A juror grabbed evidence during deliberations and physically reenacted how three children were strangled.
That is what Nick Dargie, 25, told ABC News happened inside the jury room during Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial. The holdout juror, according to Dargie, removed an exercise band from an evidence bag, wrapped it around an empty water bottle, and pulled it tight to simulate the killings.
“He took the exercise band out of the bag, grabbed an empty water bottle and tied the band around the water bottle and pulled it,” Dargie said. “I was just so shocked that he did that.”
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Dargie said the moment left him at a loss. Jurors, he argued, are supposed to weigh what was presented in court, not run their own experiments with the evidence.
“I was shocked, it didn’t make any sense to me. Like, we’re not in here to play detective or it’s not a game of Clue. Like, this is serious. I asked him why,” Dargie said.
As originally reported, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Friday after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. The panel was split 11 to 1.
Clancy, 36, faced three counts of first-degree murder. Her children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, were found strangled inside the family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts home in January 2023.
She pleaded not guilty. Her defense argued that postpartum psychosis left her unable to recognize that what she was doing was wrong.
The jury’s internal divide was sharp, and the lone holdout clearly saw the evidence differently from the other eleven members. Dargie said the physical demonstration made an already difficult process feel surreal.
The mistrial means Clancy does not walk free. Prosecutors will now decide whether to retry the case. The outcome left a community still searching for resolution more than two years after three young children lost their lives.
