Jurors were instructed to disregard a question about Susan Clancy's faith in the murder trial of her former daughter-in-law, Lindsay Clancy.
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The question at the heart of a closely watched Massachusetts murder trial is not whether Lindsay Clancy, 36, killed her three young children, but whether mental illness means she can't be held legally responsible.
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The background: Clancy is charged with three counts of murder in the Jan. 24, 2023, killing of Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan Clancy, 8 months. The prosecution says Clancy planned and executed the murders by sending her husband, Patrick Clancy, out of the house on errands, then strangling the children with exercise bands in the basement of their Duxbury home. |
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Clancy's defense: Clancy admits she strangled her three children, then cut her own throat and neck and jumped from a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed. Her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, argues that Clancy is not guilty of murder because she was experiencing a psychotic break induced by postpartum psychiatric disease aggravated by overmedication. |
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But was she "criminally responsible"? Legal experts told USA TODAY this question at the core of the trial means prosecution must convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Clancy was capable of making responsible decisions at the exact time of the killings. |
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