For those struggling with suicidal thoughts, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for support.

In a high-profile courtroom drama, the prosecutor famous for convicting Susan Smith, who tragically took the lives of her two sons, claims Lindsay Clancy’s defense fell short of evidencing a “break with reality.” As the jury readies to deliberate after Thursday’s closing arguments, this assertion remains pivotal.

Lindsay Clancy, aged 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder related to the tragic deaths of her children—Cora, Dawson, and Callan—who were found strangled in the family home in January 2023. With the prosecution having concluded its rebuttal by Wednesday afternoon, closing arguments are set for Thursday, setting the stage for the jury’s in-depth deliberations.

Her legal defense insists that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the tragic moment she took her children’s lives, a point of contention adamantly challenged by the prosecuting team.

Smith, a South Carolina mother, was convicted of killing her two young sons — 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander — after she strapped them into her car and allowed it to roll into a lake. Prosecutors contended she killed the boys at least in part because the man she was romantically involved with did not want a relationship with a woman who had children. She received a life prison sentence.

Smith’s defense contended she was in a fragile mental state and suffered from severe depression, characterizing the act as a failed suicide attempt in which she had intended to end her own life along with her sons’.

As jurors begin to deliberate on Thursday, Rep. Tommy Pope, who is currently the speaker pro tempore for the South Carolina House of Representatives and prosecuted Smith, told News Media he thinks Clancy failed to prove she had a break from reality.

“So as a prosecutor, what you try to do, and you’ve seen it in this case, is the prosecutor will point out all the things that she did that it can be mundane. Sometimes people watch and go, why do they care that she ordered dinner? Why do they hear that she sent her husband away or was able to dial the phone or those things? But that’s what you’re looking at. Was it a break from reality? Or did she just commit a horrible, horrible crime and make a horrible, horrible choice?” Pope said. “In these circumstances, Clancy had, like I said, all the prior treatment. But I still don’t really see the break with reality.”

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However, Pope said that one of the things that “jumps out” for him is a clear lack of motive in Clancy killing her children, which was present in the Smith murders.

“In this one, it’s hard to see the end game,” Pope said, referring to the murder case against Clancy. “What was her goal after? Let’s say that even jumping out the window was a suicidal gesture, which obviously went terribly wrong for her, if that was the case. But what was her end game? And that’s one disconnect I see.”

Gregory Saathoff, a University of Virginia forensic psychiatrist who consults for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, testified Wednesday that financial pressure was among the stressors Clancy faced and may help explain why she killed her children.

Saathoff said Clancy felt her “brain had been damaged” and could no longer do the work she loved or help support her family, which left her with a sense of being a burden.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington questioned Saathoff about his experience with terrorism, drawing from him an acknowledgment that sleep deprivation is employed as a form of torture and that severe insomnia “can actually lead to psychosis.” Saathoff confirmed the point, saying, “Yes, it’s possible.”

Ed Martin is set to conclude his role as the pardon attorney next week. During his tenure, President Trump granted pardons to hundreds caught up in what they perceive as the Biden administration’s biased use of the justice system against Trump and his supporters. As a devout Catholic, Martin has been instrumental in restoring both the reputations and dignity of these individuals, a period he fondly refers to as “Trump’s year of mercy.”

While some critics dismiss his efforts, they are simultaneously apprehensive, recognizing Martin’s effectiveness as a driven and happy warrior who has accomplished significant achievements in his relatively short tenure.

In his additional role as interim DC US attorney, which lasted four months, Martin played a pivotal part in terminating all January 6 prosecutions following Trump’s sweeping pardons and commutations. He also dismissed overzealous prosecutors accused of misusing the law and warned Senator Chuck Schumer regarding his threats to Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during a Supreme Court abortion-rights rally back in March 2020.

Moreover, he was appointed as a special attorney for mortgage fraud at the Department of Justice. In this capacity, he spearheaded investigations involving New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook, and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, known for his participation in the Russiagate controversy.

Adding another layer to his broad responsibilities at the DOJ, Martin served as associate deputy attorney general leading the Weaponization Working Group. This group launched inquiries into what Martin claims are the Biden DOJ’s aggressive actions against Catholics, concerned school board parents, and pro-life advocates. He accused Lisa Monaco, deputy attorney general under Merrick Garland, of orchestrating these partisan pursuits.

It rankles Martin that she has been rewarded handsomely for her conduct with a prestigious high-paying job at Microsoft as president of global affairs.

“Lisa Monaco should not be received in polite society,” he says. “Instead she is paid tens of millions by Microsoft. When people do something wrong . . . they should be named and shamed and in a culture that values shame.”

Martin’s critics sneer at his small-town Missouri cheerfulness and the Columbo-style trenchcoat that has become his trademark, but they fear a rare man in Washington who knows right from wrong and never flinches from the fight.

Conservatives have had no better warrior since his mentor Phyllis Schlafly died in 2016, two months before Donald Trump won the presidential election in which she threw the might of the most influential social conservative movement in the country behind the showy real estate developer from Queens.

The Missouri powerhouse activist’s early support for Trump split her movement and bogged her down in lawsuits from a rogue group of Never Trumpers inside her own Eagle Forum which continue to this day.

No MAGA left behind

Martin was her protégé co-authoring the New York Times bestseller “The Conservative Case for Trump” that was published the day after her death and gave the green light to conservatives to vote for the uncontrollable Fifth Avenue billionaire. He saw firsthand how the law can be weaponized against conservatives and, most importantly, how Schlafly, by then in her 90s, remained cheerfully undeterred.

In an hour-long meeting in the Oval Office with the president last week, half the conversation was about Schlafly, and Trump’s gratitude to her and Martin.

“She never wavered,” Trump told Martin.

Neither has Martin, and Trump knows it.

“Ed Martin has been with me from the very beginning, and done an incredible job,” Trump posted on Truth Social after their meeting.

“Ed is now leaving to go outside to fight Legal Battles for the upcoming Midterm Election, and the Presidential Election of 2028. I know he will do an outstanding job, ensure Free, Fair, and Honest Elections, and strongly advance our Constitutional Rights.”

Martin sees the president as “the greatest fruit of the Norman Vincent Peale American movement.”

He said Trump embraced the themes of Peale’s famous book “The Power of Positive Thinking,” and he also internalized “the Horatio Alger myth of America” popularized by Peale, which holds that “every American can pull himself up by his bootstraps . . . In the 1940s [as the] GI Bill kicked in and the greatest shift of working-class Americans into the middle and upper class happened, it was the Horatio Alger story that became the American myth.

“Trump lived that from his own family and those around him that’s what he’s trying to get America to be again.”

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In a way, Schlafly and Martin forged the origin story of MAGA.

“No MAGA left behind” was Martin’s motto as pardon attorney.

Thus Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former lawyer, Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff, election lawyers John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and Christina Bobb, and Tina Peters, a Colorado clerk caught up in another election witch-hunt, were all pardoned.

Every week, Post columnist Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid conversations with the most influential disruptors in Washington on ‘Pod Force One.’ Subscribe here!

So was Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner who was targeted by the same Biden DOJ that was protecting the then-president’s son. Where there was injustice, abuse of the system and unequal treatment, Martin set about putting things right.

He said as soon as the Democrats lost in 2016, they embarked on a decade-long operation to take down Trump and his world. Once in power under Biden, they weaponized the DOJ to attack Trump and protect Joe Biden.

“When the system is lacking in transparency and the rules change depending on who you are, this is not just unfair but a problem of the administration of justice,” he said.

The system is working against the citizen.

Ready to ‘fight’

“Reagan used to say ‘trust but verify’ about Soviet communism. My experience after all of this, when it comes to the government in this era of lawfare, is ‘distrust and rectify.’ ”

Of course, Martin is attacked daily by Deep State exiles like disgraced former FBI Deputy Director and Russiagate plotter Andrew McCabe and Liz Oyer, Joe Biden’s pardon attorney.

Oyer criticizes Martin on lefty podcasts over pardons of conservative Trump allies, despite the fact that on her watch, Biden pardoned his son. Not to mention the autopen.

Oyer calls Martin “one of the most dangerous people in the Justice Department,” a criticism he wears like a badge of honor, although his boss, AG Todd Blanche, was discomfited by his cowboy ways.

But Martin appears to hold no ill will and is focused on his next task: energizing a moribund MAGA base to get out and vote at the midterms.

His prime vehicle is also his favorite cause: defending the Second Amendment. One of his last acts as pardon attorney was to oversee the new Federal Firearm Rights Restoration rule, which allows non-violent felons to request clemency “so that they can once again protect themselves, their families and businesses, and know again the joys of gun collecting, target range practice and hunting.”

“The Second Amendment is so important that it trumps a felony conviction,” he said. It “is the stabilizer for our American nation.”

He said 30 million Americans, including felons, have lost their Second Amendment rights in a concerted encroachment over more than 30 years.

He said he won’t be trying to speak to swing voters or soccer moms but to MAGA people, to get them to understand what Trump has achieved.

“I want to fight, fight, fight for the midterm elections. Get out the vote of conservatives and Second Amendment supporters.

“Midterm elections are always tough, but we have a great argument to make about what we’ve done.”

A fierce legal skirmish has erupted over the $400,000 estate of late actress Daveigh Chase. In a dramatic twist, her former manager has waded into what has already become a contentious standoff between her estranged parents, all vying for control of her remaining assets.

This unusual probate conflict comes in the wake of the passing of the former child sensation, best known for haunting audiences as Samara in ‘The Ring’. Tragically, Chase passed away at just 35, her life marred by tumultuous bouts with addiction and a heartbreaking stint without a home in Los Angeles.

Living in an RV amidst the struggles of Skid Row—a neighborhood infamous for its homelessness—Chase was elusive, as her loved ones tirelessly searched for her during those final months.

According to findings from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, Chase’s death on June 16 resulted from a dual affliction: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and complications from polysubstance abuse.

Despite the hardships that defined the end of her days, court filings have disclosed that Chase left behind an estate her mother appraised at about $400,000, as reported by documents acquired by the Daily Mail.

Despite being unhoused in her final months, control of that money and Chase’s remaining assets has become the focus of an increasingly bitter legal fight involving her mother Cathy Chase, estranged father John Schwallier – and her former manager John Ryan.

At a hearing on Wednesday at a Downtown LA courtroom, Daveigh’s parents and their attorneys told a judge that they plan to move forward with competing petitions to each take over their daughter’s estate.

Cathy told the Daily Mail that Daveigh also had residuals that she never collected from her work in various commercials, film and TV shows.

John Schwallier, who has not seen Daveigh since she was a child, initially told the Daily Mail he would rather have a fiduciary, Megan Boling, be appointed by the court to deal with settling the estate affairs.

He also filed paperwork asking a judge to approve Boling as administrator to Daveigh’s estate.

Then, in a surprising turn of events, another name came forward to obtain a piece of Daveigh’s earning. 

An attorney representing Daveigh’s former manager also told the judge that his client, John Ryan, had filed paperwork in support of Boling as the administrator.

Ryan had publicly criticized Daveigh’s boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, for setting up a GoFundMe for the actress, calling it ‘fake’ and warned the public not to donate to the crowdfunding site.

‘That GoFundMe is not going toward ANY expenses for Daveigh,’ Ryan said in a statement. 

‘Myself, her father, her uncle and all of us close friends who knew her for decades are encouraging people not to donate to this page. This man making these claims brought her into the hospital in terrible condition and didn’t let any of the family know until she passed so he can control the dialogue. 

‘Daveigh’s actual family is handling all arrangements, we have contacted go fund me to let them know this man started this page on his own under Daveighs name when she was already unresponsive and urging people to report the page and not donate.’

Attorney Richard Pershing, who represents fiduciary Megan Boling, told the judge he met with Cathy Chase’s attorney, but they could not ‘find a resolution.’

Cathy Chase, who was on the video call, remained quiet. Her ex-husband, however, spoke to the judge in frustration.

‘Ultimately, I would like a court-appointed person,’ said Schwallier as he rubbed his brow. 

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‘I’ve got nothing but ill representation from my ex-wife and I don’t see her treating this fairly. That is why I want a fiduciary person to do it.’

Attorney Cliff Melnick, who represents Cathy, said he was concerned with the amount of time it could take to argue over the competing petitions.

‘Your Honor, I am concerned about the length, time and expenses this is going to take,’ Melnick said. 

‘There are so many competing petitions. And as far as Ms. Boling is concerned, my client clearly has priority over Mr. Schwallier’s nominee.

He continued: ‘I guess my overall worry is that we’re just going to keep pushing this. A resolution is important to my client. It’s a tough situation, and under these very difficult circumstances, I am further worried that we are being engaged in discovery. 

‘It’s going to become some form of a fishing expedition. There is nothing in any of the papers that I’ve seen indicating Cathy Chase should be disqualified for any reason whatsoever.’

Before the 15-minute hearing ended, Schwallier told the judge he also plans to file his own petition.

He told the judge, ‘If you are not going to grant [Boiling to take over] or a court-appointed fiduciary today, I will file a competing petition.’

The judge told Schwallier to file his petition by January 8. The hearing was continued to February 10, 2027.

In June, Cathy Chase told the Daily Mail about the harrowing moments she experienced upon learning of her daughter’s death via online news alerts.

‘I was devastated,’ Cathy said. ‘It felt like something inside of me squeezing all of the air out of me, and at the same time, it felt like I was exploding outwardly.’

She continued, ‘I let out this guttural scream and I just was running. And these weird sounds were coming out of me, these kind of, like, primeval sounds.

‘And I went out into the backyard, and I was screaming, “No, no, no, no!” I am in so much pain but I hope her soul heard me.’

Cathy told the Daily Mail she had said a prayer for her late daughter when she identified her at a Los Angeles hospital early June 18.

She said a chaplain joined her as they ‘were able to lay hands and pray.’

Cathy added, ‘We were able to lay hands and pray. Technically, we were touching the glass, but it’s as close as we could get, so we were able to lay hands and pray for her.

‘It was a beautiful experience, and, I feel very blessed to have been able to share that with my daughter.’

Daveigh Chase was best known for her work in films such as The Ring and Lilo & Stitch, both of which had been released in 2002.

The Las Vegas-born actress had previously appeared in the 2001 film Donnie Darko and 2003 series Oliver Beene.

Content warning: This article contains details that may be distressing to some readers, including descriptions of sexual assault.

Attorneys representing Timothy Hudson, the teenager implicated in the brutal slaying of his 18-year-old stepsister Anna Kepner, point to a “unique—and very unfortunate—family dynamic” as justification for requesting more time before his federal murder trial commences.

In response to the defense’s call for delay, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom acquiesced, agreeing to postpone the trial, which was initially scheduled for September, to kick off during a two-week period starting November 2, 2026.

Hudson, 16 at the time of his alleged crime against Kepner in November 2025, faces adult charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. Kepner, a senior and cherished cheerleader at Titusville High School, met her tragic end aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise vessel. Hudson has entered a plea of not guilty.

In an Aug. 24 motion, Hudson’s attorneys said they need additional time to complete their investigation of issues they said could affect the resolution of the case.

The defense cited the seriousness of the allegations, Hudson’s status as a juvenile and family circumstances that have limited the lawyers’ access to certain relatives. His attorneys said they were “purposefully being vague” because of intense media scrutiny surrounding the case.

“Although substantial progress has been made, more still needs to be done,” the filing states. The lawyers said the additional time would allow them to complete their investigation and properly advise Hudson about “the options available to him to resolve the pending charges.”

The prosecution did not oppose the request.

Bloom wrote that the interests of justice served by the continuance outweighed speedy-trial concerns.

The court’s deadlines report lists Oct. 23 as the deadline for any plea agreement.

When asked about a potential plea deal, Hudson’s attorney told News Media that they were “still not in a position to make a statement.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Florida declined to comment.

A calendar call is scheduled for Oct. 27 at 1:30 p.m., and the jury trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Nov. 2, at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami.

Prosecutors say Kepner left dinner because she wasn’t feeling well, saying that she had mouth pain from her braces and an upset stomach, and returned alone to cabin 8343.

CCTV allegedly shows Hudson entering the cabin.

CCTV allegedly shows Kepner entering the same cabin. Prosecutors say she was never seen leaving again.

Kepner’s 13-year-old brother briefly entered the cabin and later told investigators he saw her alive.

Prosecutors say Kepner and Hudson were alone in the cabin for roughly three hours.

10:13 p.m.: Prosecutors say Hudson exits the cabin and looks left and right down the hallway.

10:53 p.m.: Prosecutors say Hudson places the privacy sign on the cabin door and goes back inside.

Kepner’s younger brother returns briefly to the cabin. He later tells investigators he did not see her inside.

The brother returned again. Prosecutors say Hudson blocked him from entering, told him he was changing and made him wait outside for a couple of minutes.

The brother said the bathroom and closet doors were open, and the cabin lights were on.

Prosecutors say Kepner’s phone, which was missing from the cabin, was tracked by ship Wi-Fi/router data moving along the same path as Hudson.

Prosecutors say CCTV and router data placed Hudson, and allegedly Kepner’s phone, near the jogging track, smoking area and later near the trash-bin area where the phone was found.

Cabin attendants discovered Kepner’s body, prosecutors say, wrapped in bedding and partially hidden under a bed, with a box of life vests positioned to obscure it.

Tayvon Gray, the hometown defender for New York City FC, has inked a new contract extension ensuring his presence at the club until the 2028-29 season.

This fresh agreement, unveiled on Wednesday, includes a potential extension option for the 2029-30 season. Gray stands as one of the select few core players retained, having been part of the squad that clinched the MLS Cup in 2021.

Expressing his enthusiasm through a club statement, Gray stated, “I’m grateful and honored to continue my journey with New York City FC. This is my Club, and I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished together, but I’m hungry for more. I want to keep winning, continue helping this group, and be part of this next chapter as we look ahead to Etihad Park.”

With Gray’s previous contract nearing its conclusion, NYCFC’s sporting director Todd Dunivant had previously remarked at a Manhattan media event that renewal discussions were “absolutely ongoing.”

Since stepping onto the field with his first Homegrown contract in 2019 at just 17, Gray has made 178 appearances across all competitions, solidifying his role as a key player in the team’s lineup.

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Since then, he’s scored three goals and recorded 13 assists in an NYCFC jersey. 

Speaking with reporters during a World Cup event earlier this summer, Gray acknowledged that he still had “aspirations to go to Europe” in his career, but said his team had been talking with the club about a new contract and “seeing what the next step is for me.” 

In the short term, NYCFC is trying to move up in the table as they cling to a playoff spot. 

The club will play an important game on Saturday, facing a Toronto team that is chasing them in the standings.

In a shocking twist of events, a pair is accused of swooping down on the residence of a Florida couple who tragically lost their lives in a helicopter crash, making off with valuable belongings merely days after the disaster.

Authorities have charged Geybert Alexander Garcia, aged 40, alongside Melany Perdomo, 24, for allegedly burglarizing the South Florida home of Adam Hlavaty and Henry Parra. These men were among the seven who perished in the August 19 helicopter crash in northern Kenya.

The ill-fated Eurocopter EC130 B4 was on its way from Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro region in Kenya when it tragically went down near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County.

The suspects were taken into custody on Tuesday, facing charges such as burglary of an unoccupied home, grand theft of a vehicle, and grand theft, as detailed in arrest documents reviewed by NBC.

Law enforcement officials, speaking to NBC, stated that the suspected break-in occurred between August 20 and August 22, at the Valencia Avenue property in Coral Gables, soon after news surfaced of the tragedy overseas. The incident came to light on August 23, courtesy of a report from the housekeeper.

Police say the Valencia Avenue home had been left in complete disarray, with valuable artwork, jewelry, electronics and personal and business documents allegedly stolen.

Even the victims’ prized vehicles were allegedly taken: a Range Rover and a Porsche Taycan.

However, investigators eventually managed to trace one of the victims’ stolen Apple MacBooks to an address in Hialeah. 

When police arrived to execute a search warrant, Garcia allegedly tried to hide in a bedroom closet. Perdomo was found upstairs. Both were then taken into custody according to the arrest reports.

During the search, authorities allegedly discovered numerous documents belonging to the deceased couple, the Range Rover key fob and several pieces of their valuable artwork.

While the arrest reports do not identify the victims by name, they reference the date of the crash and say the homeowners had been ‘tragically killed in an unforeseen fatal accident while away from the residence.’

The homeowners are being remembered by loved ones as a ‘loving couple who cherished their time together, especially traveling, making memories, and enjoying life with their family and friends.’

Reverend Eddie Rodriguez, the interfaith minister who officiated their wedding, told WPLG that some couples remain with you long after the ceremony.

‘There are couples that stand out for you, and they certainly did,’ Rodriguez said.

During Garcia’s bond hearing on Wednesday, shocking accusations came to light when prosecutors pointed to his criminal past.

‘Your honor, you’ll see that the defendant’s got prior felony convictions for burglarizing homes, money laundering, dealing in stolen property,’ a prosecutor told Judge Mindy Glazer.

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The prosecutor also raised the disturbing possibility that the victims’ deaths had been known to whoever entered their home.

‘I don’t know if this home was specifically targeted because I believe it was in the media that the victims passed away,’ the prosecutor said.

Garcia’s attorney, Paul Basile, however, offered a startling explanation.

He produced a notarized document that he said came from Garcia’s family and allegedly authorized Garcia to enter the home and use the victims’ vehicles.

The document immediately drew skepticism from the judge.

‘Oh I gotta see this,’ Glazer said. ‘Really?’

She questioned why the victims would have supposedly handed over access to their home and luxury cars to Garcia, given his criminal record.

‘Before they went on their vacation, they decided to give Mr Garcia authorization to use their vehicles, Mr. Garcia, who has a criminal history?’

Basile said he could only rely on information provided by Garcia’s family.

But Glazer made clear she was unconvinced.

‘Yeah, I would not give that much weight,’ she said.

Basile further claimed that the notary was a friend of one of the victims.

The judge refused to decide the matter without hearing directly from investigators and ordered a probable-cause hearing.

That afternoon, a detective and a friend of Hlavaty and Parra both testified and both said they believed the purported authorization document was fraudulent.

The victims’ friend also described the damage allegedly left behind after the break-in.

The front door was reportedly destroyed, while a camera and part of the home’s security system were allegedly ripped out.

For Glazer, the circumstances surrounding the alleged burglary were particularly troubling.

‘I’m not going to address anything until I hear from the officers for the probable cause hearing,’ she said. ‘But I mean, it’s pretty egregious to break into somebody’s home of victims who had just perished.’

Following the afternoon hearing Garcia was ultimately ordered held without bond.

Perdomo remained behind bars on an immigration hold.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Garcia’s attorney, Paul Basile for comment.