True Crime Reality

We continue to be on verdict watch as 9 women and 3 men continue a second day of deliberations, with no verdict as of yet. Earlier today, Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, told reporters the jurors asked to see the bag of empty pill bottles found in Clancy’s nightstand, as well as the bloody knife she used in her suicide attempt. Reddington also let the press know how Clancy was holding up, as the rest of us wait to hear word from the jury.

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These last few weeks of August have felt unusually heavy, with daily headlines of celebrity deaths.  We’ve been waking up this summer to an onslaught of announcements that some of our favorite, most beloved entertainers have passed. We were shocked when we actually looked at the legends we have lost beginning back in January with Catherine O’Hara to the news we lost both Dolly Parton and Tim Curry on the same day. 

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Honolulu police have confirmed their homicide division is leading the investigation into the death of 50 year old Jenny Lupton, whose body was found after falling from a 24th floor hotel balcony in Waikiki.  Lupton’s family insists the loving mom to a 15 year old son would never take her own life; she had been enjoying her layover with a flight attendant friend and had just gotten a tattoo the day before her death, with plans to color it in once she retuned home to Oklahoma.  Police have not determined her cause of death yet and say they plan to “limit the release of certain information” to preserve the integrity of the investigation, while asking the public to refrain from sharing unverified information while they continue their work. 

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The jury in the Lindsay Clancy triple murder trial continues deliberating today, after spending 3 and a half hours on Thursday.  After 21 days of testimony and 85 witnesses, the 12 jurors will have five potential verdicts to consider, including manslaughter, that could leave the Massachusetts mom who admitted to killing her three young children in prison for the rest of her life, committed to a mental institution, or free from punishment entirely.  Her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, acknowledged his polarizing personality answering a series of questions from reporters as he left the courthouse, saying he has no idea what the jury is going to decide.

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Robach and Holmes cover the latest news headlines and entertainment updates and give perspective on current events in their daily “Morning Run.”

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The prosecution began its closing arguments by acknowledging Lindsay Clancy was mentally ill, but pointed out that she had an “abundance of help” and was in a privileged position. Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague told jurors that Clancy lied to health care providers, lied to her husband, friends and family., telling them she was getting better. Sprague at one point, even made a comparison to Andrea Yates, saying Yates tried to commit suicide twice to try and protect her children, until the judge intervened.  The prosecution ended by saying Clancy left her children “discarded on the basement floor, like broken toys, because she was done playing the game.”

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Jordyn Ashley Olson, who portrays Tanya Kach in The Girl Locked Upstairs, breaks down one of the most chilling parts of Tanya’s story: why she was the perfect target for a predator.

At just 14, Tanya was isolated, vulnerable, and desperate for connection. Jordyn explains how a school security guard recognized those vulnerabilities and systematically exploited them until Tanya became dependent on the very man abusing her.

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As expected, the jury heard a dramatic and powerful closing argument from Lindsay Clancy defense attorney Kevin Reddington. Reporters inside the courtroom described both Clancy and several jurors wiping tears from their eyes as Reddington showed pictures of the once happy family that he said was ripped apart because “of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she got." Reddington took nearly the full hour to make his final case to jurors, saying the prosecution has manipulated the evidence, and reiterating that Clancy was a “darn good mother” who had no motive to kill her kids. 

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Yes, their crimes are horrifically linked: Andrea Yates and Lindsay Clancy both claim they were “commanded” to kill their children one by one, both were former nurses, both were raised Catholic and both pleaded guilty by reason of insanity, citing postpartum psychosis. But 25 years later, turns out one of the state’s star witnesses, Dr. Avram Mack, who testified Clancy knew right from wrong and is criminally responsible for killing her kids, works for the very psychiatrist who was later proven to have falsely testified against Andrea Yates. Dr. Park Dietz said Andrea Yates replicated a “Law and Order” episode to get away with murder, but the episode never happened, and his testimony ultimately led to Yates getting a new trial where she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.  

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After listening to 85 witnesses over the past five weeks, it appears Lindsay Clancy’s fate will be in the hands of the jury by mid-day, in a trial that has captivated the country. This morning, we will hear closing arguments from both the defense and prosecution and then jurors will be able to choose one of five verdicts, including manslaughter. Testimony concluded on Wednesday with an FBI forensic psychiatrist who testified Clancy is criminally responsible for the strangling deaths of her three young children. 

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