Case summary

Caption

Commonwealth v. Lindsay M. Clancy, Plymouth County Superior Court, docket 2383CR00199. [S148] The District Court case was before Judge John A. Canavan III in Plymouth District Court in 2023; the May 2023 commitment was in Lowell District Court before Judge John Coffey. [S175][S174]

Two civil cases run alongside in Norfolk Superior Court, both read in the original: Patrick Clancy's wrongful death suit, 2682CV00071, eFiled 2026-01-20, and Lindsay Clancy's malpractice suit, 2682CV00081, eFiled 2026-01-22. Both are before Hon. Michael Doolin. His is at the pleadings stage: he amended on 2026-03-27 and all four defendants have moved to dismiss every count, which is what the 2026-10-28 Rule 12 hearing is about. Hers is further along: eleven defendants on a second amended complaint of 2026-06-08, answers on file, and a medical malpractice tribunal demanded by Tufts, Jollotta and Paul in August 2026 and not yet convened. See 13-civil-cases.md. [S205][S206][S207][S208][S209][S84][S85]

Parties and personnel

Victims

Cora Clancy, 5, born December 2017. Dawson Clancy, 3, born September 2019. Callan Clancy, 8 months, born May 2022. [S12]

Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead 2023-01-24. Callan died 2023-01-27 on life support. [S12] Callan's cause of death was given by the state medical examiner as complications of mechanical asphyxia. TESTDr. Kimberly Springer [S10] Cause of death for all three has also been reported as ligature strangulation. PRESS [S12]

Charges

Indicted on three counts each of murder, strangulation, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; arraigned 2023-02-07, not guilty plea. [S12] On 2026-07-10 the Commonwealth dropped the three strangulation counts as redundant of the murder counts. [S12] The case was tried on three counts of first-degree murder. [S1]

The single contested question

The defense conceded the killings and contested only criminal responsibility. STIP [S1][S2]

• Commonwealth: she was mentally ill but retained capacity. She planned the killings, knew they were wrong, and could have conformed her conduct to the law. The children were "protective factors" keeping her from ending her own life, and she "had to remove the protective factor." PROS [S1][S8]
• Defense: bipolar disorder that spiraled into postpartum psychosis, driven by inadequate and uncoordinated care and by adverse medication reactions, produced a command hallucination she could not resist. DEF [S1][S9][S15]

Stakes

Conviction on first-degree murder carries life without parole. A finding of not criminally responsible results in commitment to a state mental health facility subject to periodic review. [S2]

Outcome

Mistrial declared 2026-09-04 after seven days and roughly 36 to 38 hours of deliberation by a jury of nine women and three men. The split was 11 to 1, stated in the foreperson's own note, with the single juror opposed to acquittal by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. That note also said the holdout had acknowledged doubt in the case but refused to apply it to the verdict. [S1][S50][S51]

As of 2026-09-05 no retrial decision has been made. Cruz said his office would decide soon but not that day. The options are retrial, dismissal, or a negotiated plea, and lesser charges are available. Clancy remains in a state psychiatric hospital. The defense is weighing a federal double jeopardy appeal. [S1][S53][S55]

Patrick Clancy, by statement after the mistrial: "The prospect of reliving this tragedy through another trial is extraordinarily painful." [S53]

Scale of the trial

Jury selection began 2026-07-20 and took four days. Openings 2026-07-27. Testimony closed 2026-08-26 after 21 trial days. Closings and the start of deliberations 2026-08-27. [S2][S8][S12]

Witness totals differ by source: "more than 70" [S2], "more than 80" with 74 for the Commonwealth and 10 for the defense [S29]. Nearly 200 names were on the pretrial witness list. [S6]