Patrick Clancy broke his silence in a televised interview three weeks after his ex-wife’s murder trial ended without a verdict.
The 34-year-old Massachusetts father sat down with “60 Minutes” correspondent Ross Douthat on Sunday night alongside his new wife, fertility doctor Rachel Danis, 33, marking their first joint public appearance since Lindsay Clancy’s case concluded in a mistrial on Sept. 4. The couple, who married in April after meeting at a New York run club in January 2024, discussed rebuilding their lives while honoring the three children Clancy lost in January 2023.
Clancy recalled the desperate hope he held for his youngest child after finding 5-year-old Cora and 3-year-old Dawson strangled with exercise bands in their Duxbury home. Baby Callan, just 8 months old, still had a heartbeat when first responders arrived.
“I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live. And I — I remember just thinking, ‘Just gimme one. Just gimme one kid, and I would raise him as best I could, and I would give him the best life I possibly could. I’d tell him about his brother and sister,'” Patrick Clancy told Douthat.
Callan survived for four days at Boston Children’s Hospital before succumbing to his injuries. Clancy expressed gratitude for that brief window, saying on the broadcast, “I’m so grateful for those four days that I had with him. And I’m so grateful he hung on.”
The father described the final moments he shared with his infant son. “I said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ And I got to — I got to hold him. I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms,” he said, tears visible during the interview.
The emotional testimony came after six weeks of trial proceedings that captivated national attention, with 11 jurors accepting Lindsay Clancy’s defense that severe postpartum psychosis drove her to kill. Only holdout juror Michael Desronvil blocked a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial over the hung jury.
During the trial, Patrick Clancy had supported his ex-wife, testifying about her mental deterioration following their third child’s birth and her repeated unsuccessful attempts to seek medical help. He told Douthat he has wrestled with whether he could have prevented the tragedy.
“I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time. And I live with the outcome. I live with it every day,” he said.
Clancy revealed that Lindsay Clancy never asked his forgiveness for the killings, yet he granted it regardless. He also disclosed a dark period in his own grief when he experienced suicidal ideation, telling the correspondent, “There was a time where I — I didn’t think I would live to see my 35th birthday. And I was completely fine with it.”
The interview addressed the online harassment Clancy has faced since the killings. His attorney previously condemned an “escalating campaign of misinformation” spread by influencers and “minor celebrities” during the trial. Clancy himself spoke forcefully against conspiracy theories implicating him in the murders.
“It’s deeply harmful to the legacy of my children. It is a huge distraction from what really matters here, which is perinatal mental health. And it’s done real harm to real people, myself included but also others,” he said. “It’s painful to see. And it makes it difficult to be in public, and it’s possible that some of those people after seeing lie after lie after lie, they start to believe it and that’s what we’re left with.”
Clancy relocated to New York City in April, finding the anonymity of the city preferable to remaining in Duxbury, where he had lit a candle at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Callan’s first birthday. He described the moment that prompted his move: driving past his children’s school at drop-off time and realizing he “couldn’t be there anymore.”
Danis spoke about her role in her husband’s ongoing healing process. “I always — try to take some of the sh– weight from Pat. I always wanna strive to do that. I know I can’t fix– I can’t bring his kids back. But if I can honor them and allow Pat to grieve but also just continue to honor them in the present, it– I guess that’s all I can do,” she said.
The couple also shared that they are expecting children together and plan to tell them about Callan, Cora and Dawson. “I think every parent can agree, you have different relationships with your kids, but they’re all your kids. And I can’t wait to tell them about their brothers and sister,” Patrick Clancy said.
A new playground in Duxbury now memorializes the three slain children with themed elements including sloths, firefighters and a toddler’s playpen. Clancy had previously called the prospect of a second trial “extraordinarily painful” through his attorney.
Lindsay Clancy remains at Tewksbury State Hospital in Massachusetts as prosecutors determine whether to retry her case.