A tragic final twist in America's blockbuster trial

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🍸 There’s a story which, frankly, I’ve not covered nearly enough in The Early Line. I tend not to do many murders, or many court cases. The ones I do mention are nearly all in the UK.

All of which is a way of getting my excuse in early on the case of Lindsay Clancy, which didn’t quite make the radar in recent weeks. That was an error, over time.

The case is tragic, but wildly complex and hugely controversial. But, in short: Massachusetts mum Clancy strangled her three children in January 2023. She has been on trial for the last five weeks to decide if she was criminally responsible for the act.

[Key moments from the five-week trial - BBC]

That she killed her children is not disputed. Prosecutors argue Clancy made a calculated decision to kill her children. They say she sent her husband, Patrick, out on errands so he would not be home while she committed the acts.

What her defence attorneys claim, however, is that she was insane: they point to her seeking mental health treatment, and checking herself into a psychiatric hospital only days before the deaths. She was suffering from the most severe form of postpartum psychosis, they say. After the killings, she leapt from a second-floor window, leaving her a wheelchair user today.

And because the US does not have the UK’s strict contempt-of-court laws, which forbid speculation about a “live” criminal case, there is also a wild, external “trial” on social media. This is where it gets messy.

There, onlookers are divided - between those who think she is cold-blooded killer, and those who think she was one of countless mothers who must struggle with terrible mental illness after childbirth, without proper care or even a belief they are unwell.

There’s even a divide between those who sympathise with her husband for coming home to a scene of almost unimaginable horror, and others who blame him for what happened. They say Patrick Clancy was responsible through his neglect of her and his family: some hold even wilder theories. (To be clear: Patrick Clancy has never been a suspect or investigated for any role in what happened).

All of which made yesterday's events even more cruel: the judge was forced to declare a mistrial after the jury found itself unable to reach a verdict. There had been suggestions that a single juror was holding out, thus denying the necessary unanimity for a verdict. What happens next will be the subject of legal debate later in the month: there are a host of possibilities.

In the meantime, three children remain dead, multiple lives remain ruined, and the internet ferment continues to bubble. I’ll keep you posted.

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