Kevin Reddington, defense attorney for Lindsay Clancy, reacts after the judge declared a mistrial at the conclusion of Clancy’s murder trial at the Plymouth County Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on September 4, 2026. Greg Derr/POOL/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Greg Derr/POOL/AFP via Getty Images The judge has declared a mistrial in
Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial has ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to unanimously decide on a verdict. The US mother was on trial for strangling her three children. In a number of other western countries, there’s a specific law on the books to deal with mothers who kill their young children. It’s a
This hinges on the postpartum psychosis defence – her legal team argued that Clancy hallucinated a voice after giving birth to her youngest child that told her to kill the children. Expert witnesses told the court how severe this illness can be, and family members testified about Clancy’s state of mind. Under Massachusetts law, there
More than 10 expert witnesses testified for both the defence and the prosecution, including some who clashed with lawyers over Clancy’s mental health. Over the course of her treatment, Clancy was put on over a dozen medications, and sought help from a suicide hotline and the emergency room. Clancy’s team tried to convince jurors she
Meghan Cliffel was eight months postpartum from the birth of her second daughter when she began hallucinating. It was a Friday in 2015 and she had just finished her workday in New York City. She became convinced that people were following her, she thought she was being recruited for a cult, and she thought the
