Defendant did not attend site visit; lawyers cite postpartum psychosis
The jury in the Duxbury murder trial traveled by bus to the home Friday, driven past two businesses relevant to the January 2023 killings before being escorted to the house, the Associated Press reported. The visit, a rare step in a criminal proceeding, gave the jurors a firsthand view of the rooms and the yard where the events unfolded.
During the 40-minute examination, the six-person panel walked through the property in small groups, according to the AP. They saw the basement, where Clancy strangled her three children, and the yard where she was discovered after jumping from a second-story window. Journalists were kept behind a police barricade, but court officers could be seen through the trees transporting jurors to and from the bus along what had been the Clancy family’s driveway.
The home now has a new owner, the wire service noted.
The site visit followed two days of testimony in which police described finding the three dead children and the prosecution played the 911 call, as MSI previously reported. Clancy’s trial opened with her entering a plea of not guilty by reason of mental illness, and the defense has argued that the killings were a tragic consequence of an unrecognized and untreated psychiatric crisis, not a criminal act.
The jury will now return to the courtroom to hear further evidence as the trial continues.