Warning: Sensitive content
Patrick Clancy has opened up about the first signs that his then-wife Lindsay Clancy was struggling with her mental health in the months before she killed their three young children at their Massachusetts home.
Speaking in a new 60 Minutes interview, Patrick recalled noticing a significant change in Lindsay during the fall of 2022, when their youngest child, Callan, was about five months old.
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Lindsay had gone several nights without sleeping when she came downstairs one morning and told her husband she had not slept at all.
“She came downstairs one morning, and she said — ‘I didn’t sleep at all last night.’ And so I said, you know, ‘That’s awful.’ And, ‘I’ll take the kids to school. You just focus on getting caught up on sleep,’” he said.
Patrick said Lindsay’s condition deteriorated further in December 2022, describing that period as the lowest point in her mental health struggles.
“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.”
On New Year’s Day 2023, Lindsay admitted herself to an inpatient program at McLean Hospital.
Later that month, Lindsay killed the couple’s three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan, inside the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
She then fell from a second-storey window in an attempt to take her own life.
Patrick returned home and discovered the devastating scene.
Lindsay’s defence does not dispute that she killed the children but argues she should be found not guilty of murder by reason of a lack of criminal responsibility.
Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, has argued Lindsay was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings.
The defence has also maintained that Lindsay had spent months seeking psychiatric treatment for mental health issues following Callan’s birth.
Patrick, who testified during his former wife’s trial, told 60 Minutes he knew little about postpartum mental illness before the deaths of his children.
“No. 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. So I’m sure there are things that I didn’t see.”
Prosecutors have rejected the defence’s argument that Lindsay was experiencing psychosis and contend she deliberately strangled the three children.
The competing accounts became central to the closely watched trial, which ran for more than a month before ending without a verdict.
On September 4, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to unanimously decide Lindsay’s fate.
Jurors have since spoken publicly about the deliberations, revealing the panel was split 11-1 in favour of finding Lindsay not guilty by reason of a lack of criminal responsibility.
Prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will pursue a second trial.
Lindsay remains in custody at Tewksbury Hospital while a decision over the next stage of the case is awaited.
Patrick’s latest comments offer a new glimpse into the months before the deaths and the mental health struggles he says he witnessed as Lindsay’s condition deteriorated.
His interview also comes after he took the stand during the trial and gave evidence about his family, his former wife’s behaviour and the events surrounding the deaths of Cora, Dawson and Callan.
If you or someone you know needs help, phone SANE Australia Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263).
Young people seeking support can phone beyondblue on 1300 22 4636 or go to headspace.org.au.
If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Crisis Care Helpline on 1800 199 008.
