Sharing his side of the heartbreaking loss of his children to a murderous wife, Patrick Clancy opened up about forgiveness, their memory, and the final moments with his infant son.
Despite a mistrial on whether or not she should be held criminally liable, Lindsay Clancy has not denied that she took the lives of her young children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, in January 2023 before attempting to take her own life. Now, having been made the subject of conspiracy theories by content creators, Patrick sat down with “60 Minutes,” detailing his apologies to his youngest child and his now-ex-wife.
After addressing Lindsay’s struggles with postpartum depression, including doctor’s visits and prescriptions, the grieving father recalled to CBS News’ correspondent Ross Douthat how he came home to find his then-wife in their backyard with her self-inflicted injuries. Upon locating the children in the basement where Cora and Dawson had been murdered, infant Callan’s survival gave him hope as the child was airlifted to Boston Children’s Hospital.”
“So, I didn’t have all the details of Callan’s condition. I just knew that they got a heartbeat back. So I remember … that night, I- I- I really thought there was a chance that Callan could live,” he explained.
“And I- 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,” detailed Patrick. “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.”
Patrick Clancy talks about the final days with his 8-month-old son, Callan.
“I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live,” he tells 60 Minutes. “And remember just thinking, ‘Just gimme one. Just gimme one kid,’ and I would raise him as best I could, and I would… pic.twitter.com/5HMfnujj1d
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 20, 2026
“I’m so grateful for those four days that I had with him. And I’m so grateful he hung on,” he said to Douthat, recalling that in that time he told his son, “I’m so sorry.”
“I got to hold him. I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms,” remembered the father, who also detailed that he wrote tributes to each of his children during the final moments with his youngest son.
Though Lindsay never asked for forgiveness, the man with a Catholic upbringing said of the headlines about the mother of his children, “None of them were accurate. I believe that it was her mental illness that caused that. So I shared those 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.”
He also had the opportunity to ask her if she remembered the murders, and explained, “She said it was like a dream. And- she remembered it much in the way you would remember a dream after waking up.”
After recalling his own suicidal thoughts in the aftermath, he told Douthat how he moved to New York City and was grateful for the anonymity as he grieved while marking what would have been Callan’s first birthday
“Five weeks after I moved to New York, on May 26th, I had to figure out how I’m gonna celebrate Callan’s first birthday,” said Patrick. “And how do you celebrate your son’s first birthday months after he’s passed away? And so I go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I light a candle, and I say, ‘I love you, buddy.’ And I walk out on Fifth Avenue, and I start crying my eyes out. And nobody cared … I thought, ‘This is where I need to be. I can grieve.'”
Months after his death, Patrick Clancy says he marked his son Callan’s first birthday by lighting a candle at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
“I say, ‘I love you, buddy.’ And I walk out on Fifth Avenue, and I start crying my eyes out,” he recalls.… pic.twitter.com/dZIhyU9w6J
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 20, 2026
The difficulties of reliving the murders were apparent during the trial as he described a “massive traumatic panic attack” during a break before the 911 call was expected to be played for his testimony. “And they put me in an ambulance; they offered me some medication,” he recalled, noting he declined because I want to finish and be done with the trial
That subject related to him decrying social media influencers’ representations of him as a “huge distraction from what really matters here, which is perinatal mental health, and it’s done real harm to real people.”
Patrick Clancy says the accusations about him online are “deeply harmful to the legacy of my children. 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.”… pic.twitter.com/QVYS8p5J7R
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 20, 2026
The legacy of his children has been carried on in multiple ways, including keeping their toys around his New York apartment. On a trip back to Massachusetts with Douthat, they visited the Duxbury playground dedicated to the kids, featuring representations of each.
It was there that Patrick recalled a dream of his daughter entering the room and giving him a hug as he asked, “Where have you been?”
Patrick Clancy says he dreams about his late children “all the time”
In one dream, he says, “I’m in the kitchen at the house, and Cora walks in. And I just look at her and… I basically just said, ‘Where have you been?’ And she comes up to me and gives me a big hug.”… pic.twitter.com/Ya8SlHCz5O
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 20, 2026
Should he and his second wife, Rachel Danis, have children of their own, the father said he looked forward to telling them about their departed siblings, “You have different relationships with your kids, but they’re all your kids. And I can’t wait to tell them about their brothers and sisters.”
The entire interview can be viewed below via the “60 Minutes” YouTube channel:
(Video Credit: 60 Minutes)
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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