PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Lindsay Clancy is due back in court Tuesday for the first time since her captivating triple murder trial ended with a deadlocked jury — and the pivotal hearing will likely reveal what’s next in her case.
Following the mistrial Sept. 4, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz hasn’t announced whether he plans to retry Clancy on the same first-degree murder charges or whether he’ll opt for an alternative like downgrading the charges, entering into plea talks with the defense or dropping the case altogether.
Meanwhile, Kevin Reddington, the lawyer for the 36-year-old Duxbury, Massachusetts, 𝘬iᩚller mom, has been furiously working on various last-ditch legal bids and building media pressure as he attempts to get the charges downgraded or thrown out altogether.
Reddington also wants the lone holdout juror — the only decider who refused to find her not guilty at trial — to be probed for potential misconduct.
The 75-year-old defense lawyer has said in interviews that he would be willing to cut a deal with prosecutors as long as any agreement didn’t involve prison time for Clancy, whom he says needs medical and psychiatric help instead.
If the DA’s office says it plans to retry the case, a new trial date could also be set at Tuesday’s hearing.
Several jurors have come forward following the mistrial, revealing that 11 of the 12 panelists were persuaded by Reddington’s defense — that Clancy wasn’t criminally responsible for strangling Cora, 5, Dawson, 3 and 8-month-old Callan with exercise bands on Jan. 24, 2023.
The defense attorney claimed at trial that Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, was in the throes of severe postpartum psychosis and hallucinated a voice that commanded her to carry out the killings and take her own life.
Over the course of the five-week trial, the jury of nine women and three men heard testimony that Clancy desperately sought medical help in the four months before the killings, including regularly meeting with a psychiatrist, seeking treatment at two perinatal clinics, calling a sᩚuᩚiᩚcide hotline on two occasions and even checking herself in for a five-day stint at a mєntal institution.
Clancy was variously prescribed 13 powerful psychiatric medications during that time period by five different providers — a fact which Reddington claimed exacerbated her mєntal spiral.
Other jurors accused the lone holdout, Michael P. Desronvil, of having doubts about Clancy’s guilt but still refusing to find her not guilty by reason of insanity because of the horrific nature of the killings.
Reddington has since asked for an investigation to be opened into Desronvil’s conduct before and during the trial, including probes into whether he lied on his juror questionnaire about a prior arrest and whether he received “outside information” on his cellphone during deliberations.
Desronvil lawyered up, and his attorney Edward Paltzik has blasted Reddington for allegedly violating Desronvil’s rights by seeking to have him investigated for his stance on the case. Paltzik claims his client simply followed his conscience and refused to budge on his belief that Clancy is guilty.
Desronvil, a father, had “zero doubt” of her culpability, his lawyer insisted.
The night of the killings, Clancy also tried to 𝘬iᩚll herself by cutting her wrists and neck, taking some of her prescription meds and throwing herself out of the window of her bedroom on the second floor of her home. She injured her spine in the fall and is now a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair.
She has been held at Tewksbury Hospital since her arrest, where she is constantly monitored as a sᩚuᩚiᩚcide risk. She used the insanity defense at trial as part of an effort to be institutionalized in a hospital rather than imprisoned.
Clancy repeatedly sobbed during the grueling and devastating trial.
One of Reddington’s hopes is that the DA would downgrade her charges to second-degree murder — which would allow Clancy to opt for a much shorter bench trial to be decided by a judge rather than a jury.
The lawyer for Clancy’s former husband, Patrick Clancy, said the notion that he may have to relive the tᩚraɢedy at a second trial “is extraordinarily painful.”
Patrick was the first witness at trial and testified about coming home to find two of his children dead on the basement floor of their home and the third fatally injured — along with his wounded wife laying on the frozen ground in their backyard after her sᩚuᩚiᩚcide attempt.
Patrick has since remarried to fertility specialist Rachel Danis, who is pregnant with their first child.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National sᩚuᩚiᩚcide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can dial the 24/7 National sᩚuᩚiᩚcide Prevention Hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
