Story summary
Patrick Clancy, former delivery nurse from Duxbury, Mass., gave his first interview since his ex-wife, Lindsay Clancy, was declared mistrial for killing their three children – Cora (5), Dawson (3), and Callan (8 months) – in January 2023. In the interview with CBS's Ross Douthat, Patrick revealed he speaks to his deceased kids "all the time," asking them for help. The mistrial resulted from a hung jury after an 11-1 deadlock.
Lindsay Clancy’s defense team argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and could not be held criminally responsible. Her ex-husband, who remarried fertility doctor Rachel Danis in April, now lives in New York City and faces ongoing attacks on social media accusing him of involvement in the murders.
Patrick and his new wife will appear together on 60 Minutes Sunday, discussing grief, mental health, and addressing conspiracy theories that have circulated online.
Written for “Patrick Clancy 60 Minutes Interview” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 42 other(s) covering the same event.
Over the last few months, a murder trial in Massachusetts has become a national obsession and a cultural Rorschach test.
asserted
trial → become → Massachusetts
The story of Lindsay Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse who killed her three children and then attempted suicide, has created a vortex of online theorizing and suspicion, and generated furious arguments about the relationship between mental illness and criminal fault, the ways in which the medical system fails mothers and how men and women understand one another.
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men → kill → one
Tonight you'll hear from the father, Patrick Clancy, for the first time since the trial – talking about how he tried to rebuild a life in the shadow of unbearable grief, and why he wants to put the focus back on the memory of his children, Cora, Dawson and Callan.
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he → hear → children
In the fall of 2022, when Callan was 5 months old, Patrick noticed that Lindsay was struggling.
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Lindsay → notice → 2022
It was October and-- she went a few nights without sleeping.
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she → go → ?
Ross Douthat: What did she tell you that she was experiencing then?
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she → tell → that
She came downstairs one morning, and she said-- "I didn't sleep at all last night."
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I → come → ?
And so I said-- you know, "That's awful.
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That → said-- → ?
And-- I'll-- I'll take the kids to school.
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I → take → school
You just focus on-- getting caught up on sleep."
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You → focus → sleep
Did you know anything about postpartum mental illness before this experience started?
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experience → know → illness
I could piece together what it was like to be really, really anxious or depressed, but I didn't know how to manage a postpartum illness.
uncertain
I → piece → illness
I think mental illness has this ability to be tragically deceptive.
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illness → think → ability
So I'm-- I'm sure there are things that I didn't see.
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I → be → that
Patrick and Lindsay Clancy were living in the seaside town of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
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Clancy → live → Duxbury
They were married six years.
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They → marry → ?
Months after the birth of their third child, Lindsay made repeated emergency room visits.
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Lindsay → make → visits
She admitted herself to a program for patients with postpartum depression and was discharged after a day of treatment.
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She → admit → treatment
She was also prescribed an escalating number of prescription drugs.
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She → prescribe → drugs
Patrick said he struggled to help his wife navigate the medical system.
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wife → say → system
Patrick Clancy: I think December.
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I → think → ?
December was-- it was a big struggle for her-- just a huge lack of sleep, deep, deep depression, intrusive thoughts, and-- at the end of that month she went to the hospital.
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she → was-- → hospital
It was New Year's Eve when Lindsay checked herself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital.
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Lindsay → check → Hospital
She was treated for depression, and days later she was released.
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she → treat → depression
The family celebrated Cora's birthday on January 7th.
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family → celebrate → 7th
She told you she wanted to come home.
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she → tell → you
She did.
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She → do → ?
After taking Cora to a doctor's appointment earlier in the day, Lindsay asked Patrick to run an errand and pick up dinner - and when he returned home, he said he found her lying in the backyard, her throat and wrists cut, paralyzed after jumping from an upstairs window.
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throat → take → window
In the basement he said he found his children strangled.
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children → say → basement
Callan somehow survived and was airlifted to Boston Children's Hospital.
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Callan → survive → Hospital
So, I didn't have all the details of Callan's condition.
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I → have → condition
I just knew that they got a heartbeat back.
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they → know → heartbeat
So I remember-- (SIGH) that night, I-- I-- I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live.
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Callan → sigh → ?
And I-- I remember just thinking, "Just gimme one.
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I → think → 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.
uncertain
I → gimme → life
I'd tell him about his brother and sister."
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I → tell → brother
And I was holdin' out hope for that.
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I → holdin → that
And then when I got to the hospital, I saw the doctor.
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I → get → doctor
I saw the look on her face, and-- and I knew that it-- it wasn't gonna be-- a good prognosis.
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it → see → prognosis
Callan's heart kept beating for four days.
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heart → keep → days
…and 98 more, not listed.
The Aporia
