STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Jury deliberations are underway in the triple-murder case against Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three children back in 2023. This story is going to last about three minutes. It includes graphic descriptions of violence against children, and it does mention suicide. So here we go. Reporter Deborah Becker from our member station WBUR is our guide to this story in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Deborah, good morning.
DEBORAH BECKER, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: How did the two sides frame their closing arguments?
BECKER: Well, both sides agree that Lindsay Clancy was struggling with her mental health. But prosecutors said she was well enough to intentionally plan the killings. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague said Clancy wanted to kill herself and her children.
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JENNIFER SPRAGUE: She left them discarded on the basement floor like broken toys because she was done playing the game.
BECKER: But her defense argued that Clancy was not criminally responsible because she wasn't in her right mind. Attorney Kevin Reddington says she repeatedly tried to get help.
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KEVIN REDDINGTON: You heard the testimony. You know her concerns. You know her fears. Does this seem like a young lady that didn't care?
BECKER: Reddington says Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis.
INSKEEP: So no doubt here that she did it. The question is her state of mind. How did each present evidence to back up its claims about the state of mind?
BECKER: Well, the defense called forensic psychologist Paul Zeizel. He said proof that Clancy was psychotic was that she said she heard a voice.
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PAUL ZEIZEL: Ordering her - telling her that she didn't have any choice, but she had to kill her children and then kill herself.
BECKER: But the prosecution countered with forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun. He said it's not typical for someone with psychosis to hear a voice only once.
KIRK HEILBRUN: That would be a very, very unusual pattern or manifestation of how this kind of thing comes about.
INSKEEP: OK. So those are the experts. What did Clancy's family say?
BECKER: They all detailed Clancy's efforts to get treatment. Some of the most emotional testimony during all of this came from her now-ex-husband, Patrick Clancy. He testified that Clancy was depressed for months and expressed intermittent thoughts about harming the kids.
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PATRICK CLANCY: You know, it was very confusing because a minute later, she was making them lunch or playing with them or, you know, getting ready for bed or whatever it was.
BECKER: Jurors also heard the 911 call Patrick Clancy made when he arrived home to the tragedy. It was so harrowing that the judge barred it from being released.
INSKEEP: So talk me through what the jurors face here. Of course, this is a matter of law. So what is the decision as the law frames it for the jury members?
BECKER: There are a couple of options for the jury, which is made up of nine women and three men. Those include convicting her of first-degree murder or finding her not guilty because of her mental health. Now, to reach that verdict, they'd have to find she did not know right from wrong or that she could not obey the law. Now, these so-called insanity defenses rarely succeed. But in this case, criminal defense attorneys say a jury might believe that the only reason a mother would do something like this is if she was mentally ill.
INSKEEP: OK. Deborah Becker from our member station WBUR, thanks so much.
BECKER: Thanks for having me.
INSKEEP: And if you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which is 988. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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