00:00The Lindsay Clancy murder trial has reached a critical moment, with closing arguments now complete and the jury beginning deliberations.
00:10Clancy's defense lawyer urged jurors on Thursday to find her not guilty by reason of insanity,
00:17arguing that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis when she killed her three young children in January 2023.
00:26Clancy, 36, has admitted killing her children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan,
00:35inside the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
00:39Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, told jurors that Clancy's mind was essentially gone when the killings occurred.
00:46He argued that evidence presented during the five-week trial showed Clancy had been struggling with serious mental health problems
00:53for months following the birth of her three.
00:55third child.
00:57Reddington pointed to her treatment, suicidal thoughts, and worsening condition,
01:02arguing that she was suffering from a disease or mental defect that left her unable to understand the consequences of
01:09her actions.
01:09But prosecutors presented a very different picture.
01:13Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague acknowledged that Clancy had experienced mental health problems.
01:19However, she argued that the central question was whether Clancy understood that killing her children was wrong on January 24,
01:272023, and chose to do it anyway.
01:30Prosecutors focused heavily on what happened immediately before the killings.
01:34According to the prosecution, Clancy sent her husband Patrick out to pick up food and visit a pharmacy.
01:40They argued that Clancy had mapped the amount of time it would take for him to return, giving her enough
01:46time to carry out her plan.
01:47When Patrick returned, he found Clancy outside the home with cuts to her wrists and neck.
01:52She told him she had attempted suicide.
01:55Patrick then asked where the children were.
01:57Clancy told him they were in the basement.
01:58He rushed downstairs and discovered the children with exercise bands around their necks.
02:03During the trial, witnesses also testified that Clancy later said she had heard a man's voice telling her that if
02:09she did not act, she would lose her chance.
02:11The defense argued that this alleged voice was evidence of her psychosis, but prosecutors challenged that account.
02:17Sprague argued that Clancy knew exactly what she was doing, and that the story about the voice emerged only after
02:23she was hospitalized following her suicide attempt.
02:25The prosecution also pointed out that Clancy did not mention hearing a voice during a phone call with her husband
02:30shortly before the killings.
02:31Sprague told jurors that Clancy deliberately took her children with her before attempting to take her own life.
02:36She described the decision as horrific, but ultimately a choice.
02:40The defense, meanwhile, urged jurors to focus on Clancy's deteriorating mental state rather than simply the horrific outcome.
02:46The case has drawn comparisons to that of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who killed her five children in 2001
02:52and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity after evidence of severe postpartum psychosis.
02:58Clancy faces life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
03:02But the jury has several options.
03:04They can find her guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter.
03:08They can also find her not guilty because of a lack of criminal responsibility or because of insanity.
03:13If she is found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would instead be committed to a state psychiatric hospital
03:18for evaluation.
03:20After closing arguments, Judge William Sullivan completed his instructions to the jury and selected a foreperson.
03:25The 12 jurors have now begun deliberations.
03:27The judge warned them that reaching a decision would not be an easy task.
03:31The final question before the jury is whether Lindsay Clancy was legally responsible for the deaths of her three children,
03:36or whether severe mental illness had left her unable to understand that her actions were wrong.
03:41The jury's decision could determine whether Clancy spends the rest of her life in prison, or is committed to psychiatric
03:46care.
03:47The deliberations are now underway.
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