Patrick Clancy Breaks Silence on ‘60 Minutes’ After Lindsay Clancy Mistrial: ‘I Did the Best I Could’

Patrick Clancy, whose three children were killed by his ex-wife in a Massachusetts case that became a national flashpoint over postpartum psychosis, is speaking publicly for the first time since her murder trial ended in a mistrial.

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Clancy opened up about his grief, his efforts to understand his ex-wife’s mental illness and the forgiveness he says he has given her.

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

Lindsay Clancy, 36, had sought treatment for depression and been hospitalized before she killed their three children — Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months — in January 2023. The killings devastated the small town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and set off a wrenching legal battle over whether she could be held criminally responsible.

Her high-profile trial ended Sept. 4 with the jury split 11-1 and a mistrial declared. Defense attorneys argued Lindsay Clancy was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare condition that can distort a new mother’s sense of reality and is considered a psychiatric emergency. The mistrial left the case unresolved and intensified a national conversation about how courts handle perinatal mental illness.

Patrick Clancy said he knew little about postpartum illness before the tragedy.

“I could piece together what it was like to be really, really anxious or depressed. But I didn’t know how to manage a postpartum illness,” he said.

“I think mental illness has this ability to be tragically deceptive,” he added. “So I’m sure there are things that I didn’t see.”

He testified during the trial, taking the stand for two days and recounting the horrors of the evening of Jan. 24. He described running errands at his then-wife’s request, only to return home and find her with cuts to her neck and wrists after she had thrown herself out a bedroom window in a suicide attempt. In the basement, he found his children with exercise bands around their necks.

Patrick Clancy is sworn in at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., on July 29, 2026. (David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images file)

Patrick Clancy, who has since remarried, said on “60 Minutes” that he asked Lindsay Clancy whether she remembered what happened.

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

He rejected headlines that portrayed her as a “killer mom” or a “monster,” saying they did not capture the reality of her illness.

“I believe that it was her mental illness that caused that,” he said.

After finding his children in the basement, he hoped Callan might survive. The infant was airlifted to a Boston hospital after the two older children were found dead, and Patrick Clancy said he was told doctors had been able to re-establish a heartbeat.

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

“And I remember just thinking: Just give me one. Just give me one kid,” Clancy said. “And I would raise him as best I could. I would give him the best life I possibly could. I’d tell him about his brother and sister. And I was holding out hope for that.”

“And then when I got to the hospital, I saw the doctor and I saw the look on her face, and I knew it wasn’t going to be a good prognosis,” he said.

Clancy spent four days with his injured son at the hospital, time for which he said he is grateful. He said he was able to lie next to his child and hold him, and his son died in his arms.

The trial drew intense public scrutiny and spawned a maelstrom of conspiracy theories online, some going as far as falsely accusing Patrick Clancy of committing the murders.

“It’s deeply harmful to the legacy of my children,” Clancy said on “60 Minutes.” “It is a huge distraction from what really matters here, which is perinatal mental health, and it’s done real harm to real people.”

Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, also rejected those conspiracy theories, telling NBC News, “It’s readily apparent that Patrick has been set upon and his life has been turned upside down into a nightmare that he doesn’t deserve. Period. Full stop.”

Patrick Clancy’s lawyer likewise slammed “so-called influencers and outright conspiracy theorists” who have published “what they know to be outright falsehoods that Patrick was somehow involved in the death of his young children and other vile claims.”

The attorney said “every appropriate measure will be pursued to hold them accountable, including legally.”

Patrick Clancy said the online rumors, comments and conspiracy theories have been hurtful.

“It’s painful to see, and it makes it difficult to be in public,” he said. “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.”

Lindsay Clancy and her attorney Kevin Reddington listen as the judge declares a mistrial in her murder trial in Plymouth, Mass., on Sept. 4. (Greg Derr / Pool AFP via Getty Images file)

During his testimony, Patrick Clancy described how his wife’s mental state deteriorated despite meetings with psychiatrists and changes in medications and doctors. He said he had never seen Lindsay harm their children before.

He testified that earlier on the day of the killings, Lindsay appeared to be “having one of her best days.” She had taken their daughter Cora to a doctor’s appointment and later built a snowman with the children.

Lindsay Clancy’s defense did not deny that she killed her children. Her attorney argued she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Clancy claimed she heard a voice commanding her to kill her children, according to testimony at trial.

Prosecutors argued she was not suffering from psychosis and was deliberate in planning the killings and in sending her then-husband out on errands while she killed the children.

After the killings, Patrick Clancy publicly issued a statement of support for his then-wife, calling her kind and loving and saying he wished for her to find peace. Asked on “60 Minutes” whether Lindsay Clancy had ever asked for forgiveness, Patrick Clancy said, “No. But I gave it to her.”

After the tragedy in Duxbury, a town of just 16,000 where he and his family lived, Patrick Clancy moved to New York City in search of anonymity.

On what would have been Callan’s first birthday, he went into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, lit a candle “and I said, ‘I love you, buddy.’”

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

“I thought, ‘This is where I need to be. I can grieve,’” he said.

He met Dr. Rachel Danis through a running club, and the two married in April and are starting a family, they said on the program.

“I always try to take some of the weight from Pat,” Danis said. “I know I can’t fix — 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, I guess that’s all I can do.”

Clancy said he plans to tell his new family about the children he lost.

“I think every parent can agree: 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.”

If you or someone you know is struggling or in emotional distress, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7, to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For additional resources, visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.