Mother confesses to strangling her children, hoping they could ‘go to God together,’ court docs say
WELLESLEY, Mass. (WCAX/Gray News) – A mother confessed to strangling her two young children before driving to another state and attempting to commit suicide.
Late Friday night, police found the bodies of Janette MacAusland’s 6-year-old daughter, Ella, and 7-year-old son, Kai, in her bed at their home in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
MacAusland, 49, showed up at her aunt’s house three hours away in Bennington, Vermont, on Friday night, according to court documents. MacAusland was allegedly hysterical, covered in blood and had a gash on her neck.
MacAusland allegedly told her aunt that she killed her children and tried to take her own life. Her aunt also reported that MacAusland said she drove to a bridge and tried to jump off but could not.
According to the aunt’s statement, MacAusland told her, “‘I wanted the three of us to go to God together, but it didn’t work,’” WCVB reported.
When police arrived at her aunt’s home, MacAusland admitted to the murders.
“Never could I have imagined that she would do something like this. She seemed to just deeply love her children like any other mother that I’ve come across,” said Cale Darrah, the family’s babysitter.
Wellesley Public Schools has released a statement saying in part, “We were devastated to learn of the tragic death of two of our students, a second-grader and kindergartner at Schofield Elementary School.”
MacAusland is in jail and will be extradited to Massachusetts.
Editor’s Note: The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day for anyone who needs help. It is free and confidential.
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