Patrick Clancy has spoken publicly for the first time since his ex-wife Lindsay Clancy’s trial ended in a mistrial this summer.
Patrick, 36, sat down with CBS’ 60 Minutes alongside his new wife, Dr. Rachel Danis, to discuss the January 2023 deaths of his three children and the devastating aftermath. Lindsay Clancy went on trial over the killings of Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan at the family’s Massachusetts home. Her defense did not dispute that she killed the children but argued she should not be held criminally responsible due to postpartum psychosis. After five weeks of testimony and nearly 40 hours of jury deliberations, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial when the panel failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
Patrick described returning home from errands to find Lindsay in the backyard after jumping from a second-floor window. He then discovered his children in the basement, where Cora and Dawson were already dead. Callan was airlifted to a hospital, and Patrick held out hope his youngest son would survive.
“I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live,” Patrick said on 60 Minutes.
“I remember just thinking, ‘Just give me one. Just give me 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.’ And I was holding out hope for that.”
Callan’s heart continued beating for four more days. Patrick spent that time at his son’s side before the infant died.
“I got to hold him. I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms,” Patrick said.
The grief plunged Patrick into a dark psychological state. He told 60 Minutes that he began having suicidal thoughts in the wake of the losses.
“There was a time where I didn’t think I would live to see my 35th birthday,” he said.
The trial itself inflicted additional trauma. On the second day of his testimony, Patrick suffered what he described as a “massive traumatic” panic attack after prosecutors played his 911 call in court. Medical personnel placed him in an ambulance and offered medication, which he refused.
“My heart was pounding and they put me in an ambulance,” Patrick recalled.
“They offered me some medication, but I said, ‘I don’t want it, because I want to go back and I want to finish this so I can be done with this.’ And I went back and I finished the testimony.”
While the legal proceedings unfolded, Patrick became the target of online conspiracy theories falsely implicating him in the children’s deaths. The speculation grew intense enough that his lawyer, Howard Cooper, issued a formal warning. Cooper stated that Patrick and his family had endured “a relentless, escalating and destructive defamation campaign” launched by “minor celebrities, so-called influencers and outright conspiracy theorists” seeking to boost their social media profiles.
“This campaign, now fuelled by insatiable media coverage, remains at a fever pitch and has resulted in real life threats to his reputation, livelihood, and life,” Cooper said in the statement.
Patrick addressed the theories directly during his 60 Minutes appearance.
“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,” he said.
Cooper emphasized that Patrick’s focus remained on preserving the memory of Cora, Dawson and Callan and supporting women facing perinatal mental health challenges. He added that law enforcement had been notified and that legal action against those spreading falsehoods would be pursued.
“Enough is enough — this spread of blatant and baseless falsehoods must stop,” Cooper stated. “Those responsible should understand that there will be consequences, and every appropriate measure will be pursued to hold them accountable, including legally.”