During a recent interview with CBS correspondent Ross Douthat, Patrick Clancy revealed that despite his ex-wife Lindsay not asking for forgiveness after she killed their three children in January 2023, he felt compelled to forgive her. The killings took place in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where Lindsay strangled the couple’s children—5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan—with exercise bands before attempting suicide. Patrick explained his decision to forgive was driven by a belief that mental illness caused Lindsay's actions and out of fear that not forgiving would consume him internally.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
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.
“Has she ever asked for your forgiveness?” CBS correspondent Ross Douthat asked Patrick Clancy Sunday during his first sit-down interview since her mistrial earlier this month.
asserted
Douthat → ask → mistrial
But I gave it to her,” Patrick Clancy responded.
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Clancy → give → her
Lindsay Clancy strangled the couple’s three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan, with exercise bands in their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023 before attempting suicide.
asserted
Clancy → strangle → suicide
To the public’s shock, Patrick Clancy almost immediately shared that he forgave his wife for killing their sons and daughter.
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he → share → sons
“I saw headlines that said, you know, ‘Killer Mom,’ and ‘Baby Murderer,’ ‘Monster.’
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you → see → Mom
And none of ’em were accurate — I believe that it was her mental illness that caused that.
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that → believe → that
So I shared those words,” he recalled.
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he → share → words
“And I think when it comes to forgiveness, I also felt that if I didn’t get there, I would be eaten up inside forever,” the grieving dad said.
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dad → think → forgiveness
Patrick Clancy described watching Lindsay Clancy’s mental state quickly deteriorate starting in fall of 2022, while baby Callan was 5 months old.
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Callan → describe → 2022
“It was October and — she went a few nights without sleeping,” he told Douthat.
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he → go → Douthat
Lindsay Clancy’s mental health soon spiraled, leading to repeated emergency room visits and admitting herself into a program for postpartum depression.
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health → spiral → depression
Despite being prescribed a slew of prescription drugs, she continued to get worse.
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she → prescribe → drugs
“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,” Patrick Clancy said of his then wife’s lowest point.
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Clancy → go → point
“I didn’t know how to manage a postpartum illness.
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I → know → 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,” Patrick Clancy told Douthat when asked if he knew anything about postpartum mental illness before his ex-wife began struggling.
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wife → ’m → illness
Here’s the latest on Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial
Seventeen days after she checked herself into another hospital, McLean Psychiatric Hospital, Lindsay Clancy attacked and killed her three kids, slit her throat and wrists, and jumped out a second-story window of their home.
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Clancy → ’ → home
The grieving father hauntingly recalled finding her partially paralyzed in the backyard of their home after the botched suicide attempt during his trial testimony in July.
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her → grieve → July
During his second day on the witness stand — when the 911 call was played of him discovering his three children in the basement that night — Patrick Clancy told Douthat that he had a “massive traumatic panic attack” that sent him into an ambulance.
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that → play → ambulance
“We did take a break right before they played the 911 call, which I knew was gonna be just horrific.
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I → take → call
And I went to a back room, and I started having this massive traumatic panic attack,” Patrick Clancy said.
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Clancy → go → attack
“My heart was pounding.
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heart → pound → ?
And they put me in an ambulance, they offered me some medication, but I said, ‘I– I don’t want it, ’cause I want to go back and I want to finish this so I can be done with this.’
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I → put → this
And I went back and I finished the testimony.”
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I → go → testimony
He told Douthat he felt he “did the best” he could to help his then wife through her postpartum mental health crisis leading up to the shock murders.
uncertain
he → tell → murders
“I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time.
uncertain
I → think → time
And I live with the outcome.
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I → live → outcome
I live with it every day,” he said
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he → live → it
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