Marci Webber, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 2010 killing of her four-year-old daughter, Magdalene, is now advocating for her own release from a psychiatric hospital. As her parole hearing approaches, Webber has also defended Lindsay Clancy, another mother found not guilty by reason of insanity after killing her three children.
Webber, 59, an Army veteran, drugged her daughter and then slit her throat in November 2010 while visiting family in Bloomingdale, Illinois. She then attempted suicide by slashing her own wrists. In June 2012, an Illinois judge found her not guilty of first-degree murder due to insanity, placing her in state mental health custody.
Speaking to The New York Times, Webber described her current institution as "the most untherapeutic place you could ever be in" and claimed her involuntary institutionalization is harming her mental and physical health. "God, I can't stand living like this," she said, with another patient heard screaming in the background during a phone interview.
Webber maintains she was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time of her daughter's death, brought on by prolonged use and sudden withdrawal from antidepressants and antipsychotic medications. She believes that years of institutionalization do not protect children from similar tragedies.
Webber drew parallels to the case of Lindsay Clancy, a former nurse who strangled her three young children in Massachusetts in 2023 before attempting suicide. Clancy claimed to have heard voices instructing her to kill her children. While prosecutors pointed to journal entries as evidence of premeditation, Clancy's defense argued they demonstrated severe postpartum psychosis.
"Planning has nothing to do with whether a person is psychotic and insane," Webber stated, echoing Clancy's defense. "You will have things that you're doing that seem totally normal, but on the inside – unless people ask questions – you're not normal."
Webber recounted her own delusions, believing a satanic group intended to kidnap her daughter for sex trafficking. She killed Maggie to prevent this perceived exploitation. During her psychosis, she kept a knife under her mattress and felt "evil" as a physical sensation. She even sought a way to end both her and her daughter's lives before they could be captured.
In September, a mistrial was declared in Clancy's case after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Prosecutors have not yet decided on a retrial, lesser charges, or dropping the case entirely. Clancy remains in a psychiatric hospital.
Webber's trial, which did not involve a jury, lasted one day. DuPage County Judge George Bakalis ordered her confinement for up to 100 years, stating, "Love, when coupled with paranoia, apparently can be a very destructive force."
She is scheduled to appear in court next month to argue she no longer requires institutionalization and poses no threat. However, prosecutors contend she remains dangerous, citing her past suicide attempt and "aggressive, unruly and hostile behavior," as well as the worsening of her symptoms when she stops medication.
In November 2010, Webber drugged Maggie with Benadryl before the fatal stabbing. She then wrote "Divine Mercy," "Satan," and "evil" in her daughter's blood on the bathroom wall and set up a recording device, believing angels would carry them to heaven. The discovery was made by Webber's eldest daughter, who called 911. Webber survived her suicide attempt.
She previously told the Chicago Tribune that she had "no concept of pain" while harming Maggie, believing she was saving her and operating on a different plane of existence.