9/20/2026: Patrick Clancy, AI Data Centers, Shergar Where Are You?

60 Minutes

This episode of 60 Minutes presents three distinct investigative segments ranging from personal tragedy to international mystery. It begins with an intimate interview

Key takeaways

Patrick Clancy discusses navigating postpartum mental illness following the deaths of his children Cora, Dawson, and Callan.
Social media 'sleuths' on TikTok have targeted Patrick Clancy with unfounded theories regarding his involvement in the tragedy.
In Texas, residents like Jasmine Villegas are protesting data center developments due to concerns over water usage, noise, and lack of transparency.
The scale of AI-driven data centers is unprecedented, with some new projects being 200 times larger in megawatt capacity than older models.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) proposed a project in Hood County that requested up to 90% property tax rebates for 30 years.

Main topics

Postpartum mental health
AI data center expansion
Shergar kidnapping mystery

Notable quotes

I think mental illness has this ability to be tragically deceptive.

Conclusion

The episode offers a heavy, multifaceted look at how technological shi

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:07) For the last few months, the Lindsay Clancy trial has become a national obsession. Did you ask Lindsay why she did it? I asked her if she remembered it. Tonight, you'll hear from the father, Patrick Clancy, for the first time outside the courtroom. Speaker 6 (0:23) I try not to think about that night very Speaker 1 (0:25) often. Speaker 2 (0:28) Data centers have become the symbol of America's unease with big tech. How dare you? We are struggling to pay our bills. An issue uniting both Democrats and Republicans ahead of the midterms. I'm Speaker 8 (0:42) not going to vote red or blue. I'm going to vote for the candidate that is willing to speak up and put up and do something to help us with this issue. Speaker 5 (0:53) Shergar was one of the great racehorses in the world until he was kidnapped. What would the IRA want with a horse? It remains one of sport's enduring unsolved mysteries. Speaker 3 (1:04) Well, Shergar wasn't any horse. He was the most expensive horse in the world. Speaker 1 (1:10) I'm Speaker 2 (1:11) Leslie Stahl. I'm John Wertheim. I'm Nora O'Donnell. Speaker 1 (1:15) I'm Ross Douthat. Speaker 8 (1:16) I'm Bill Whitaker. Those stories and more tonight on 60 Minutes. Speaker 1 (1:30) Over the last few months, a murder trial in Massachusetts has become a national obsession and a cultural Rorschach test. The story of Lindsay Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse who killed her three children and then attempted suicide, has created a vortex of online theorizing and suspicion and generated furious arguments about the relationship between mental illness and criminal fault, the ways in which the medical system fails mothers, and how men and women understand one another. At its heart, though, it's a story about a family and the worst tragedy imaginable. Tonight, you'll hear from the father, Patrick Clancy, for the first time since the trial, talking about how he tried to rebuild a life in the shadow of unbearable grief, and why he wants to put the focus back on the memory of his children, Cora, Dawson, and Cowan. In the fall of 2022, when Callan was five months old, Patrick noticed that Lindsay was struggling. Speaker 6 (2:31) It was October, and... She went a few nights without sleeping. What did she tell you that she was experiencing then? She came downstairs one morning and she said, I didn't sleep at all last night. And so I said, that's awful, and I'll take the kids to school. You just focus on Speaker 1 (2:52) getting caught up on sleep. Did you know anything about postpartum mental illness before this experience started? Speaker 6 (3:01) 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. I think mental illness has this ability to be tragically deceptive. So I'm sure there are things that I didn't see. Speaker 1 (3:21) Patrick and Lindsay Clancy were living in the seaside town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. They were married six years. Months after the birth of their third child, Lindsay made repeated emergency room visits. She admitted herself to a program for patients with postpartum depression and was discharged after a day of treatment. She was also prescribed an escalating number of prescription drugs. Patrick said he struggled to help his wife navigate the medical system. What was the low point a few months in? I think Speaker 6 (3:54) December. December 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. Speaker 1 (4:09) It was New Year's Eve when Lindsay checked herself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital. She was treated for depression, and days later, she was released. The family celebrated Cora's birthday on January 7th. She told you she wanted to come home. She did. 17 days later, the unthinkable. After taking Cora to a doctor's appointment earlier in the day, Lindsay asked Patrick to run an errand and pick up dinner. And when he returned home, he said he found her lying in the backyard, her throat and wrists cut, paralyzed after jumping from an upstairs window. In the basement, he said he found his children strangled. Cora and Dawson were dead. Callan somehow survived and was airlifted to Boston Children's Hospital. Speaker 6 (4:56) So I didn't have all the details of Callan's condition. I just knew that they got a heartbeat back, so. I remember that night, I really thought there was a chance that Callan would live. And I remember just thinking, just give me one. Just give me one kid. And I would raise him as best I could. And I would give him the best life I possibly could. And 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. I saw the look on her face. And I knew that it wasn't going to be a good prognosis. Speaker 1 (5:35) Callan's heart kept beating for four days. Speaker 6 (5:39) I'm so grateful for those four days that I had with him. And I'm so Speaker 1 (5:44) grateful he hung on. Did you talk to him in those four days? Yeah. Can you tell me anything you said? I said, I'm so sorry. And Speaker 6 (6:02) I got to hold him. I got to lay down next to him. And he died in my arms. Speaker 1 (6:14) During those hours with Callan, Clancy sat and wrote tributes to each of his three children, typing with one hand while he held his baby's hand with the other. He said he was afraid if he didn't write about them, they would be forgotten. But it wasn't just about your kids. It also had something that I think a lot of people found at that moment incomprehensible, which was something about Lindsay, where you forgave her. Speaker 6 (6:39) I saw headlines that said, you know, 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 Speaker 1 (7:02) be eaten up inside forever. Did you ask Lindsay why she did it? Speaker 6 (7:09) I asked her if she remembered it. And what did she say? She said it was like a dream. Speaker 6 (7:19) She remembered it much in the way you would remember a Speaker 1 (7:22) dream after waking up. Do you feel like you failed in some way in this period, or do you feel like you did the best you could? I think I did the best I could with what Speaker 6 (7:32) I had at the time. And I live with the outcome. I live with it every day. Has she ever asked for your forgiveness? Speaker 6 (7:44) No. But I gave it to her. Speaker 1 (7:47) In the weeks after the tragedy, the crowds of mourners dispersed and Clancy's world emptied out. There was no family routine, no bedtime stories, no purpose. Speaker 6 (7:57) Everything just came to a screeching halt. And then there was a day where I, really without thinking, I drove by their school, and it was at the exact time that all of their friends were getting dropped off. Speaker 6 (8:12) And I was just, I couldn't be there anymore. Did you ever have suicidal thoughts yourself? Yeah. There was a time where I didn't think I would live to see my 35th birthday. And I was completely fine with it. Speaker 1 (8:26) In April, unable to stay in Duxbury, Clancy said he moved to New York City, seeking anonymity. Five weeks after I moved to New Speaker 6 (8:34) York, on May 26th, I had to figure out how I'm going to celebrate Callan's first birthday. And how do you celebrate your son's first birthday months after he's passed away? And so I go to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I light a candle. And I say, I love you, buddy. And I walk out on Fifth Avenue. And I start crying my eyes out. And nobody cared. And Speaker 1 (9:06) was that good? Were you grateful for that? I thought, this is where I need to be. I can grieve. Before moving, he had emptied the house in Duxbury, a home filled with the most visceral reminders of his children's lives. What kind of things did you keep? Speaker 6 (9:24) Some of their toys, a lot of personal items, just things that reminded me of them. Speaker 1 (9:31) This is Dawson. Reminders now purposefully placed around his Manhattan apartment. A baby sloth that Cora carried everywhere. A photo of Callan wearing a bow tie almost bigger than him. Speaker 1 (9:44) Dawson's beloved and battered helicopter. Those are their real handprints. In their hometown of Duxbury, Clancy found another way to keep them close. This brand new playground, built to feature touchstones for each child. Sloths for his daughter, a firefighter for Dawson, and down the way, a toddler's playpen for Callan. Do you dream about them? Yeah, all the time. Tell me a good dream. Speaker 6 (10:12) I remember early on having a dream. Speaker 6 (10:18) maybe six months or a year after and I'm in the kitchen at the house and Cora walks in and I just look at her and I it was like 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 it's Speaker 6 (10:40) It's like I'm lucid in those dreams. Speaker 1 (10:43) In July of this year, Lindsay Clancy went to trial for the killing of her three children. Her lawyers argued that she was suffering from dangerous postpartum psychosis and couldn't be held responsible for her actions. Speaker 5 (10:56) I'm going to declare a mistrial. Speaker 1 (10:58) Her trial ended with a hung jury. Meanwhile, Patrick was suddenly facing a trial by TikTok. This Speaker 7 (11:04) is why I think Patrick did it. I have... So many questions. Not Lindsay. Patrick did it. You googled how to commit suicide. Speaker 1 (11:15) An online swarm of sleuths and influencers has been dissecting every detail of the case, developing theories that portray him as uncaring, unfaithful, and even