Patrick Clancy 60 Minutes Interview: Biggest Revelations - Newsweek

Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband Patrick has shared intimate details about the deaths of their three children in a new interview with 60 Minutes.

Speaking to CBS News' Ross Douthat, Patrick Clancy said his ex-wife told him she remembered the killings as if they were a dream, and that she had never asked for his forgiveness.

He also spoke candidly about experiencing suicidal thoughts after his children's deaths.

Lindsay Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan—at the family's home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. She pleaded not guilty, with her defense attorney arguing that postpartum psychosis had left her not criminally responsible for their deaths.

The 12 jurors deliberated for seven days but failed to reach a unanimous verdict, leading Judge William Sullivan to declare a mistrial in early September.

On the day of the killing, Clancy came home from running an errand to find Cora and Dawson strangled to death. But Callan had survived and was airlifted to Boston Children's Hospital.

“I didn't have all the details of Callan's condition. I just knew that they got a heartbeat back,” he told Douthat.

“I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live,” he said. “And 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.’”

“And I was holdin' out hope for that. And then when I got to the hospital, I saw the doctor. I saw the look on her face, and—and I knew that it—it wasn't gonna be—a good prognosis,” Clancy said.

He went on to explain how Callan’s heart kept beating for four days, describing how he was “so grateful” the 8-month-old “hung on.”

He said he apologized to his son and “got to hold him.”

“I got to lay down next to him,” Clancy said. “And he died in my arms.”

Patrick Clancy said he asked Lindsay whether she remembered killing their three children, and said that she described her recollection as distant and unreal.

"She said it was like a dream," he told Douthat. "And she remembered it much in the way you would remember a dream after waking up."

When Douthat asked if Lindsay Clancy had ever asked for her ex-husband's forgiveness, he said: "No. But I gave it to her."

"I think when it comes to forgiveness, I also felt that if I didn't get there, I would be eaten up inside forever," he added.

Douthat asked Clancy whether he had ever suffered suicidal thoughts after the deaths of his children. He answered: "Yeah. There was a time where I didn't think I would live to see my 35th birthday. And I was completely fine with it."

Douthat described how Patrick Clancy kept the memory of his children alive, with toys that belonged to them placed around his Manhattan apartment and the building of a playground with touchstones for each child in Duxbury.

Clancy said he dreamt about his children “all the time.”

Asked to describe a “good dream,” he said: “I remember early on having a dream, maybe six months or a year after. And I'm in the kitchen at the house, and Cora walks in. And I just look at her and I-- it was, like, I basically just said, 'Where have you been?' And she comes up to me and gives me a big hug. Those dreams are so real. It's—it's—it's like I'm lucid in those dreams.”

Clancy gave an in-depth response to the online theories that have circulated since his ex-wife's trial began—which have ranged from how he treated his wife, to him being the killer of his children.

He said the theories were "deeply harmful to the legacy of my children," adding: "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."

"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.

Patrick Clancy and his wife Rachel Danis, who also featured in the interview, revealed they have plans to start a family. He told Douthat: "I think every parent can agree, you have different relationships with your kids, but they're all your kids."

Referring to his any children he may have in the future, he said: "I can't wait to tell them about their brothers and sister."

This came after he opened up about how Danis helps him "carry the grief."

"My life has changed since I met Rachel in such a positive way," he said.

Danis added: "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."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or visit 988lifeline.org. You can also text HOME to 741741 to reach Crisis Text Line.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Tony Phillips.

This is a developing story. More to follow.