Clancy Holdout Juror: “I Didn’t Have Any Doubts” She Planned the Killings

The lone juror who blocked a Massachusetts insanity verdict in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial released a statement Thursday saying he never wavered. Michael P. Desronvil told NewsNation, through a spokesperson, that the evidence showed Clancy knew what she was doing when she killed her three children. “I didn’t have any doubts. As I tried to explain different possible theories during deliberation, I kept getting cut off as if I had doubts based on the evidence present,” he said. “Based on all the physical evidence, key witnesses, and what the prosecution presents, I thought it was enough proof that she [Clancy] knew exactly what she was doing and planned.” The same language went to CBS News through representative Ray Marcel.

Clancy, 36, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the January 2023 deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan at the family’s home in Duxbury. She sent her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, out on errands, strangled the children with an exercise band in separate rooms, then cut herself and jumped from a window. She pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors argued she acted intentionally and knew the difference between right and wrong. The defense said she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible. After about 38 hours of deliberations over seven days, the 12-member jury — nine women and three men — deadlocked 11–1. Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Sept. 4. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington had asked Sullivan to remove the holdout, saying the juror would not follow the instruction on reasonable doubt. Sullivan refused. An emergency appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court also failed.

Desronvil’s statement answers accounts other jurors gave after the mistrial. Foreperson Roni Carlson told NBC10 Boston that the holdout “admitted he had reasonable doubt” and that she had begun signing verdict forms before he said he still would not find Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity. Juror Paula Devlin called him “arrogant” and said he would not write his reasons on the board. Kellie Farina said he “had the hardest time getting off the fact that Lindsay viciously killed her children.” Nick Dargie told ABC News the holdout could not point to a witness or exhibit that supported his vote and at one point wrapped the exercise band around a water bottle. Desronvil, through Marcel, said those descriptions were untrue and that he believed from the start she was sane and guilty. Marcel told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo the juror “never displayed or said anything about reasonable doubt.”

Clancy remains in custody. A hearing is set for Sept. 29 on Reddington’s request to end the case without a second trial. Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not said whether he will retry her. Desronvil’s lawyer, Edward Paltzik, said Thursday that GiveSendGo and GoFundMe pages circulating in his client’s name were not authorized. Paltzik said his focus was Desronvil’s health and safety after the juror’s identity became public.