True Crime Archives | Laurie Schamber

The Cornell 7: Allegations, Power and Impunity

September 29, 2026

Content notice: This article discusses allegations of sexual assault, violence, and drugs. In September 2026, a former Cornell University student identified publicly as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit concerning events she alleges occurred at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. The seven men named as defendants are: They have since become known online as the “Cornell 7.” That label, however, should not obscure an important legal point: the lawsuit attributes different conduct to different defendants. Being named in a civil lawsuit is not the same as being found liable or guilty of a crime. As of this …

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After the Mistrial: Lindsay Clancy Defense 180

September 29, 2026

The Lindsay Clancy Defence Changes the Question The first trial asked whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children. Now, her lawyers are asking whether the Commonwealth proved she killed them at all.After the Mistrial: The Lindsay Clancy Defence Changes the Question When Lindsay Clancy: Evidence and Public Opinion ended, the criminal case had ended in a mistrial. Eleven jurors reportedly favoured finding Clancy not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. One juror disagreed. Because Massachusetts requires a unanimous verdict, Judge William Sullivan discharged the jury without a verdict on September 4, 2026. The …

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Trump Barred Press. What Does That Actually Mean?

September 20, 2026

President Donald Trump has barred reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from entering the White House grounds, accusing the organizations of publishing “fiction and lies.” Their press passes were reportedly confiscated, and Trump has suggested that other outlets could face the same treatment. The three organizations have now gone to court, arguing that the ban violates the First Amendment. In response, television networks that ordinarily compete fiercely with one another—including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News—suspended their participation in the White House television press pool. Predictably, that has created some confusion. Does this mean nobody is covering the …

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When Jurors Speak: Evidence, Sympathy and the Law

September 17, 2026

Since the mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case, several jurors have spoken publicly about what happened inside the jury room. Their comments have been emotional, revealing and, in some ways, deeply troubling. A note about names: Judge William Sullivan has indefinitely impounded the jury list because of safety and privacy concerns. This post does not identify or speculate about any juror who has not voluntarily come forward. The jurors named here are limited to those who publicly identified themselves, or were identified in reputable media coverage connected to their own interviews: Roni Carlson, Kellie Farina, Paula Devlin and Nick Dargie. …

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Why I Wrote the Lindsay Clancy Book After the Trial

September 13, 2026

The Lindsay Clancy case produced two very different trials. One unfolded inside a courtroom, where jurors heard weeks of testimony about psychiatric treatment, medications, digital searches, expert disagreement and the events surrounding the deaths of three children. The other unfolded online, where selected clips, headlines and repeated claims often became substitutes for the complete evidentiary record. While following the trial, I became increasingly frustrated by the distance between what was actually being presented in court and what people confidently claimed the evidence showed. Important details disappeared from public discussion, speculation became accepted as fact and every new fragment was quickly …

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