This article contains information about suicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A recent arrest affidavit sheds light on the harrowing case of a Wellesley, Massachusetts mother accused of murdering her two young children in their affluent suburban residence. The document details the shocking allegations surrounding the tragic event.
Janette MacAusland, aged 49, faces charges for the alleged murder of her children—7-year-old Kai and 6-year-old Ella—last Friday before she fled to Vermont.
The affidavit describes how MacAusland appeared at her aunt’s doorstep in a state of distress.
Her aunt recounted, “She was hysterical when she arrived. She had knocked on my window to get my attention, and I noticed a large cut on her throat,” the aunt explained. “Once I managed to calm her down, I saw that the blood was dried. Janette confessed that she had attempted suicide. When I inquired about her husband’s whereabouts, she mentioned he was at the lake.”
“I wanted the three of us to go to God together, but it didn’t work,” MacAusland told her aunt, according to the affidavit.
MacAusland’s aunt relayed to police that her niece said she killed Kai and Ella and then tried to kill herself. The affidavit mentions MacAusland told her aunt that she planned to jump off a bridge, but could not do it.
A mugshot of Janette MacAusland, 49, who is accused of killing her two young children from April 24, 2026. (Bennington Police Department)
Later, police spoke with MacAusland and asked if her children were OK. In response, she shook her head, according to the affidavit. Then, she revealed a startling detail to police.
“I strangled them and then tried to kill myself,” she told them, adding that the children could be found in her bed in their Massachusetts family home.
The affidavit says police in Wellesley were called, and confirmed what MacAusland told them.
MacAusland was jailed in Vermont on a fugitive from justice charge and appeared before a judge remotely on Monday afternoon. She was charged in Massachusetts over the weekend with two counts of murder.
A self-shot photo of Janette MacAusland taken on an unknown date. (Janette Reber/Facebook)
In the Monday hearing, she waived her extradition rights, and will be transported back to her home state to face those charges.
MacAusland’s husband, Samuel MacAusland, filed for divorce in October after nine years of marriage, citing an “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage,” court records show. He was seeking custody of the children, and the couple had
MacAusland’s attorney did not return a request for comment.
-->
