Life of Lindsay Clancy’s husband and new wife as ex faces murder trial

As a Mᴀssachusetts courtroom grappled this week with one of America’s most heartbreaking family tragedies, the father at the center of the case has quietly built a new life hundreds of miles away.

At the murder trial of former nurse Lindsay Clancy, jurors heard evidence about the deaths of her three young children, in a case that has sparked fierce debate over postpartum mental illness and criminal responsibility.

But while Lindsay, 35, fights for her freedom on an insanity defense, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal that her former husband, Patrick Clancy, 38, has found love again and started over in New York City.

The Microsoft employee, who spoke up for his ex-wife while on the stand this week despite the killings and their divorce, now lives in a Midtown Manhattan high-rise with his new wife, fertility specialist Dr Rachel Danis, 37.

Public records show Patrick relocated from suburban Mᴀssachusetts to Manhattan in May 2023, four months after the deaths of his children.

Patrick and Rachel married in April 2026 during an intimate ceremony at the historic Ladies Pavilion overlooking Central Park’s lake before celebrating with family and friends at Sarabeth’s, a nearby restaurant.

Friends and relatives told the Daily Mail they have watched Patrick rebuild his life through faith, charity work, long-distance running and the unwavering support of his new wife.

His father, Christopher Clancy, 64, said his ‘amazing’ son had shown extraordinary resilience through unimaginable suffering.

The previous family life of Patrick Clancy (right), came crashing down in 2023 when wife Lindsay (left) strangled their three children to death then tried to take her own life

Patrick Clancy’s new wife, Dr Rachel Danis, is described by friends as ‘upbeat, smiling, vivacious and full of energy’

The saddest trial ever: Paralyzed mom killed all of her kids. Now her fate hangs on one key finding

‘Just watch him, he’ll make great things happen,’ Christopher told the Daily Mail. 

‘He’s always been strong like that. All my kids are great, and they were raised right.’

A longtime friend of Rachel’s family described the newlyweds as a natural match brought together by compᴀssion, optimism and a shared commitment to helping other people.

They also share a pᴀssion for exercise, with pH๏τos showing the couple hiking, running and working out from as early as February 2024. 

‘Pat has obviously gone through an incredible trauma, and Rachel is a nurturing person by nature,’ the friend said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

‘She is upbeat, smiling, vivacious, and full of energy. It’s fitting that she helps create life in the face of this tragedy.’

He noted that Rachel, as a reproductive expert, understood the health challenges that underpinned the family tragedy.   

The friend said Rachel’s caring personality made her uniquely suited to helping someone who had endured unimaginable loss.

‘Rachel has a heart of gold… if she can take a guy and try to heal him, that’s what she would do.’

The friend also praised Patrick for refusing to let the tragedy define the rest of his life.

‘A lot of people would recoil and just never be a shadow of their former self and never move on. So I admire this guy. I really do.’

Rachel’s mother, Sue, 69, also gave her blessing, describing Patrick in messages to friends after the wedding as ‘a really nice guy.’

‘I hope it all goes well for her,’ she wrote in a text sent to several friends.

Patrick declined to comment via his attorney. 

Couple Patrick Clancy, 38, and Rachel Danis, 37, have shared pᴀssions for charitable causes

A February 2024 post shows Patrick and Rachel hiking in the snow among friends in New York

Patrick and Rachel were spotted in a group at a gym in Brooklyn in a March 2024 post    

Patrick was this week forced to revisit the tragedy that struck his family’s home in the affluent Boston suburb of Duxbury on January 24, 2023.

Prosecutors allege Lindsay Clancy strangled the couple’s three children – five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan – using exercise bands while Patrick was collecting takeout food.

She then allegedly attempted to take her own life by cutting her wrists and neck before jumping from a second-floor window.

Lindsay survived but was left paralyzed from the waist down and now uses a wheelchair. Patrick returned home to discover his wife critically injured outside before calling 911.

That emergency call, which was played in court, captured Lindsay telling her husband that the children were ‘in the basement.’

Patrick is then heard screaming after discovering his children’s bodies, shouting: ‘She killed the kids!’

The horrifying case has become one of the nation’s most closely watched criminal prosecutions because Lindsay does not dispute that she killed her children.

Instead, Linsday’s lawyers argue she was legally insane because severe postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis left her unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions.

Her lawyers contend she had been prescribed 13 medications and suffered worsening mental illness after Callan’s birth.

Dr Rachel Danis works as a fertility specialist in New York

Patrick and Rachel dining out together to celebrate her completion of a race in New York City

Patrick’s previous wife, Lindsay, is accused of murdering the couple’s three children

They say she experienced homicidal and suicidal thoughts and believed she heard a man’s voice commanding her to kill her children before taking her own life because it was her ‘last chance.’

Prosecutors reject that account, arguing Lindsay carefully planned the killings and understood exactly what she was doing.

They are expected to present internet searches and evidence from the day itself which they say demonstrate deliberation rather than insanity.

Despite moving on from their marriage, Patrick has publicly supported his ex-wife from the start and urged the public to ‘find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have.’ 

In an emotional GoFundMe post after the killings, he described the family’s ‘shock and pain’ as ‘excruciating and relentless.’

Yet he also urged the public to remember Lindsay as the woman he knew before her mental health deteriorated.

A year later he told The New Yorker: ‘I wasn’t married to a monster – I was married to someone who got sick.’

His compᴀssion has remained unwavering even after the marriage ended.

He spent six hours testifying as a prosecution witness this week. 

He told jurors that Lyndsay had been a ‘loving mother’ before she was derailed by a months-long battle with postpartum depression, suicidal ideation, and sleep deprivation.

Doctors did not warn him about postpartum psychosis or that he should not leave Lyndsay alone with the children, he told the court.

While giving evidence, he wore the wedding ring from his new marriage to Dr Danis. 

Observers noted that Patrick and Lyndsay barely made eye contact with each other in court – which is understood to be the first time they saw each other since the tragedy.

Following a request by Patrick, the judge ruled that the 911 call and pH๏τos of the children’s autopsies would not be released in public.

Addressing the court ahead of trial, Lindsay’s attorney Kevin Reddington said Patrick had ‘suffered one of the worst tragedies that anyone could ever suffer’ and criticized how prosecutors planned to make their case. 

‘How that guy is not an emotional basket case is beyond me,’ he said.

‘He is trying hard to move on with his life. As the court is aware, they’re divorced, he’s remarried, he has a family… and the district attorney wants to put that guy on the witness stand and show little onesies with bodily fluid of his child.’ 

The former couple have also separately filed lawsuits against doctors and therapists, alleging medical professionals failed to properly diagnose or treat Lindsay’s postpartum psychiatric illness before the tragedy unfolded.

Patrick Clancy gave evidence in support of ex-wife Lyndsay Clancy during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court  

Lindsay Clancy was paralyzed from the waist down following her suicide attempt

Patrick, Lindsay’s husband, filed a suit against her doctors. He is shown with the children, Cora, Dawson, and baby Callan

EXCLUSIVE Chilling truth of postpartum psychosis as Lindsay Clancy stands trial for murdering her three kids

Since relocating to New York, Patrick has immersed himself in charitable work inspired by the memory of his children.

He founded the mental health charity Heard with Love in 2024 as a tribute to Cora, Dawson and Callan.

That same year he raised $75,000 for Boston Children’s Hospital while running the Boston Marathon.

Friends say he has also leaned heavily on his Catholic faith and inspirational reading, including works by Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.

Meanwhile Lindsay has remained at Tewksbury Hospital since her arrest, where she continues receiving psychiatric treatment ahead of trial.

The Clancys’ former family home in Duxbury, purchased during happier times, was sold in May 2024 after Patrick relocated to New York.

Details surrounding the divorce itself have not been made public.

And now, nearly three-and-a-half years after one of America’s most shocking family tragedies, the courtroom battle has finally begun.

Jurors must decide whether Lindsay was legally insane when she killed her three children or whether she should be held criminally responsible for their deaths.

If convicted of first-degree murder under Mᴀssachusetts law, she faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors say Clancy sent her husband out to get takeout for their family before she fatally strangled their children with exercise bands at their home in Duxbury, MA in January 2023

Should jurors instead accept her insanity defense, Lindsay will not simply go free.

She would instead remain committed to a state psychiatric hospital, where doctors would continue evaluating her condition and any future release would depend upon whether she is deemed to no longer pose a danger to society.

For Patrick, the trial has reopened wounds that can never fully heal.

He was seen shaking on the stand, had to take deep breaths to remain calm, and asked to be excused when the 911 call was played out in court.  

Yet those closest to him believe his new marriage to Dr Danis represents something powerful after years defined by unbearable grief.

They say it is proof that even after the darkest imaginable loss, hope can sometimes find a way back.