Overview
- Jury selection began Monday, July 20, 2026, in Plymouth Superior Court, where Judge William F. Sullivan plans to impanel 18 jurors including six alternates for a trial expected to run several weeks.
- The defense says Clancy suffered severe postpartum psychiatric illness, heard command hallucinations and was overmedicated, and will press a lack-of-criminal-responsibility (insanity) defense supported by medical testimony and recent civil suits against her providers.
- Prosecutors argue the killings were planned, citing steps they say showed premeditation such as sending her husband out, internet searches about killing and crime-scene evidence, and they dropped redundant strangulation counts before trial.
- Clancy, paralyzed after a suicide attempt the night of the deaths, remains in custody at Tewksbury State Hospital and both sides have listed extensive witnesses; Patrick Clancy, who found the children, is expected to testify.
- The trial will hinge on which set of forensic experts jurors find credible, and its outcome could shape public attention to postpartum psychosis, clinical diagnosis, medication management and potential provider liability.