WASHINGTON — President Trump broke his silence Friday on the Lindsay Clancy case that has gripped millions of Americans, predicting the Massachusetts mom would stand trial a second time for the murder of her children.
“I assume there’s going to be another trial. It’s a terrible situation,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, minutes after Massachusetts Superior Court Judge William F. Sullivan declared a mistrial in the case. “Look, she did a horrible, horrible thing. Can’t be worse.”
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“But you’ll find out what the price to pay is. There’ll be a price. It’s going to be a mental institution or jail or something. But I guess they’re going to go through another trial. It’s too bad,” the president continued.
Defendant Lindsay Clancy watches jurors enter the courtroom on Friday. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict after deliberating for all or part of seven days.
Clancy, 36, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder after she admitted to strangling her three children: Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months. She had entered an insanity defense, claiming she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the January 2023 killings.
Under Massachusetts law, prosecutors had to prove that Clancy was sane and bore criminal responsibility for her children’s deaths, rather than the defense having to prove that the mom did not know what she was doing.
Here’s the latest on Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial:
The case has become a flashpoint for national debates about women’s health and mental illness, with Trump saying Friday: “It’s on television so much, it’s hard not to follow it.”
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz told reporters outside the courthouse that he had not yet decided whether to try Clancy a second time, attempt to negotiate a plea deal, or drop the case completely.
Family of Lindsay Clancy inside the courtroom on Friday. AP
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington claimed, meanwhile, that one male juror held out against the panel finding his client not guilty.
“The forelady of the jury, I was so proud when she indicated … that one person would not listen to the law, and then she came back immediately, stating that ‘This is 11 to 1 for an acquittal,’ there was one individual who recognized there was reasonable doubt, and refused to apply the law,” he said, one day after his bid to have the juror removed was denied by Sullivan.
Clancy will remain at Tewksbury Hospital, the psychiatric facility where she has been kept since the murders.
She is due back in court Sept. 29, when prosecutors and Reddington will determine next steps.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
