Lindsay Clancy retrial sought after jury deadlock

Massachusetts prosecutors said they plan to retry Lindsay Clancy, a US mother accused of killing her three children, after a jury deadlock led to a mistrial.

Clancy, 36, did not deny at trial that she strangled Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months. She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and said she had postpartum psychosis, which her defence said excused her from criminal responsibility.

A jury of nine women and three men could not reach the unanimous decision required in US criminal proceedings.

Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague told a Massachusetts court that the case would be a retrial, but did not say what charges Clancy would face.

The retrial would likely proceed if Judge William Sullivan rejects a separate defence motion to dismiss the charges. Sullivan is expected to rule by the next hearing on November 16, and March 2027 has been set aside as a possible retrial date.

Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, indicated he would not oppose a retrial if the motion to dismiss is not granted.

Prosecutors rejected Clancy's postpartum psychosis argument at the original trial, saying she had planned the killings and understood the consequences of her actions.

The killings happened at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. Afterward, Clancy cut her neck and wrists and jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralyzed from the waist down and using a wheelchair.