After six weeks of trial and seven days of deliberations, the jury failed to unanimously decide whether Lindsay Clancy was guilty of the murder of her three children and therefore the judge declared the trial null. Now, the nurse returns to the psychiatric hospital where she has been waiting for a new trial.
© Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
05/09/2026
by
News to Minutes
Aafter seven days and about 36 hours of deliberations, the judge declared Lindsay Clancy's trial null, taking into account the fact that the jury did not reach a consensus in the verdict. So what happens now to the nurse who is accused of killing her three children?
36-year-old Lindsay Clancy will return to Tewksbury Hospital in Massachusetts, the psychiatric hospital she was already in, according to her lawyer, Kevin Reddington.
It is in this institution that Clancy must remain while it is decided whether or not a new trial is held.
It is recalled that the next date for a situation is September 29.
It should be noted that the case does not end just because the jury has not reached a unanimous decision and, therefore, a new trial with a new jury may be announced.
However, on Friday, prosecutor Tim Cruz told journalists that he had not yet made a decision on whether the case would have a new trial. On September 29, then, the following should be decided in this case that is being one of the most mediatic in the United States.
If the case goes back to trial, and Lindsay Clancy is found innocent for reasons of mental insanity, the nurse will be admitted to a state psychiatric hospital and will be subject to periodic review by the court.
However, if you are found guilty and convicted of murder, Clancy may face a life sentence.
Judge declares null trial
Judge William Sullivan indicated that he was going to dismiss the trial on Friday morning, after being known that there was no consensus in the verdict. However, it gave time to the nurse's defense to present an appeal, which was eventually denied.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court rejected the appeal lodged early in the afternoon (local time, end of the day in Lisbon) – based on the only jury that prevented the consensus of the entire jury and created the impasse.
Judge William Sullivan had already given the indication that he would annul the trial on the morning of Friday, after being known that there was no consensus in the verdict. However, it gave time to the nurse's defense to present an appeal, which was eventually denied.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court rejected the appeal lodged early in the afternoon (local time, end of the day in Lisbon) – based on the only jury that prevented the consensus of the entire jury and created the impasse.
Lindsay Clancy is accused of killing her three children, five-year-old Cora, Dawson, three-year-old, and eight-month Callan, at the family residence in Massachusetts in 2023. After the children were asphyxiated, the woman threw herself out a window of her house, having survived. However, she suffered severe spinal injuries that left her paraplegic.
More than 80 people witnessed in this trial, with the chances for this woman being the conviction for manslaughter (possibility introduced more recently), first-degree murder or second-degree murder. There is also the possibility that Clancy is not found guilty for reasons of mental health. In this case, the woman will be admitted.
“Possibility to revive this tragedy is painful”
Lindsay Clancy’s ex-husband, through his lawyer, issued a statement after a null trial was declared, saying that “the possibility of reliving” everything again is “painful.”.
“ The possibility of reliving this tragedy through a new trial is extraordinarily painful – for Patrick, for the family and for all of us”, says the statement quoted by CBS Boston.