Patrick Clancy’s First Interview: Key Takeaways From Grieving Dad

Patrick Clancy pleaded for at least one of his children to survive, held his baby son Callan as he died and explained why he forgave Lindsay after she killed their three children.

In an interview with correspondent Ross Douthat on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” the grieving father described his children’s final moments, recounted what Lindsay told him about the killings and discussed online attacks he says are damaging their legacy.

The interview followed the end of Lindsay’s triple-murder trial, which concluded in a mistrial. Her defense attorneys argued that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible. Prosecutors contended that she understood her actions.

From the desperate appeal he made at the hospital to the claims circulating online after the mistrial, Patrick described how the tragedy has changed every aspect of his life.

‘Just give me one’

Patrick said he held on to the hope that Callan could survive after his older siblings, 5-year-old Cora and 3-year-old Dawson, were found dead inside the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Doctors had restored the baby’s heartbeat, and Patrick told Douthat that he began picturing the life he might still build with his youngest child.

“I remember that night, I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live,” Patrick said.

“And I remember just thinking, ‘Just give me one. Just give me one kid,’” he continued. “And I would raise him as best I could, and I would give him the best life I possibly could. And I’d tell him about his brother and sister.”

That hope began to disappear when Patrick arrived at Boston Children’s Hospital and saw the expression on a doctor’s face.

Callan’s heart continued beating for four days. Patrick became emotional as he recalled apologizing to his son and remaining by his side during his final moments.

“I said, ‘I’m so sorry,’” he told Douthat, his voice breaking. “And I got to hold him. I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms.”

As Callan remained hospitalized, Patrick said he held his son’s hand while using his other hand to write about all three children. He told Douthat he worried their memories could fade unless he captured them in words.

Lindsay never asked for forgiveness

Among the tributes Patrick wrote were words of forgiveness for Lindsay. He said she has never asked him to forgive her, but he decided to offer that forgiveness regardless.

“I saw headlines that said, you know, ‘killer mom’ and ‘baby murderer,’ ‘monster,’ and none of them were accurate,” Patrick said during the interview. “I believe that it was her mental illness that caused that.”

Patrick also said he feared that failing to forgive Lindsay would allow anger to consume him.

“I felt that if I didn’t get there, I would be eaten up inside,” he said.

When Patrick asked Lindsay whether she remembered killing their children, he said she described the memory as resembling a dream.

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

Patrick said he did the best he could as Lindsay’s condition worsened but must live with what happened.

“I think I did the best I could with what I had at the time, and I live with the outcome,” he said. “I live with it every day.”

ALSO READ: Father Patrick Clancy Shares Son’s Final Days in Emotional Account

Grief left him unsure he would survive

Patrick told Douthat his grief became so overwhelming that he questioned whether he would live to see another birthday.

“There was a time where I didn’t think I would live to see my 35th birthday, and I was completely fine with it,” he said.

Patrick later left Duxbury for New York City, where he could grieve without being recognized. Five weeks after the move, on what would have been Callan’s first birthday, he went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, lit a candle and told his son, “I love you, buddy.”

“And I walk out on Fifth Avenue and I start crying my eyes out, and nobody cared,” Patrick recalled.

For Patrick, being able to cry without drawing attention was exactly what he needed.

“I thought, this is where I need to be,” he said. “I can grieve.”

His Manhattan apartment remains filled with reminders of the children, including a baby sloth Cora carried everywhere and a photograph of Callan wearing an oversized bow tie, “60 Minutes” showed.

Patrick said they also return to him in vivid dreams. In one, Cora walked into the kitchen of the family’s former home and hugged him.

“I just looked at her and it was like I basically just said, ‘Where have you been?’” he recalled. “Those dreams are so real.”

‘Trial by TikTok’ fueled painful attacks

The mistrial unleashed what Douthat described as a “trial by TikTok,” with online sleuths and influencers spreading baseless theories portraying Patrick as uncaring, unfaithful and even responsible for the children’s deaths.

“It’s deeply harmful to the legacy of my children,” Patrick said. “It is a huge distraction from what really matters here, which is perinatal mental health, and it’s done real harm to real people.”

He said the repeated accusations have made it painful to be in public and warned that people may start believing false claims if they see them often enough.

“After seeing lie after lie after lie, they start to believe it,” Patrick said. “And that’s what we’re left with.”

Patrick said he sought answers from Postpartum Support International, psychiatrists and other experts. Those conversations helped him begin processing what happened.

A new marriage and keeping his children’s memory alive

Patrick’s wife, Dr. Rachel Danis, joined him for the “60 Minutes” interview and recalled first learning about his children after noticing their photograph on his phone during a coffee outing.

“I just asked, ‘Who are those cuties?’” Danis told Douthat. “And Pat had said, ‘Those are my kids.’”

When she asked whether they lived in Massachusetts, Patrick told her they had died.

Patrick and Danis met through a New York running club in January 2024. Their relationship deepened as they continued running together, and they married in New York City this April.

The couple also discussed starting a family.

Asked what he would tell a future child about Cora, Dawson and Callan, Patrick said all of his children would remain part of the same family.

“You have different relationships with your kids, but they’re all your kids,” he said. “And I can’t wait to tell them about their brothers and sister.”

Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Sept. 4 after jurors split 11-1, with 11 favoring a finding that Lindsay was not criminally responsible and one holding out for a conviction. Prosecutors have not announced whether they will try her again.