Patrick Clancy, whose ex-wife Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial for the deaths of their three children ended in a mistrial on Sept. 4, said through his attorney that the prospect of a new trial would be “extraordinarily painful” in a new statement.
Lindsay Clancy’s trial ended without a verdict when jurors said they couldn’t come to a unanimous decision on whether she was criminally responsible for killing Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months, on Jan. 24, 2023 in their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home. Her defense team argued she was not guilty by reason of insanity.
“Patrick Clancy is grateful to the Court and to the jurors for their hard work, their commitment, and their perseverance. The loss of Patrick’s children is something from which he will never recover and from which there will never be closure,” attorney David Meier said in a statement shared with USA TODAY on Patrick Clancy’s behalf, his first remarks since the trial ended.
“The prospect of reliving this tragedy through another trial is extraordinarily painful – for Patrick, for his family, and for all of us.”
The mistrial means Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz has to decide whether to retry Lindsay Clancy, 36, before an entirely new jury. Lindsay Clancy’s first trial stretched on for six weeks of testimony and jurors deliberated for more than 38 hours.
Trial ended in 11-1 deadlock
The trial ended Sept. 4 in a dramatic last-ditch attempt by defense attorney Kevin Reddington to avoid a mistrial with a an unsuccessful emergency appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and attempt to have one holdout juror removed.
Jurors said in a note to the court that one member “refused to listen” to instructions about reasonable doubt and would not budge.
Reddington said afterward he believed that but for the one juror, Lindsay Clancy would have been unanimously acquitted.
Lindsay Clancy was accused of strangling the three children with workout bands and then attempted suicide, including by jumping out a window, leaving her paralyzed. Her defense didn’t contest the facts about how the children died, but argued during the trial that she was suffering from post-partum depression and psychosis.
Patrick Clancy testified at ex-wife’s trial
Patrick Clancy took the stand in late July, the first witness to testify in the murder trial. He recounted how he came home from running an errand and picking up dinner to find his wife on the ground outside and the children in the basement with the bands around their necks.
Patrick Clancy reacts as images of himself and his children on vacation a month before they were killed are shown in the Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Monday, July 27, 2026.
He testified that his ex-wife’s mental health had been in decline leading up to the killings and that she sought treatment from different providers. She was prescribed medications and was hospitalized for suicidal thoughts.
Patrick and Lindsay Clancy divorced after the children were killed. He has since remarried.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patrick Clancy reacts to hung jury: New trial would be ‘painful’
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