reported.

The outcome means Clancy was neither convicted nor acquitted on the three first-degree murder charges stemming from the January 2023 deaths of her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. Prosecutors had not immediately announced whether they would retry her. Clancy admitted killing the children but maintained through her defense that she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and had been overmedicated.

Thursday, Sept. 3 — 11-1 Split Emerges as Defense Challenges One Juror

The sixth day of deliberations produced the clearest indication yet of what was preventing the jury from reaching a verdict. Shortly before 3 p.m., a lengthy sidebar began after the jury foreperson sent Judge William Sullivan a note concerning one juror and the court’s instructions on reasonable doubt, according to CBS Boston.

The note indicated an apparent 11-1 division. According to defense attorney Kevin Reddington’s description in open court, the foreperson claimed that one juror had acknowledged having doubt but was refusing to apply it to the verdict as required by law. The note did not reveal which verdict the 11 jurors favored.

Sullivan questioned each of the 12 jurors individually at sidebar about whether they could follow his instructions. For the first time during the trial, Clancy was brought into the sidebar discussion, with Reddington pushing her wheelchair to the bench. He later told reporters that his client had a right to know what was happening.

After the individual questioning, Sullivan brought the jury back together and reminded the panel that jurors were required to follow his instructions on the law. He reread the definition of reasonable doubt and reminded them that Clancy was presumed innocent unless prosecutors proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Reddington then formally asked Sullivan to remove the juror identified in the foreperson’s note, arguing that the person had “spurned” the court’s instructions. Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague opposed the request, arguing that the court could not know what was occurring inside the jury’s private deliberations or determine which jurors were correct.

Sullivan denied the motion. He said it would be improper for him to side with either the single juror or the other 11 and noted that the jurors had sworn they could follow his instructions. The jury resumed deliberations around 3:30 p.m. but was dismissed shortly after 4 p.m. without a verdict.

Clancy was seen crying and leaning toward Reddington after the courtroom exchange. Reddington told reporters afterward that he did not want a mistrial and expected further arguments over the disputed juror when court resumed Friday.

Wednesday, Sept. 2 — Second Deadlock Prompts Judge’s Last-Resort Instruction

Jurors reported a second deadlock Wednesday, telling Judge William Sullivan after nearly five days of deliberations that they were still unable to reach a unanimous decision, according to the Associated Press.

Unlike the previous day’s response, Sullivan delivered what is known in Massachusetts as a Tuey-Rodriguez charge, sometimes called a “dynamite charge.” The last-resort instruction asks deadlocked jurors to reconsider their positions and seriously weigh opposing views while making clear that they should not abandon an honestly held conviction simply for the sake of reaching a verdict. The jury returned to deliberations but still had no verdict when Sullivan dismissed the panel around 4 p.m. Jurors were ordered to return Thursday morning for a sixth day.

Wednesday’s proceedings were also affected by an incident involving a Clancy supporter outside the courthouse. Dawn Light, a 56-year-old retired nurse, was arraigned on an intimidation charge after authorities accused her of filming jurors as they left the courthouse Tuesday. Light pleaded not guilty, while her attorney, Jennifer White, characterized the incident as a misunderstanding and said Light had been trying to photograph Clancy.

Light was ordered to stay away from the courthouse, jurors and witnesses. The incident also prompted Sullivan to address courtroom security. He warned those following the trial that court orders and state law prohibited interfering with, following, contacting or recording jurors. Sullivan also questioned jurors about whether anything they had seen would affect their ability to remain impartial before deliberations continued.

Tuesday, Sept. 1 — Jury Reports Deadlock, Judge Orders Deliberations to Continue

Jurors told Judge William Sullivan Tuesday morning that they were deadlocked and unable to reach a unanimous decision. Per ABC News, Sullivan instructed them to continue deliberating rather than declaring a mistrial. The panel, which began deliberating Thursday, Aug. 28, has now weighed the evidence for roughly 17 hours over three days, sending only one substantive request so far, to review a knife Clancy used to cut herself and bags of empty prescription pill bottles entered into evidence.

Judge Sullivan sent jurors home Monday evening after they passed the 15-hour mark, telling them to “stay the course” and avoid outside coverage overnight. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington told reporters Monday that the case has drawn significant public support, saying Clancy has received enough letters to fill three banker’s boxes. “It’s tough. Tears my heart out,” he said of the wait for a verdict. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, arguing postpartum psychosis drove the killings; prosecutors maintain she knew what she was doing. Deliberations continue.

Last updated: Friday, August 28, 2026

Friday, Aug. 28 — Deliberations Resume

Jurors returned Friday morning to continue deliberating after failing to reach a verdict Thursday. As of the most recent reporting, deliberations remained ongoing with no verdict announced. Jurors have five possible findings for each child: not guilty, not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter.

Thursday, Aug. 27 — Closing Arguments and Deliberations Begin

Closing arguments were delivered Thursday morning. Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague argued Clancy misled and moved between medical providers because “she wanted to get better on her own terms,” stressing that as a nurse, “she knows the importance of following the instructions of your medications.” She closed with a description of the children’s bodies, saying Clancy “left them discarded on the basement floor, like broken toys, because she was done playing the game.”

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington opened his closing by showing jurors a happy family photo next to an image of an injured Clancy in her hospital bed, per ABC News. He argued she repeatedly sought help but was overmedicated and misdiagnosed, accused prosecutors of prolonging her suffering by scrutinizing her medical records and mental state, and called her “a darn good mother” who received “lousy medical care.”

Judge William Sullivan instructed the jury, nine women and three men, that a verdict must be unanimous and reach “moral certainty.” Deliberations began around 12:34 p.m. and ran about 3.5 hours without a verdict before jurors were sent home. Reddington said his client was “nervous” and “scared” with her fate now in the jury’s hands.

Wednesday, Aug. 26 — Testimony Concludes with Dr. Gregory Saathoff

FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit psychiatrist Dr. Gregory Saathoff, the prosecution’s final rebuttal witness, testified that Clancy suffered from bipolar II disorder but had the capacity to know right from wrong and was therefore criminally responsible. He said she made a series of deliberate decisions the night of the killings, driving, communicating with her daughter’s pediatrician, and had “no instructions” from any voice as to where, how, or in what order to kill the children, calling it “surprising” she accomplished everything without direction. He also found it unusual that the alleged voice stopped the moment the killings ended: “Committing the act is not curative of the voice. I’ve not ever seen that.”

On cross-examination, Reddington questioned Saathoff’s ties to law enforcement, prisons, and the Justice Department in an effort to undercut his independence. When asked whether he agreed Clancy made “the selfish choice” to kill herself and her children because she was “tired” of her life, Saathoff said that framing “minimizes what she was going through.” Judge Sullivan dismissed jurors around 1 p.m. after prosecutors rested their rebuttal case, officially ending the presentation of evidence after roughly three weeks of testimony and 74 prosecution witnesses plus 10 defense witnesses.

Tuesday, Aug. 25 — Heilbrun Cross-Examined; Saathoff Takes the Stand

Dr. Kirk Heilbrun’s testimony continued into cross-examination, and tensions over religious testimony resurfaced. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington again moved for a mistrial, accusing prosecutors of repeatedly injecting Catholicism and the concept of “mortal sin” into the trial. Judge Sullivan denied the motion but struck the remark and delivered a pointed instruction to jurors: “The religion that the defendant was raised with is absolutely an inappropriate area of testimony… It is to be stricken. It is not to be considered… The witness’s understanding of Catholic teachings and considerations, again, is immaterial. It’s irrelevant. It is to be disregarded.”

That afternoon, prosecutors called their next rebuttal witness, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit psychiatrist Dr. Gregory Saathoff, who began testifying that Clancy was criminally responsible for the killings. Judge Sullivan ended the day’s session shortly before 4 p.m. with Saathoff still on the stand; he said closing arguments would likely come Thursday.

Monday, Aug. 24 — Rebuttal Testimony from Dr. Kirk Heilbrun

Prosecutors called forensic psychologist Dr. Kirk Heilbrun, who evaluated Clancy in April at Tewksbury Hospital, to open their case against the psychosis defense. On direct examination, he challenged the credibility of Clancy’s account of a commanding voice, noting she described hearing something she’d never experienced before and hasn’t since, calling that pattern “very, very unusual” for a genuine hallucination.

He offered an alternative theory: Clancy intended to die by suicide that night and killed her children first because she didn’t want them left behind to “suffer” without her, rather than acting under a delusional command. He cited her recollection of telling each child “Go to God, baby. Go to God” while strangling them as evidence she expected to reunite with them in death, calling it consistent with altruistic reasoning rather than a break from reality.

Heilbrun nonetheless diagnosed Clancy with bipolar II disorder, but drew a sharp legal distinction: having the disorder, in his opinion, did not mean she lacked the capacity to understand her actions were wrong, directly at odds with defense expert Dr. Phillip Resnick’s Aug. 21 testimony describing Clancy as “clearly psychotic.” Late in the day, a remark from Heilbrun touching on the Catholic concept of suicide as a “mortal sin” drew an objection from Reddington, who moved for a mistrial. Judge Sullivan denied the motion but struck the comment, a dispute that resurfaced more sharply the next morning as cross-examination began.

Friday, Aug. 21 — Defense Rests; Prosecution Begins Rebuttal

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick, testifying remotely for the defense (with early technical/Zoom delays), told jurors Clancy was severely depressed and psychotic when she killed her children, per CNN. He diagnosed bipolar II disorder with severe depression, said her symptoms began within three months of Callan’s birth, making them postpartum in onset, and concluded that “at the time of the crime itself on January 24, 2023, Miss Clancy was frankly psychotic,” comparing her to “a puppet” controlled by someone else.

He said a psychological test (the MMPI) showed a tendency to minimize rather than exaggerate symptoms and found “no evidence of faking.” On cross-examination, Resnick acknowledged Clancy hadn’t disclosed thoughts of harming her children to providers, saying that’s “very common because people fear their children will be taken away.”

The defense rested at about 11:50 a.m. Prosecutors immediately called their first rebuttal witness, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack, who interviewed Clancy in April 2026. Mack testified she appeared largely normal, agreed she suffered a major depressive episode, but found no evidence of mania, bipolar disorder, or psychosis. He said Clancy’s account of saying “Go to God” while strangling her children suggested she understood her actions were wrong, not that she was detached from reality. His cross-examination continued into the following Monday.

Thursday, Aug. 20 — Chaplain Testifies; Hundreds Rally in Support of Clancy

The defense called a single witness Thursday: Sheila Cavanaugh, a chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who first visited Clancy the day after the killings, when she was unconscious. Cavanaugh testified that by Jan. 31, 2023, once Clancy was conscious and off the ventilator, her emotional state was “very neutral, a flat affect,” and that the first thing Clancy said to her was, “I am so glad my children are safe.” Cavanaugh, who has since met with Clancy roughly 200 times, testified Clancy “alluded to hearing a voice” that told her “if she did not follow the command, neither she nor her children would be safe,” and described Clancy as someone who “loves them deeply” and “carries immense grief.” On cross-examination, prosecutors asked why Cavanaugh’s clinical notes never documented the alleged voice; she responded, “I’m not there to evaluate the patient; I’m there to bear witness to their suffering.” Cavanaugh was the day’s only witness, and Judge Sullivan sent jurors home early to handle scheduling and jury-instruction matters with counsel.

Outside the courthouse that same day, roughly 300 supporters, mostly women dressed in pink, with shirts reading “Believe,” “She Needed Help,” and “Peace For Lindsay,” held the trial’s largest public demonstration yet, standing silently for over an hour before applauding as defense attorney Kevin Reddington arrived. Attendee April Vincent, a 52-year-old paralegal, told the Associated Press, “Women are being dismissed, neglected and ignored when we speak up. We’re scared because nobody takes us seriously.” Rally organizer Renee Kimball told the crowd to trust that Reddington “has Lindsay’s fight,” and supporters closed by forming a circle, reciting the Lord’s Prayer, and forming hearts with their hands; some carried flags from other countries to signal international support.

Wednesday, Aug. 19 — Zeizel Testifies Clancy Didn’t Grasp “Wrongfulness” of Her Acts; Thorndike Barred From Testifying

Forensic psychologist Dr. Paul Zeizel, who began treating Clancy as a patient after the killings, gave what was, at that point, the strongest testimony yet supporting the defense’s case, telling jurors: “She was unable to conform her behavior to the rule of law. She had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act,” adding that Clancy had “a mental disease or a defect.” He testified she was suffering from bipolar disorder with postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings, and said this was only the second time in his career he’d spent as much time with a defendant he was evaluating. On cross-examination, prosecutors suggested Zeizel was subject to confirmation bias; Reddington pushed back on redirect.

That afternoon, jurors were excused while Judge Sullivan considered testimony from Emily Thorndike, a former McLean Hospital social worker turned TikTok user who had posted videos disputing prosecutors’ characterization of staffing levels at the psychiatric hospital where Clancy was treated in December 2022. Thorndike had left McLean in 2021, roughly a year before Clancy’s admission. After a voir dire hearing without the jury present, Sullivan ruled Thorndike could not testify, citing “limited materiality,” but allowed the defense to submit McLean staffing records as evidence instead. Court ended earlier than planned due to what Judge Sullivan called “an unforeseen circumstance,” with proceedings still on schedule for Thursday.

Tuesday, Aug. 18 — Defense’s First Full Day: Former Mother-in-Law, Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Zeizel

The defense presented its first full day of witnesses, marked by contentious cross-examinations. Patrick Clancy’s mother, Susan Clancy, testified that Lindsay had been “begging for help” in the months before the killings: “She was very nurturing, very loving. She was a wonderful mother… Lindsay was struggling, we were all concerned.” A prosecution question to Susan Clancy about whether she was “an active member in the Catholic Church”, and a related question about murder being a “mortal sin”, was struck from the record.

Jurors also saw a forensic pathologist’s reconstruction of the Duxbury home and her assessment of Clancy’s injuries, and heard from Dr. Paul Zeizel, the psychologist who treated Clancy in February 2023. Zeizel testified that on Feb. 6, 2023, Clancy used his phone to call Patrick Clancy, whom she hadn’t spoken to in 12 days, and told him she’d heard “a male voice ordering her, telling her that she didn’t have any choice but she had to kill her children and then kill herself.” Zeizel was set to continue testifying Wednesday.

Monday, Aug. 17 — Prosecution Rests; Defense Opens Its Case

Prosecutors rested after 14 days of testimony and more than 70 witnesses. Reddington opened the defense case that afternoon, calling Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, and her sister, Allison Ozga, who described Clancy’s deterioration in the months before the killings. “She would say to me, ‘This isn’t me, I’ve never been like this before,’” Musgrove testified. “And I would agree, because she wasn’t.” Ozga told jurors her sister “looked like she was going through the motions” at her daughter’s birthday party weeks before the killings and recalled noticing a decline around early December 2022: “I had this gut feeling that something was off… I asked her if she was safe.” Clancy said yes.

What the Prosecution’s Case Presented (July 27 – Aug. 17)

Over roughly three weeks, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office called more than 70 witnesses, including Clancy’s former husband Patrick Clancy, medical providers, friends, first responders, and others. Prosecutors argued Clancy acted “intentionally, rationally, and swiftly” when she strangled the children with exercise bands in the basement of their Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023, before cutting her wrists and throat and jumping from a second-story window, an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Clancy’s writings. Prosecutors introduced diary and cellphone entries, including one in which Clancy wrote she was “so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to make something physically wrong with me,” and another describing conflicted feelings toward baby Callan and her older children. One note, titled “Medication stole my motherhood and my life,” read in part: “I was the healthiest, happiest mom. I worked out every morning, meditated, and took care of myself… Until prescription medication stole me from my own body.”

Psychiatric treatment. Psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Tufts testified she treated Clancy from September 2022 onward, adjusting prescriptions multiple times, and that during a telehealth appointment the day before the killings, Clancy denied suicidal or homicidal thoughts and showed no signs of psychosis. Psychiatric nurse practitioner Rebecca Jollotta and perinatal clinician Letiesha Dukes both described Clancy’s ongoing anxiety, insomnia, and intrusive thoughts about her children’s safety.

Patrick Clancy’s testimony. Patrick testified that Clancy’s “big spiral” began after starting a new antipsychotic in December 2022, and that she had disclosed suicidal and “intrusive thoughts” about the children, though he saw no indication she intended to act on them. He said hours before the killings, the family built a snowman together and Clancy “was having one of her best days.” About a week after the killings, he said, Clancy told him she’d “heard a man’s voice telling her that if she didn’t do it now, she would lose her chance.”

Character testimony and defense pushback. Friends and the family’s former nanny described Clancy as a loving, devoted mother. Reddington challenged the adequacy of her psychiatric care; when he pressed Tufts about treating Clancy remotely, she responded, “I couldn’t give her a hug, but that’s not actually something psychiatrists typically do with patients,” and defended her care overall: “I do not believe that I’ve been negligent.” (Clancy has separately filed a civil malpractice lawsuit against Tufts and other providers.)

Full Case Background Timeline (2023–2026)

2023

  • Jan. 24, 2023 — Clancy, then 32, a labor and delivery nurse, texts husband Patrick asking him to run errands (medication pickup and takeout). While he’s out, she strangles the couple’s three children with exercise bands in the basement of their Duxbury home, then cuts her wrists and throat and jumps from a second-story window. Patrick returns and calls 911 around 6:10 p.m. Cora and Dawson are pronounced dead at the hospital; Callan is flown to Boston Children’s Hospital. Clancy is left paralyzed from the waist down.
  • Jan. 27, 2023 — Callan dies at Boston Children’s Hospital. The medical examiner rules all three deaths asphyxiation.
  • January 2023 — Patrick Clancy posts a GoFundMe statement asking the public to forgive Lindsay; it raises more than $1 million.
  • Feb. 3, 2023 — At a hearing, Reddington says Clancy was overmedicated, prescribed as many as 12 medications, and that Patrick had told her doctor the week before the killings, “Please, you’re turning her into a zombie.”
  • Feb. 4, 2023 — Funeral held for the three children.
  • Feb. 7, 2023 — Clancy is arraigned by video from her hospital bed; held without bail.
  • October 2023 — Clancy is arraigned in Superior Court on three counts each of murder and strangulation; pleads not guilty.

2024

  • Jan. 5, 2024 — Attorney Michael Phippen purchases the Duxbury home for $675,000.
  • February 2024 — A DNA sample is court-ordered; Patrick Clancy begins a relationship with Dr. Rachel Danis (per People), more than a year after the killings.
  • April 15, 2024 — Patrick Clancy runs the Boston Marathon in memory of his children, raising about $76,000 for Boston Children’s Hospital.
  • 2024 — Reddington announces Clancy will pursue a lack-of-criminal-responsibility (insanity) defense. Lindsay and Patrick Clancy divorce.

2025

  • 2025 — Danis moves into Patrick Clancy’s New York apartment.
  • Nov. 2, 2025 — Patrick Clancy and Danis are photographed at the New York City Marathon.

2026

  • April 2026 — Patrick Clancy and Danis marry privately in Central Park.
  • June 18, 2026 — Judge Sullivan grants prosecutors’ request for jurors to view the Duxbury home over the current owner’s objection.
  • July 20, 2026 — Jury selection begins.
  • July 23, 2026 — Reddington discloses Patrick Clancy’s divorce and remarriage in court, without naming Danis.
  • July 27, 2026 — Opening statements; Patrick Clancy testifies for the prosecution.
  • Early August 2026 — Jurors tour the Duxbury home in groups; Clancy does not attend.
  • Aug. 17, 2026 — Prosecution rests after 14 days and 70+ witnesses; defense opens its case.
  • Aug. 18–26, 2026 — Defense presents its case (see day-by-day entries above); prosecution presents rebuttal.
  • Aug. 27, 2026 — Closing arguments; jury deliberations begin.
  • Aug. 28, 2026 — Deliberations continue.


TWO CLAIMS CIRCULATING ONLINE

“The judge bought their house” — false

The buyer was Michael Phippen, and he is not the judge. He is a former Plymouth County assistant district attorney who bought 47 Summer St. on Jan. 5, 2024, for $675,000.

The insinuation circulating on Instagram is that he bought it while the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office was prosecuting Clancy. Phippen left that office in 2018, five years before the killings, and was working as a criminal defense attorney in private practice in Plymouth at the time of both the killings and the purchase. He now oversees the criminal defense department at Stark | Lattuca.

The detail that actually makes this a story runs opposite to the conspiracy: Phippen objected to the jury visiting the property, with his attorney Peter Maguire arguing that a viewing would be “massively disruptive” to Phippen’s partner, pets and neighbors. Judge William Sullivan overruled him and ordered access.

“Patrick Clancy and his new wife ran a marathon days before the killings” — false

Race results circulating online showing Patrick Clancy and Rachel Danis finishing a Bermuda race are from 2026, not 2023. Neither ran a 2023 Bermuda race. Patrick Clancy and Danis were not in a relationship in January 2023; People reports they were together by February 2024, more than a year after the children died.

The marathon Patrick Clancy ran in the aftermath was the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2024, which he ran alone, for Boston Children’s Hospital, in memory of his children.

SOURCES

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