What's next for Lindsay Clancy? A teen's murder on cruise ship. Plus, does the insanity defense work?

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1:25Hi, guys. Good morning. It's the start of another workday for the Dateline team. Supposedly, he stages his own kidnapping. Our producers are catching up on breaking crime news. We've got crews ready to go. He was ordered under house arrest with no exception. Stranger things have happened. Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's September 10th, and here's what's on our docket. In Florida, the trial of a 16-year-old accused of murdering his stepsister on a cruise ship is delayed for a surprising reason. You might think, oh, maybe that's a stall tactic, but here's the explanation.

2:03In Dateline Roundup, we've got the latest on the Texas man who fled to Italy on the eve of his murder trial. And Barry Morphew, the Colorado husband accused of killing his wife with an animal tranquilizer, is back in court. So Barry was arrested last week, and according to a court filing, he was involved in a hit-and-run crash. Plus, the insanity defense. We heard a lot about it at Lindsey Clancy's trial, but how often is it actually used? When these cases come up, it becomes a battle of the experts. Before all that, we're heading back to Massachusetts for an update on the explosive final hours of the Clancy trial and where the case goes from here.

2:44Last week, a jury of nine women and three men entered their seventh day of deliberations in a case that has transfixed the nation. Lindsay Clancy, the 36-year-old mother and former labor and delivery nurse accused of murdering her three young children. Prosecutors urged the jury to find Lindsay guilty, saying she deliberately planned the children's deaths. Lindsay's defense argued she was not in her right mind, struggling with postpartum psychosis and a cocktail of medications. Twice, the jury told the judge they were deadlocked. Twice, he sent them back to try to find common ground. Then, on Friday morning, just after 11 a.m., the jury came back with a note that kicked off an extraordinary series of events.

3:26Our own Blaine Alexander was there for it all and is here now to fill us in on the drama inside the courtroom, what jurors have since revealed about their deliberations and what could happen next. Blaine, thanks for being here. Andrea, thanks so much for having me. So, as we said, Blaine, you were at the Plymouth County Courthouse for the final week of trial. What was it like reporting from there? Set the scene for us. You know, Andrea, I can't overstate for you just how many, you know, of course, traditional media, but just bloggers, people who were streaming, how many people were at that courthouse trying to capture every single moment of what was happening?

4:02Yeah, it seems like you can't click on social media or, you know, a news website and not see the Lindsay Clancy trial. It has gotten so much attention, Blaine. You're absolutely right, Andrea, and not just from the people, of course, who were there in Plymouth, but there have been people who have really felt some sort of connection to this case. In fact, Lindsay Clancy's attorney, her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, actually came in holding what he said was a box of letters from people who had just written to her over the course of this trial wanting to show their support. Yeah, she definitely has a lot of support.

4:33And then there's people that don't support her. That's right. In addition to the supporters and the people, of course, who go the other way, there have been a lot of conspiracy theories flying around about this case, specifically about the role that her husband Patrick played in all this. And so that really has added to just so much of the chatter. here in all of this. One of the theories is that Patrick might be responsible for the children's deaths. And we just want to say that he has never been accused of anything by law enforcement or prosecutors. Absolutely. And not only has he not been accused of anything, but Lindsay Clancy herself and her defense attorney have not disputed the fact that she, in fact, killed her children.

5:09And that's what's making some of these conspiracy theories seem so outlandish. Yes. Because of her confession that she killed the children. Exactly. Yeah. All right, Blaine, let's get into what happened in the courtroom. The last time we checked in on the case, it was day five of deliberations. After saying they were deadlocked, the judge sent the jury back with special instructions, basically saying that there was no better jury, that they should do their best to come to a verdict. Blaine, what happened next? So this was kind of the beginning of perhaps one of the most dramatic periods of trial that I've ever covered.

5:46So Thursday, there was a note that was sent from the foreperson basically saying that they were 11 to 1 and there was one person that they believed had expressed doubt but wasn't willing to vote for not guilty, basically. And the judge gave instructions, basically read another definition of reasonable doubt and sent them back to begin deliberating again. And you could see defense attorney Kevin Reddington getting upset. He then came out, asked for that juror to be removed. If we come back here in a half an hour with a mistrial because of a juror that has just spurned the instructions of this court, it's a shame.

6:25And that's why my motion is to remove this juror that refuses to listen to your instruction on reasonable doubt. The prosecution opposed that, saying that the juror should actually stay on the jury. And ultimately, the judge sided with the prosecution on that. I don't feel it's appropriate for me to say I agree with one juror or 11. Deliberations resumed first thing Friday morning. Did you get the sense that there had to be an end in sight now, regardless of what was going to happen? I mean, you can't just keep sending them back. Absolutely. Then we heard there was a note from the jury. Judge Sullivan read the juror's final note.

7:02It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision and will not be able to. Judge Sullivan announced that he felt that he really didn't have a choice anymore but to declare a mistrial. So Blaine, Kevin Reddington, Lindsay's defense attorney, did something very bold at that point. It was unbelievable, Andrea. He made a last minute appeal to the state Supreme Court, essentially trying to stop a mistrial from being called. Now, I have to talk to you about the timing of this, Andrea. I kind of equated this to someone, if doors are about to close, someone throwing their body in between elevator doors to keep it open, because that's exactly what it felt like when we watched him do that.

7:44And we have some sound from Judge Sullivan trying to wrap his head around it. I'm just trying to find out what it is that you're asking for. What I'm asking for is time to file a single justice appeal for this travesty. That's what I'm asking for. So you're asking for an emergency stay at this point? Yes. So the judge said you have one hour to file that emergency stay with the state Supreme Court. And so everyone filed back out of the courtroom and the clock started right then. So many legal twists and turns in this case. What happened next? There was a Zoom meeting that we actually watched members of the defense team go leave the courtroom, go into a side room.

8:18We saw the prosecution team go into a different side room. All of us media were crowded around several laptops in the hallway and we were watching this Zoom meeting live just to see what would happen. And that's when we saw them all basically argue their cases before a Supreme Judicial Court associate justice who ultimately denied that stay. Okay, so with that stay denied, that's when the judge moved ahead, declared the mistrial. The judge thanked the jurors for their dedication before dismissing them. Did you see any visible reactions from the jurors? I would imagine in this case, they had to feel defeated.

8:55Oh, it was very clear. I mean, there was emotion on their face. There was one juror, a woman who leaned forward, put her hands on her face. I mean, was clearly upset, sat hunched over for a few minutes and then came back up, took her hands down, exhaled audibly. And then for the rest of the time that the judge spoke, looked like she was holding back tears. I mean, we're talking about raw emotion coming from people who've dedicated, I mean, weeks of their lives to hearing and trying to decide this case. I wish we could have come through for Lindsay. I feel very sad that we couldn't. I think the biggest thing that kept coming back to me was how many times she asked for help.

9:39Earlier this week, three of the jurors, Kelly Farina, Paula Devlin, and foreperson Ronnie Carlson, sat down with NBC10 Boston's Sue O 'Connell in an exclusive interview to talk about their experience. We kept having to bring ourselves back to the fact that we weren't trying to figure out if she murdered the children. She did. And she's admitting that. We're trying to figure out, did she know right from wrong at that time? And with everybody saying she loved her children so much and everything proved she loved her children, from her journals to her mother-in-law. Everything proved that she loved her children, so she had to have snapped and not known what she was doing.

10:26As for the holdout juror? He admitted he had reasonable doubt, and I started filling out the forms. I was so excited. I actually, there were three forms I had to fill out, and I started filling them out. I wrote my signature on each one, And then he said, but I'm still not going to say that she's not guilty by reason of insanity. Now, like the rest of us, the three jurors are wondering what comes next. That she should be retried. I would like to see her be retried. I would like him not to retry her. But if he chooses to, I will be in that courtroom. Blaine, the district attorney spoke outside the courtroom immediately after the mistrial was called.

11:07Do you know what the state is going to do? Yeah, we heard first from the district attorney, Tim Cruz, who said he hasn't decided whether or not he's going to retry this. And we should say he really defends this case and why his office took it to trial. He did. And he spoke pretty passionately. This was and has always been about getting justice for those three little babies. We're here at this courthouse today because those children are not. Kevin Reddington, the defense attorney, on the other hand, said if they try and prosecute her again, we're ready to go as soon as next week. Like, bring it on.

11:45Let's do it. He did, however, mention, though, that he was concerned about Lindsay, thought it would be very difficult for her to withstand another case. It's not right what she had to go through because she grieves the loss of those three children, Cora, Dawson and Callen. We know that there's going to be a status hearing on September 29th regarding the next steps. And in the meantime, Lindsay Clancy is going to remain where she has been this entire time. That's Tewksbury Hospital, which is a state-run psychiatric hospital. And she's been there for the better part of three and a half years now.

12:20Her ex-husband, Patrick Clancy, released two statements. What did he want to get across, Blaine? Well, a couple of things. He wanted to get across that he was very grateful to the jury for their hard work. But he did want to make the point that the possibility of having to essentially relive this tragedy of losing his children through another trial was extraordinarily painful. And then, yes, Andrea, he released a statement on Tuesday with a very different tone, pushing back against those conspiracy theories that we talked about. He basically said enough is enough and he threatened legal action.

12:54Yeah, it will be interesting to see how the state responds to Patrick Clancy, because we know that they often consult families, you know, when making decisions like this. I will say that spending the amount of time that I did in Plymouth, this has been extraordinarily hard on everybody in this community. And I can't overstate that enough. You know, when you have a trial that is so high profile, it's just it's a lot for everyone involved. Blaine, we know that you will stay on this case and we're so grateful for your reporting from the courthouse. Of course. Thanks so much for having me, Andrea.

13:35Coming up, family tension and the run up to the trial of a teen charged with murdering his stepsister.

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15:16In November of last year, the Carnival Horizon cruise ship docked in Miami after a voyage to the Caribbean. But before passengers finished disembarking, FBI agents stormed the ship to begin investigating a horrifying crime. The FBI is investigating the mysterious death of a woman on board a Carnival cruise ship. The victim was 18-year-old Anna Kepner, a high school senior and cheerleader. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death in her cabin. A few months later, Anna's stepbrother, 16-year-old Timothy Hudson, surrendered to law enforcement and was charged with her murder. This week, Timothy, who has pleaded not guilty, was supposed to go to trial, but an unusual legal request from his defense attorney stopped everything in its tracks.

16:00Here to bring us up to speed on the case is NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch. Jesse, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me, Andrea. Jesse, before we get into the details of this tragic crime, tell us more about Anna Kepner. Yeah, so I remember this from when we were covering the immediate aftermath. Her family was describing her as someone who had a, quote, bright and beautiful soul. She was soon to be graduating high school. She grew up and was living in Titusville, Florida. That's between Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center, for people who aren't familiar. She had plans of possibly joining the U.S.

16:34Navy after high school. And then everything, of course, completely changes. And suddenly her car is at her high school parking lot covered in flowers and balloons, and it's become a memorial. Really, really sad. Do we know anything about her relationship with her stepbrother before this happened? We know that they were sharing a room on board the cruise ship, according to what has come out in this case from prosecutors. Anna's younger brother was also sharing that room with them. But it's not clear how long they had had a relationship before their parents had gotten married, if they had one. Anna's father and her stepbrother's mom had only been married about 11 months before this happened.

17:19Jesse, what did you learn about the circumstances of her death on that cruise ship? The way this unfolded is there were crew members that allegedly found Anna Kepner's body wrapped in a blanket or a bed sheet under her bed in her cabin on the cruise ship. According to records from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office, Anna Kepner had bruising on her neck. The cause of death has been determined to be asphyxia. So effectively, she was choked. And also the medical examiner suspected she'd been sexually assaulted. Do we know how quickly Timothy, her stepbrother, fell under suspicion for her death?

17:59Yeah. So according to what we've learned from court documents, the medical examiner did a rape kit during the autopsy. And investigators got a search warrant to get DNA from her stepbrother pretty quickly. And according to court documents, prosecutors say his DNA is a match to the DNA from the rape kit. He was charged with Anna's murder in February, but initially as a juvenile. So everything was kept under seal. But that changed in April, right? Yes. So he was 16 when this alleged murder happened. He was being looked at as a minor. And then months later, he is then charged as an adult. So they're essentially saying it's the seriousness of the crimes that being charged as an adult now is more appropriate.

18:46Jesse, what else do we know about the prosecution's case? Yeah, so of course, DNA evidence is huge, right? But they also say they have surveillance footage that illustrates some of the events that unfolded. So what prosecutors say is that CCTV footage from the ship showed Timothy Hudson entering the cabin, which again, he was sharing with Anna Kepner around 7.30 p.m. And within minutes, Anna Kepner goes into that same cabin, according to the footage. And here's the key part of this, Andrea. The footage does not show Anna Kepner ever leave that room again. That, of course, helps illustrate her movements and where they stop.

19:25And then the next day, surveillance footage from the cruise ship appears to show Timothy Hudson dumping something in a trash can. And the reason that is getting attention is because prosecutors talk about how Anna Kepner's phone had been smashed and was found in a trash can later on. Has the prosecution offered any kind of a theory of a possible motive here? So they haven't shared much. They haven't, right? We have not gone to trial here yet. So we have not heard the full case from prosecutors, but there was testimony that came from law enforcement that Anna Kepner's ex-boyfriend says that there was a FaceTime call.

20:06He was on with her. She fell asleep and the call was still going. And he saw Anna Kepner's stepbrother allegedly trying to get into her bed. That's, of course, one incident that is alleged. Right. Important to say that it's an allegation. But that same ex-boyfriend talks about Anna Kepner allegedly being nervous because Timothy Hudson had knives. So prosecutors are at least putting out there that they are thinking about a possible tension with that relationship there. What has the defense said about all of this? Importantly, let's also talk about what they have not said. The defense does not deny that there could have been a sexual encounter between Anna Kepner and Timothy Hudson.

20:50But the defense also says that prosecutors do not have proof that this was anything other than a consensual interaction. The defense has also pointed out that there's no camera inside the room, right? So we don't know exactly what happened. And he is being tried in federal court, Timothy. His trial has been delayed? Yeah, so his defense team actually asked for this delay, right? You have the right to a speedy trial, but his defense team requested a delay saying they want more time to prepare. and that's something that you might think, oh, maybe that's a stall tactic, but here's the explanation from the defense team.

21:28The defense said in part, quote, the unique and very unfortunate family dynamic that has resulted from the allegations here is prompting them to want this delay and that is contributing to challenges in how they are able to prepare their case and get to know the circumstances surrounding their client's life before this unfolded and what may have allegedly led him to do something. And in the motion, the defense is talking about how they don't have access to certain family members that would help facilitate their investigation. That's right. So the judge granted the defense's request to delay the trial.

22:04So what happens next, Jesse? The new trial date is November 2nd, but we'll see if that actually happens, if it gets delayed again, or of course, Andrea, there's always the possibility there could be a plea agreement before this even goes to trial. Jesse, thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me, Andrea. Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. Barry Morphew, the Colorado husband accused of murdering his wife over Mother's Day weekend in 2020, faces a judge. And new charges for one of the people accused of murdering Microsoft employee and father of four, Jared Bridegan. Plus, the insanity defense.

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24:26Welcome back. Joining me for this week's Roundup is Dateline producer Rachel White. Hey, Rachel. Hey, Andrea. Thanks for having me. Our first story, Rachel, is out of Boulder, Colorado, and we have an update in the case of Barry Morphew. It's actually been a while since we've heard Barry's name. He is accused of murdering his wife, Suzanne Morphew, who went missing on Mother's Day 2020. Barry was initially arrested for her murder in 2021, only for prosecutors to drop the charges. Then, after Suzanne's remains were found in 2023, Barry was charged with her murder for a second time. Rachel, remind us how the prosecution is connecting Barry to Suzanne's death.

25:06Yeah, so according to prosecutors, the medical examiner found something called BAM in Suzanne's body, which is a veterinary-grade animal tranquilizer. And they say official records show Barry was the only private citizen in the area at the time of Suzanne's disappearance who had access to the drug. Barry has pleaded not guilty and until recently was on house arrest after posting a$3 million bond waiting for the start of his trial. Rachel, he had some pretty strict conditions on his bond, right? He did. Barry was not allowed to leave the house except for work, court hearings, and medical appointments.