Patrick Clancy’s fertility doctor wife Rachel Danis shares how she learned his three children had been killed from photo he showed her
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Rachel Danis said she discovered during her first date with Patrick Clancy that his three children had died, after seeing their photograph as his phone wallpaper. The revelation came amid the murder trial of Clancy’s former wife, Lindsay, who was accused of killing the children in Massachusetts in January 2023.
Clancy recalled finding Lindsay seriously injured at their home before discovering the children in the basement; Cora and Dawson died, while Callan died four days later in hospital. The trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked 11–1 over an insanity verdict. Danis and Clancy, who married in April, said they are starting a family and hope to honour the children’s memory while rebuilding their lives.
- Rachel Danis learned about Clancy’s children during their first date.
- The children died in January 2023.
- Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended in a mistrial.
Full account
Rachel Danis, a fertility doctor and Patrick Clancy’s wife, said she first learned about the deaths of his three children during their first date after meeting at a New York running club in January 2024. In an interview for 60 Minutes, she recalled noticing a photograph of the children on his phone while he paid for coffee and asking who they were. She said Clancy told her they were his children and, when she asked whether they lived in Massachusetts, replied that they had died.
The children, Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, died at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. Their mother, Lindsay Clancy, has acknowledged causing their deaths but has denied murder, with her defence attributing her actions to severe mental illness linked to treatment for post-partum depression. A recent trial ended without a verdict after jurors could not agree; prosecutors had not said whether they would pursue a retrial.
Danis said she had initially been unsure how to respond to the disclosure, and described trying to support Clancy while recognising that she could not undo his loss. The couple married in April and spoke of building a family together, with Clancy saying he hoped any future child would know about their older siblings. Following the deaths, he moved from Massachusetts to New York.
One report focused chiefly on Danis’s account of the first date and her reflections on helping Clancy honour the children. The other concentrated on a subsequent confirmation by interviewer Ross Douthat that Danis is pregnant, as well as the mistrial and the unresolved question of a retrial. The first report said only that the couple were starting a family, whereas the second stated that they are expecting a child.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 centres on the couple’s first-date conversation and their comments during the 60 Minutes interview; Source 2 foregrounds the reported pregnancy confirmation and the legal proceedings.
Source 1 describes the children’s deaths in more personal detail, while Source 2 gives greater weight to Lindsay Clancy’s defence and the jury’s inability to reach a verdict.
Source 1 did not explicitly confirm a pregnancy; Source 2 says Ross Douthat later confirmed it on CBS Mornings.
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