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Thursday, September 3, 2026

The File

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Courts · Thursday, September 3, 2026

Clancy jury deadlocked a second time; returns Thursday for a sixth day

The File desk · Sep 3, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC

Status

Partially confirmed from Associated Press pool coverage dated from Plymouth. No Plymouth Superior Court minute order PDF was fetched. Underlying charges remain Confirmed from the indictment and the Plymouth DA.
  • Confirmed
    A Plymouth County grand jury on Sept. 15, 2023, returned three murder indictments under G.L. c. 265 § 1 naming Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy, and three companion counts of strangulation or suffocation under G.L. c. 265 § 15D(b). Lindsay M. Clancy of Duxbury pleaded not guilty.
  • Partially confirmed
    Associated Press reported from Plymouth that the jury told Judge William Sullivan a second time it could not agree whether Clancy is criminally responsible, went home Wednesday without a verdict after a fifth day of deliberations, and was expected to keep trying Thursday (day 6). Sullivan urged them to seriously consider opposing views. There is no verdict in that dispatch.
The Associated Press reported from Plymouth, Mass., that jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial went home Wednesday, Sept. 2, without a verdict after a fifth day of deliberations and after telling Judge William Sullivan a second time they could not agree whether she is criminally responsible for killing her three children. Sullivan urged them to seriously consider opposing views and reassess their positions if appropriate. The jury was expected to resume Thursday (day 6). Clancy, 36, a former labor-and-delivery nurse, does not deny strangling Cora, Dawson, and Callan (ages 5, 3, and 8 months). The defense argues postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors say she knew what she was doing. No verdict. AP wrote that if jurors ultimately cannot agree, the judge could declare a mistrial. Wire report from the courthouse — not a docket PDF.
Associated Press, datelined PLYMOUTH, Mass.: “The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial was expected to keep trying to reach a verdict Thursday and avoid a mistrial after telling the judge twice that they can’t agree whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children.”
AP wrote that Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, “doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023.” “Her attorney argues that postpartum psychosis led to her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.” Postpartum psychosis is not treated here as a medical finding of this desk.
AP said Clancy “stared at the jury with no expression on Wednesday as Judge William Sullivan explained to the courtroom that jurors were at an impasse — a sign there’s a growing chance of a hung jury and the trial ending without a resolution.” “Sullivan told the jurors not to abandon their own convictions just to reach a verdict, but urged them to seriously consider opposing views and reassess their positions if appropriate.” AP paraphrased him saying no one knows that another jury would be “more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it than you are.” This file does not apply a Massachusetts instruction name that AP did not use.
AP: if the jury ultimately cannot agree, the judge could declare a mistrial; prosecutors would then decide whether to try the case again, drop the charges, or negotiate a plea. No official court PDF of a jury note or minute order was fetched. There is no verdict.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Lindsay Clancy jury to keep deliberating but there’s growing risk of a mistrial

    Associated Press · September 2, 2026

    The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial was expected to keep trying to reach a verdict Thursday and avoid a mistrial after telling the judge twice that they can’t agree whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children. Sullivan told the jurors not to abandon their own convictions just to reach a verdict, but urged them to seriously consider opposing views and reassess their positions if appropriate.

    https://apnews.com/article/lindsay-clancy-trial-postpartum-269ff7196d474d3b627bd052d8c0fc47

  2. Source 2

    Commonwealth v. Lindsay M. Clancy, true bills (Plymouth Superior Court)

    Plymouth Superior Court (WBUR copy of the indictment PDF) · September 15, 2023

    Six true bills returned Sept. 15, 2023, at Brockton. Three charge murder under G.L. c. 265 § 1 in the deaths of Cora Clancy, Dawson Clancy, and Callan Clancy. Three charge strangulation or suffocation under G.L. c. 265 § 15D(b).

    https://media.wbur.org/wp/2023/09/clancy-indictment.pdf

  3. Source 3

    Duxbury Woman Arraigned On Charges That She Murdered Her Three Children

    Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office · October 26, 2023

    Today, Lindsay Clancy, 33, was arraigned in Tewksbury State Hospital on three counts each of Murder and Strangulation. Clancy pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    https://plymouthda.com/news/2023-press-releases/duxbury-woman-arraigned-on-charges-that-she-murdered-her-three-children/