Live Updates: Jury in Lindsay Clancy murder trial begins deliberations
CBS News · LC · trust 50/100
Updated on: August 27, 2026 / 12:45 PM EDT / CBS Boston
Lindsay Clancy's fate will be decided by a jury of nine women and three men. They were sent to deliberate at 12:34 p.m.
There were 18 jurors for the duration of the testimony, but only 12 will take part in deliberations.
The court clerk picked six alternates at random by pulling their numbers out of a box. They will be ready to step in, just in case something happens with one of the deliberating jurors.
Judge Sullivan picked an older woman in jury seat 18 as foreperson.
"I don't think I've ever seen a more dedicated group of jurors in any trial I've ever been involved in," the judge said.
After closing arguments finished, Judge Sullivan reminded jurors that the burden of proof is on the prosecution. He also noted that Lindsay Clancy did not take the stand, and said jurors cannot hold that against her.
"The fact that the defendant did not testify has nothing to do with the question of whether she's guilty or not guilty," he said. "You are not to consider it in any way or even discuss it during your deliberations."
The judge said jurors must also not be influenced by the graphic nature of photos submitted as evidence.
Lindsay Clancy started crying again as prosecutor Sprague described how Clancy allegedly killed her three young children.
She said Clancy showed rationality by killing the older children first before the infant. She said strangling them showed extreme atrocity and cruelty.
"I'm sorry how many seconds is it OK for them to have been in pain?" Sprague said. "How about it wasn't OK for one second for any of them?"
Sprague concluded after 56 minutes by telling the jury that they know "beyond a moral certainty" that she's guilty.
"She left them discarded on the basement floor like broken toys because she was done playing the game," Sprague said.
Prosecutor Sprague said Clancy "didn't want to try anymore," before making the decision to kill her children.
"I'm not saying she was happy about it. I'm saying it's what she had to do to end her misery," Sprague said. "Mothers kill their children and it's horrible and it's awful, but it happens."
Defense attorney Reddington objected when Sprague brought up the Andrea Yates case and said Yates had heard voices telling her to kill her children for months, while Clancy acted after hearing a voice once. Judge Sullivan told Sprague to move on.
Prosecutor Sprague turned to the day of the murders on Jan. 24, 2023. She said Lindsay Clancy started "planning" at 4 p.m., looking up how long it would take for Patrick to get to a restaurant to pick up takeout food.
"She knew that she would have a limited amount of time to do what she wanted to do," Sprague said.
She said Clancy also called CVS to make sure medicine for Cora was in stock so Patrick's errands weren't interrupted.
Sprague said Clancy killed the children immediately after Patrick left, but the defense says it happened after Patrick called her from CVS. Sprague said there's a reason Clancy wants people to think the murders happened after the phone call.
"If she's already killed the kids because of a voice and being compelled and it being against her will and she's like a puppet, then she can't get a call and miss it and then call the person back and then have a conversation and then hang up," Sprague said. "A puppet can't do those things."
Prosecutor Sprague said it wasn't the fault of medical providers that Clancy was struggling.
She said Clancy wasn't truthful with her family or with doctors and didn't take her medication as prescribed, even though she should've known better as a nurse.
"The defense wants you to believe this is a woman begging for help," Sprague said. "But she wanted to get better on her own terms, doing things her own ways."
Sprague said Lindsay Clancy had thoughts in December of harming her kids and told Patrick and her mother, but not medical providers even though they asked.
"Why? Because the police might take away her kids," Sprague said. "That's a rational thought."
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague began her closing argument by saying there's no dispute that Clancy was suffering from mental illness and then tried to kill herself.
"The issue is whether at the time she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan she knew the difference between right and wrong," Sprague said.
Sprague said she had more access to treatment and care than a lot of mothers do, pointing to her extended maternity leave and family help.
"This wasn't a woman suffering from a lack of care, a lack of resources," Sprague said. "She had an abundance of care."
Reddington told jurors that they heard from multiple doctors that Clancy was suffering from a disease and defect at the time of the murders, meaning she was not criminally responsible for her children's deaths.
He detailed how she reached out to doctors and the suicide hotline as her mental health deteriorated.
"My God, what does she have to do? She was reaching out for help and she was not getting it," Reddington said.
He finished by reminding jurors that the burden is on the prosecutors to prove their case.
"This young lady is not guilty of the killing of her children because she was suffering from a disease or defect as your honor instructed you," he said.
Reddington continued to bring up Clancy's medical treatment in his closing argument, specifically her first psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Tufts.
"This woman lived for her kids until she had the pleasure of running into Dr. Tufts with two months of experience," Reddington said. "After Dr. Tufts, it was not a wonderful life anymore."
He also went after the prosecution's rebuttal witnesses for not interviewing Clancy until three years after the murders. He said she was friendly and answered all their questions.
"She owned what she did. She never ran from anything," Reddington said.
Jurors looked very serious, their eyes locked in on Reddington as he talked about the injuries Clancy suffered from her suicide attempt…
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