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A retired Massachusetts Superior Court judge is rejecting the idea that the Lindsay Clancy murder trial is inevitably headed for a hung jury, saying jurors may still be able to reach a verdict even after notifying the court Tuesday that they were deadlocked.
Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her young children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, each under the age of 6 — who were discovered strangled inside the family’s Massachusetts home in January 2023.
The jury was dismissed for the day Tuesday after spending more than 23 hours deliberating across four days.
Lindsay Clancy watches as jurors enter the courtroom during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger via AP)
In a note delivered Tuesday to Judge William Sullivan, the panel wrote that “after many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision.” Sullivan, however, instructed jurors to return to the deliberation room and continue reviewing the case.
“I brought you back out because I know that this was a long trial. All right, I know there were over 80 witnesses. There were over 300 exhibits. Because of that, I’m going to ask you to go back out, keeping in mind all of the instructions that I gave you to go out and to continue your deliberations at this time. All right. And so with that, I’m going to ask you to go back out. Like I said, keep in mind the instructions I gave you reviewing the evidence, and I’d ask you to, resume your deliberations at this time,” Sullivan said.
Jurors in the Clancy murder trial are weighing multiple possible outcomes, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility — commonly referred to as insanity — or a full not guilty verdict.
Retired Massachusetts Superior Judge Jack Lu told News Outlet that the deadlock note doesn’t necessarily signal a mistrial is likely, and said a verdict is still possible.
Lindsay Clancy sits at the defense table during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (David L. Ryan/Pool)
“It is common for juries that eventually reach a verdict, especially in highly emotional cases, to initially report that they are deadlocked. So you could see a unanimous verdict later in this case,” Lu said. “There should be no rush to judgment.”
Superior Court Judge William Sullivan presides over day three of jury selection Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in the triple murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of murdering her three young children in 2023 in their Duxbury, Massachusetts home. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via Pool)
“These jurors are deciding a difficult, difficult, difficult societal issue. No future jury and nobody else is going to be in a better position to decide these issues… it’s a critical public service,” he added.
Lu said that Sullivan was “150% correct” in not issuing a Tuey-Rodriguez charge to the jury today, which would have encouraged the jurors to keep deliberating toward a unanimous verdict. The instruction is used carefully in Massachusetts to avoid pressuring any individual juror, and Lu said giving it now would have been premature.
Callan, left, Dawson and Cora Clancy. The three children were killed at their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023. (Lindsay Marie Clancy/Facebook)
The retired judge said it was “still a little early” to read the deadlock as a sign the jury will ultimately hang.
“It’s still too early, and we could go much longer on these deliberations, and it would be totally legitimate,” he said.
Jurors will return on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. to resume deliberations.
