A fundraising campaign established to support the parents of Lindsay Clancy has surpassed $1.1 million, with contributions pouring in as her closely watched Massachusetts murder trial ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
The Musgrove Family Fund was launched on Aug. 11 by Wisconsin organizer Brandee Mulligan on behalf of Clancy’s father, Michael Musgrove. As of Friday, approximately 33,500 donors had contributed $1,124,849 toward the campaign’s $2 million goal.
According to the fundraiser, the money is intended to help Mike and Paula Musgrove recover financially after years of expenses associated with their daughter’s case. The couple relocated from Connecticut to Massachusetts so they could remain near Clancy and attend court proceedings, accumulating costs for travel, hotels and everyday living expenses.
Contributions to the campaign climbed as Clancy’s trial, one of Massachusetts’ most closely followed criminal cases, approached its conclusion.
Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Friday after the jury informed the court that it could not unanimously decide whether Clancy, 36, was criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children. Clancy was accused of strangling Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, who was 8 months old, inside the family’s Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023.
The jury was reportedly divided 11-1 after spending nearly 40 hours deliberating over the course of seven days.
Clancy, who previously worked as a labor and delivery nurse, had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, maintained during the trial that Clancy had been suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare and serious psychiatric condition that can occur after childbirth. The defense also argued that medical providers had overmedicated her.
Prosecutors, led by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague, presented a sharply different account, arguing that Clancy deliberately planned the killings and intentionally carried them out.
Judge Sullivan scheduled a status hearing for Sept. 29. At that time, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz is expected to indicate how prosecutors intend to proceed, including whether they will seek a new trial, pursue a plea agreement or dismiss the charges.
Clancy will meanwhile remain in custody at Tewksbury Hospital, where she has been held since the deaths of her children.
She has been paralyzed from the waist down since Jan. 24, 2023, when she jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt on the same night her children were killed.
The GoFundMe campaign has been verified by the fundraising platform and identifies Mike and Paula Musgrove as its direct beneficiaries. The page states that the fundraiser was created with their approval and with the knowledge of Reddington.
In explaining the purpose of the campaign, Mulligan wrote that the fund is not asking donors “to agree on Lindsay, her case, or what the outcome of her trial should be.”
Paula Musgrove is retired, while Mike Musgrove works as a photographer.
The latest fundraising effort is separate from a GoFundMe established in 2023 for Clancy’s ex-husband, Patrick. That campaign raised more than $1 million to assist with medical expenses, funeral costs and legal bills following the deaths of the couple’s three children.
{Matzav.com}
