Patrick Clancy, the former husband of the Duxbury woman accused of murdering her three children, is threatening legal action over what he calls “outright falsehoods” spreading about him online.
In social media forums and online comments, some people have speculated that he played a role in the children’s deaths. In a statement, Clancy’s attorney said the phenomenon has worsened since Lindsay Clancy’s trial ended in a mistrial on Friday, leaving his client “no choice but to address this situation.”
During the trial, Patrick Clancy testified that his ex-wife had been seeking mental health treatment for months before he arrived home from picking up takeout on Jan. 24, 2023, to find her on the ground outside their home and their children strangled in the basement.
Since his testimony, there has been a tsunami of social media commentary criticizing Patrick Clancy and questioning whether he had some involvement in the deaths of the children.
Attorneys for Patrick Clancy issued a statement Tuesday saying Clancy and his family have been subjected to a “relentless escalating and destructive defamation campaign.”
“This campaign of misinformation has been launched and promoted by minor celebrities, so-called influencers and outright conspiracy theorists,” attorney Howard Cooper wrote in the statement, “who appear intent on boosting their own social media profiles and potential profit by publishing what they know to be outright falsehoods that Patrick was somehow involved in the death of his young children and other vile claims.”
Cooper also said law enforcement has been notified, adding that the misinformation has been fueled by nonstop media coverage and “has resulted in real life threats to his reputation, livelihood, and life.”
Patrick and Lindsay have divorced. He has since remarried and no longer lives in Massachusetts.
Lindsay Clancy has admitted that she killed her children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan. But her attorney argued that she should not be held criminally responsible because she was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time.
After the killings, she tried to die by suicide and was left paralyzed from the waist down. She is being held at Tewksbury Hospital after the jury was unable to reach a verdict in the trial, leading the judge to declare a mistrial.
Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz has said his office is still evaluating whether to hold another trial charging Clancy with first degree murder. Both sides are due back in court later this month.