PATRICK CLANCY, THE ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy, has opened up about his children’s killings and forgiving his ex-wife.

Earlier this month, the judge presiding over the trial of Lindsay formally declared a mistrial after the jury could not break their 11-1 deadlock.

The 36-year-old stood accused of murdering her three children in her Massachusetts home in January 2023. She does not deny strangling five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan, but claimed she should be excused from criminal responsibility because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Her five-week trial, which was televised and featured more than 80 witnesses, has sparked debate in the United States over maternal mental health.

In a 60 Minutes interview on CBS, her ex-husband Patrick (36) said there were times after the tragedy that he didn’t think he would live to see his 35th birthday.

“I was completely fine with it,” he said.

During Sunday night’s interview, Patrick set out what happened in the time leading up to his children’s killings.

Five months after the birth of Callan in October 2022, Patrick said Lindsay told him she was struggling to sleep. He said that though he had an understanding of some mental health conditions, he “didn’t know how to manage a postpartum illness”.

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

Patrick said that by December, her mental health had reached a low point.

“December was – it was a big struggle for her – just a huge lack of sleep, deep, deep depression, intrusive thoughts, and – at the end of that month she went to the hospital,” Patrick said.

Lindsay was discharged from the hospital, and two and a half weeks later, Patrick found his children strangled in the basement.

Patrick (centre) with five-year-old Cora (left), three-year-old Dawson (right) and eight-month-old Callan. CBS CBS

Lindsay had jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralysed from the waist down.

Cora and Dawson were dead, but Callan was still alive and was airlifted to Boston’s Children Hospital.

“I didn’t have all the details of Callan’s condition. I just knew that they got a heartbeat back,” Patrick said.

“I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live. 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. And then when I got to the hospital, I saw the doctor. I saw the look on her face, and I knew that it wasn’t gonna be a good prognosis.”

Four days after being hospitalised, Callan died.

Patrick said he is grateful for those four days that they had together. “I said, “I’m so sorry.” And I got to hold him. I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms,” he said.

During his final hours with Callan, Patrick said he also wrote tributes to his children and publicly forgave their mother.

“I saw headlines that said “Killer Mom,” and “Baby Murderer,” “Monster.” And 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 said.

Pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, Lindsay said she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children. 

Patrick said that after the killings, he asked Lindsay if she remembered what happened.

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

He also said his ex-wife never asked for his forgiveness.

Lindsay Clancy listens to testimony from a hospital chaplain during her murder trial. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The father said he dreams about his kids “all the time”.

Recalling one dream, he said: “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. Those dreams are so real.”

Lindsay’s trial was transformed into a social-media whodunit, and many online accounts developed theories which portrayed Patrick as a suspect.

When asked about this, Patrick said: “It’s 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,” he said.

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

To cope with the tragedy, Patrick said he began reaching out to postpartum support experts and psychiatrists to better understand what happened.

He also said meeting Rachel Danis, who he married in April, has changed his life in a “positive way”. They are now planning to have children together.

“I can’t wait to tell them about their brothers and sister,” Patrick said.