Patrick Clancy said he believes he did “the best I could” to support his former wife, Lindsay, as she struggled with her mental health before the deaths of their three children.
The 38-year-old father said he carries the pain of losing his children “every day” in an interview with 60 Minutes, scheduled to air in full Sunday evening.
In a preview of the widely anticipated broadcast, CBS correspondent Ross Douthat asked Clancy whether he believed the tragedy might have been avoided if he had responded differently.
“I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time,” Clancy replied. “I live with the outcome. I live with it every day.”
Lindsay Clancy acknowledged fatally strangling the couple’s three children—5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan—inside their Massachusetts home in January 2023.
She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Her closely watched murder trial ended in a controversial mistrial earlier this month after jurors reached an 11-1 deadlock.
Clancy, who testified during the trial, has since remarried fertility doctor Rachel Danis, 37. He now lives in New York City, while Lindsay remains confined in a psychiatric facility.
Danis appeared alongside Patrick in the 60 Minutes interview. In an earlier-released segment, she said the real story surrounding the children’s deaths had become “twisted” under the intense public scrutiny surrounding the case.
Patrick Clancy says he believes he did “the best I could” while supporting his ex-wife Lindsay’s mental health struggles before she killed their three children in 2023
Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended in a controversial mistrial earlier this month after the jury deadlocked 11-1, with one juror refusing to acquit her by reason of insanity
Clancy agreed to the interview after largely avoiding the spotlight throughout Lindsay’s trial. Douthat told viewers they would see “a portrait of Patrick’s life in the aftermath of this incredible tragedy.”
“I think from the beginning, he’s been focused on trying to make sure that the memory of his children stays alive and stays close to the center of this story,” Douthat said.
“Obviously, there’s been so many debates, so much controversy about all of the different issues around this story.”
Danis told Douthat that she met Patrick after the children’s deaths. “I was just a girl that met a guy running in Central Park on a really cold Saturday,” she said.
She described Patrick, also 38, as “the most selfless father and supportive partner.”
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The couple married in April during an intimate ceremony at the historic Ladies Pavilion overlooking The Lake in Central Park. They later celebrated with relatives and friends at the nearby Sarabeth’s restaurant.
In an earlier promotional clip for the interview, Clancy said he speaks to his late children as he searches for a way to cope with their deaths.
When asked what he tells them, he answered: “‘Help me’… All the time.”
Patrick Clancy spoke with 60 Minutes after staying largely out of the public eye during Lindsay’s murder trial
Patrick remarried in April and now lives in New York City with his wife, Rachel Danis
Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan in 2023
The interview comes after Patrick faced a barrage of sickening threats and accusations by online sleuths during the trial, including some who callously accused him of killing his own children despite Lindsay confessing to the crime.
In a statement through his lawyer after Lindsay’s mistrial, he promised ‘consequences’ for true crime creators who made baseless and cruel allegations.
‘Over the past months, Patrick Clancy and his family have been subjected to a relentless, escalating and destructive defamation campaign,’ the statement read.
‘This campaign of misinformation has been launched and promoted by minor celebrities, so-called influencers and outright conspiracy theorists who appear intent on boosting their own social media profiles and potential profit by publishing what they know to be outright falsehoods that Patrick was somehow involved in the death of his young children and other vile claims.’
Patrick said at the time that the ‘insatiable media coverage’ had created a ‘fever pitch’ of allegations and scrutiny on him, while he continues to deal with the unimaginable loss of his children at the same time.
‘(This) has resulted in real-life threats to his reputation, livelihood, and life,’ his attorney said in his statement.
‘Patrick has no choice but to address this situation – with the clear goal of stopping injurious behavior, creating accountability for lies that are self-serving to the perpetrators, and being able to return his attention to what matters: preserving the memory of Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy and supporting other women facing perinatal mental health challenges.
‘Enough is enough – this spread of blatant and baseless falsehoods must stop.
‘Those responsible should understand that there will be consequences, and every appropriate measure will be pursued to hold them accountable, including legally. Law enforcement has been notified.’
After Clancy’s high-profile murder trial ended in a deadlock, prosecutors are yet to say if they intend to retry her for murder or offer her a plea deal.