On Jan. 24, 2023, after running errands, Patrick Clancy returned home to a scene of unimaginable horror. Outside on the snowy lawn, he found his wife, Lindsay Clancy, bloodied and injured after jumping from the second-story window in a failed suicide attempt. When he went inside to look for his children, he discovered them in the basement. All three, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, had been strangled.
The trial of Lindsay Clancy is a regrettable showcase of the worst of humanity: A woman tasked with caring for and loving her own children allegedly took their young lives in an incomprehensibly brutal act of filicide. She is the one charged with committing the heinous acts, and she did not dispute it. But in the eyes of some, Patrick Clancy is guilty.
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Of what?
Apparently, being a man married to a struggling woman. Instead of being treated as a victim, he’s presented by some as partly responsible, or worse, treated with suspicion as if he committed the murders himself.
There is no evidence that gender balance actually exists in American society. The feminism that first wanted the right to vote steamrolled its way, rather hurriedly, to hatred and distrust of men. The segment of society that decries sexism against women does the very same thing to men. But misandry doesn’t seem to bother people nearly as much as misogyny. We’ve seen this on social media. Among far too many female TikTokers, Patrick Clancy is either a bad husband or the culprit of the crime. These theories are based not on evidence, but on cheap emotion and a twisted brand of sisterhood.
Reality is harder, however. Far harder. The transcript of Patrick Clancy’s 911 call is a window into his nightmare. The transcript is as follows:
Dispatcher: I’m going to stay on the line with you. Is there a fence?
Patrick: Right here, right here! … I need you to stay, and I’ll go check on my kids. Hello? (footsteps are heard) Guys? Guys? Oh, no! (yelling is heard) Oh, no! (more yelling) Wake up! (Patrick is heard screaming).
Dispatcher: What is he screaming about? Patrick: (Crying, screaming and gasping) OH, MY GOD! (more screaming)
Dispatcher: Hello? What’s going on?
Patrick: Basement! Basement! OH, MY GOD!
Dispatcher: Hello? hello? Patrick: (Screaming. Screaming, Screaming.) AHHHHH, SHE KILLED THE KIDS!!! OH, MY GOD! (Screaming. Screaming. Screaming. Screaming.) Dawson! My buddy! (Screaming)
Dispatcher: “Oh, s***.”
Patrick Clancy is not responsible for the actions of another person, even if his wife was dealing with depression, insomnia, and other mental health problems. From all accounts, he did the very best he could to take care of and provide for his family. Accusing him of failing his wife or children is a claim that does not line up with the facts. It may feel good to act as though the man is the bad guy in this situation, but it’s simply not true. The monster in this scenario is Lindsay Clancy.
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If a mother committed filicide, it doesn’t make the surviving spouse guilty of anything. Whether one accepts that Lindsay Clancy was in her right mind or not, Patrick Clancy did not choose what happened. Nor did he participate in it. Gendered assumptions don’t rewrite the truth or bring back the Clancy children. And Patrick Clancy, as a father and a man, doesn’t have to prove himself worthy of sympathy. As an innocent human being who is grieving, he automatically deserves it.
Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy should be the focus. Second to them is their father, Patrick Clancy. There is enough heartbreak in this story. There is no need to look at the grieving father and artificially manufacture a second villain.