Janette MacAusland, Wellesley, Massachusetts mom embroiled in ongoing divorce and child custody dispute with estranged husband, Samuel MacAusland charged with the murder of their two children, Kai and Ella.
A Massachusetts mother accused of killing her two young children was embroiled in a custody dispute with the children’s father according to authorities and court records.
Janette MacAusland, 49, of Wellesley, Mass,. was over the weekend booked on two counts of murder in the deaths of her children, 7-year-old Kai and 6-year-old Ella.
The murder charges come after the siblings were found deceased, Friday night at the family’s upscale home in Wellesly following a request for a welfare check by a family member.
Wellesly mom found with severe neck injury after allegedly killing her 2 own kids
MacAusland, a local acupuncturist, was arrested in Vermont, and was expected to appear in court Monday on a fugitive from justice charge as authorities seek to have her returned to Massachusetts according to NBC10.
Police in Bennington, Vermont, said in a press release Sunday afternoon that they were contacted around 9:15 p.m. Friday and asked to conduct a welfare check after a woman arrived at a family residence in Bennington appearing ‘highly distraught.’ The woman reportedly had a visible neck injury and was bleeding.
Authorities declined to say whether the injuries were self inflicted and the result of the parent possibly attempting to take her own life.
Upon making contact, police said the woman was identified as MacAusland. Officers tried to speak with her, and during the interaction, said they became ‘increasingly concerned’ for the welfare of her chidren. They contacted Wellesley police to respond to MacAusland’s home in Massachusetts to check on the children.
Around 9:50 p.m., Bennington police said Wellesley police informed them the two children were found dead inside the MacAusland home. They said MacAusland was taken into custody as a fugitive from justice and is being held without bail at the Marble Valley Correctional Facility.
Well to do upscale Boston suburban life
Probate court records show Samuel MacAusland filed for divorce in October after nine years of marriage and sought custody of the children and the home. Janette MacAusland later filed a counter claim also seeking custody and the home. On April 16, they filed a joint motion agreeing to have a neutral third party investigate and make recommendations about custody, and a guardian ad litem was appointed on April 21.
The children, one in second grade and the other in kindergarten, attended Schofield Elementary School, where Superintendent David Lussier said a ‘crisis team’ was being prepared to support the community, according to The Boston Globe.
Neighbors told the Globe that they frequently heard the school-aged children playing and laughing in their backyard, which sat adjacent to his front yard, most recently less than a week ago.
Wellesley, an affluent Boston suburb, is widely considered one of the safest in the country.
