Patrick Clancy has spent the last four years talking with almost nobody about his children. Tonight, for the first time since the trial, he speaks publicly about Cora, Dawson and Callan — the three children his wife, Lindsay, killed, with Lindsay attempting suicide by jumping from an upstairs window. The interview, conducted by Ross Douthat for 60 Minutes, is a ledger of grief and forgiveness told in plain language, with no drama and no attempt to perform sorrow. It has become the kind of story that a nation reads and turns into something else — a Rorschach test of what people believe about mothers, mental illness and the law.
The facts are simple. Lindsay Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse, killed her three children and then attempted suicide by jumping from an upstairs window. Patrick found Cora and Dawson, strangled, in the basement. Callan was found in the backyard, paralyzed after the fall, with cuts to his throat and wrists. He died four days later in Boston Children’s Hospital.
What follows is Patrick’s account of how he lived through it, in his own words. The interview is available on CBS News. It is a father’s report from the worst place he has ever been.
Patrick’s First Sign
The trouble started in October of 2022, when Callan was five months old. Patrick noticed that Lindsay was struggling. She went a few nights without sleeping. He did what he could — taking the kids to school so she could rest.
That morning, she came downstairs and told him she had not slept at all the night before. He said he would take the kids to school so she could focus on getting caught up on sleep.
He did not know what postpartum depression looked like. He knew anxiety and depression from his own life, but managing a postpartum illness was new territory. He said his wife’s condition was tragically deceptive — meaning he believed he could see the problem even when he could not.
He said he could piece together what it was like to be really anxious or depressed, but he did not know how to manage a postpartum illness. He said mental illness has this ability to be tragically deceptive, so he was sure there were things he did not see.
The Long Slide
December was the low point. Lindsay’s depression deepened. She could not sleep. She had intrusive thoughts. She went to the hospital.
New Year’s Eve, Lindsay checked herself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital. She was treated for depression and discharged days later. The family celebrated Cora’s birthday on January 7th.
Seventeen days after that, the killing happened.
The Night Lindsay Asked for an Errand
The sequence of the killing is grim in its precision. Lindsay took Cora to a doctor’s appointment. She asked Patrick to run an errand and pick up dinner. When he returned, he found her lying in the backyard.
She had cuts to her throat and wrists. She was paralyzed after jumping from an upstairs window. He found her lying there.
In the basement, he found his children strangled. Cora and Dawson were later declared dead. Callan was alive.
Patrick wrote tributes to his three children while holding Callan’s hand. He typed with one hand while he held his baby’s hand with the other. He said he was afraid if he did not write about them, they would be forgotten.
The Four Days of Callan’s Heart
Callan’s heart kept beating for four days. Patrick said he was grateful for those four days. He remembers the moment he saw the doctor’s face and knew the prognosis was not good.
He said he was so grateful for those four days that he had with him. He said he was so grateful he hung on.
He said he talked to Callan during those hours. He said he said sorry. He said he got to hold him. He said Callan died in his arms.
Forgiveness for Lindsay
The interview turns on what Patrick believes about his wife’s actions. He does not call her a killer. He does not call her a monster. He says his belief is that her mental illness caused it.
He said he saw headlines that said “Killer Mom,” “Baby Murderer,” “Monster.” He said none of them were accurate. He said he believed that it was her mental illness that caused that.
He forgave her. He said he felt that if he did not get there, he would be eaten up inside forever.
The Question Patrick Never Answered
Douthat asked the obvious question. Did Lindsay explain why she did it?
“I asked her if she remembered it,” Patrick said.
“And what did she say?” Douthat asked.
“She said it was like a dream,” he answered. “And she remembered it much in the way you would remember a dream after waking up.”
That is the whole explanation. The killer’s own words reduced to a metaphor for a sleepwalker. Patrick Clancy does not want to hear more than that.
The Day Without Purpose
In the weeks after the tragedy, the crowds of mourners dispersed. Clancy’s world emptied out. There was no family routine. No bedtime stories. No purpose.
“Everything just came to a screeching halt,” he said.
There was a day when he drove by their school without thinking. All of their friends were getting dropped off. He was just there, and it was the moment he realized he had nothing left.
What Patrick Wants Back
Patrick Clancy wants the focus back on his children. He wants people to remember Cora, Dawson and Callan.
The Order of Events
- October 2022: Patrick notices Lindsay is struggling with anxiety and depression.
- December: Lindsay’s struggles deepen — lack of sleep, deep depression, intrusive thoughts. She goes to the hospital.
- New Year’s Eve: Lindsay checks herself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital for depression.
- January 7th: The family celebrates Cora’s birthday.
- In the fall of 2022/early 2023: Lindsay kills Cora and Dawson, attempts suicide, and leaves Callan paralyzed after jumping from an upstairs window.
- Callan’s heart beats for four days.
- Callan dies in Patrick’s arms.
- Patrick writes tributes to all three children.
The Final Word
Patrick Clancy’s forgiveness is not a concession to Lindsay’s actions. It is a refusal to keep punishing himself. He believes she was sick when she killed his children, and he believes that sickness is not a crime.
That is a difficult thing to say out loud. It is an even harder thing to believe when you are the father who has to live with it.
The interview is a reminder that grief is not a performance. It is a story about the father who forgave her, and the three children he lost anyway.
See the video the story is built around at CBS News.
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