The identities of the jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s triple murder trial were indefinitely sealed Monday by the judge — who argued the 12 individuals are facing a “real and present” risk of harm since the controversial case ended in a mistrial.
Judge William Sullivan indefinitely extended an impound order already in place, explaining juror names would remain hidden from the public “until and unless otherwise ordered by the Court.”
“This case has garnered and continues to garner significant and divisive attention in Massachusetts, nationally and internationally,” Sullivan’s order read.
“Based on the circumstances of this trial and the fact that the case continues to receive daily, divisive attention in Massachusetts and beyond, the Court concludes there is a real and present ‘risk of [personal] harm to the jurors,’” it added.
The impound order came as intrigue into the lone holdout juror who sparked the mistrial by refusing to find Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity reached a fever pitch — with media hounding the juror’s Massachusetts hometown, and his family complaining they couldn’t leave their homes because of the furor.
Clancy, 36, admitted to murdering her three kids — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — then attempting suicide after tricking her husband into leaving their Duxbury house in January 2023. But she claimed she was suffering from severe post-partum psychosis worsened by the medication doctors gave her as she sought help.
Eleven of the jurors voted to acquit her of legal responsibility for the killings — which would still leave her in a psychiatric facility for decades — except the one holdout, who reportedly agreed there was reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s murder charges but refused to budge during days of deliberation until a mistrial was declared.
Attention from the trial’s explosive conclusion has also landed on the case’s other jurors, with true-crime fanatics trying to track them down to get whatever morsels they can about what happened in the deliberation room.
It’s even turned scary for some — Sullivan’s order claimed at least one juror had received threats, others’ personal information had been posted online, and one person had been arrested for filming jurors leaving the court.
“At least one juror has requested that the order be extended indefinitely,” Sullivan said, adding that the court system was obligated to provide jurors “the highest degree of vigilance for their personal safety.”
Sullivan had previously placed an impound on the legally mandated release of jury names on Sept. 4.
Several jurors have already publicly identified themselves and spoken to the media — with their comments fueling the furor over the lone holdout — and Sullivan noted that none were barred from revealing themselves if they chose.
