A Massachusetts judge has ruled that jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s trial may consider manslaughter as well as first- and second-degree murder over the deaths of her three children. The decision gives the jury a possible lesser verdict than murder, while the central issue remains whether Clancy was legally responsible for her actions given her insanity defence.

Clancy, 36, is accused of killing Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan at their Duxbury home in January 2023, before attempting suicide and sustaining paralysis. Prosecutors allege she planned the killings, while her defence argues that postpartum psychosis and medication affected her mental capacity; she has admitted the killings but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. A first-degree murder conviction would carry life imprisonment without parole, whereas Clancy seeks commitment to a state mental health facility.