Mass. Mom Accused of Strangling Her Kids Allegedly Made Horrifying Admission to Aunt: Police

Janette MacAusland was arrested last Friday night in connection with the deaths of her two young children, Kai, 7, and Ella, 6

Janette MacAusland.Credit : Bennington Police Department

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A Massachusetts mother accused of murdering her two young children last week allegedly admitted to their killings after police were called to her aunt’s home to check on her, authorities say, according to reports
Janette MacAusland was arrested last Friday night in connection with the deaths of her two young children, Kai, 7, and Ella, 6
MacAusland, 49, reportedly told her aunt she wanted her and her children to “go to God together, but it didn’t work,” according to police

Police in Vermont allege that a Massachusetts mother accused of murdering her two children before attempting to kill herself last Friday night admitted to her aunt that she wanted her and her two young kids to “go to God together, but it didn’t work.”

PEOPLE previously reported that Janette MacAusland was arrested at a relative’s home in Bennington, Vt., on the night of Friday, April 24, in connection with the deaths of her two children. She was later charged with two counts of murder back in Massachusetts, where she and her children lived, according to a news release from the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.

Citing a Bennington police report, MassLive and the Bennington Banner reported that the 49-year-old mother of two showed up to her aunt’s house Friday night acting erratically and with a “major” neck wound.

WFSB and WCVB, citing court documents, reported that MacAusland’s aunt told police MacAusland allegedly said she had killed her children — son Kai, 7, and daughter Ella, 6 — before trying to kill herself by stabbing herself in the neck and attempting to jump off a bridge.

“I wanted the three of us to go to God together, but it didn’t work,” MacAusland’s allegedly told her aunt, police said, according to WFSB.

A memorial grows outside the home on Edgemoor Ave. in Wellesley, Mass., where the MacAuslands lived.Nic Czarnecki/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

WCVB reported that MacAusland’s aunt told police that her niece “was hysterical” when she arrived at the house.

“I brought her into my house,” the aunt reportedly told police, according to WCVB. “She had knocked on a window to get my attention and I could see that she had a large cut on her throat.”

The aunt also told police: “I asked her where her children were and she told me that she had killed them.”

WCVB reported that Bennington Police officers then interviewed MacAusland, who allegedly also admitted to them that she killed her children at her home in Wellesley, Mass. Police alleged that the mother was carrying a photo of her and her two children on vacation and handed officers the picture when she admitted to killing them.

“I strangled them and then I tried to kill myself,” she allegedly told police, according to WCVB.

Inmate records at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland, Vt., show MacAusland remains in custody there, one day after waiving her extradition rights in her initial courtroom appearance Monday afternoon. She is expected to be extradited back to Massachusetts within the next two weeks, where she will be charged with two counts of murder.

PEOPLE reported Monday that MacAusland was in the midst of a bitter custody dispute with her estranged husband, Samuel MacAusland, who filed for divorce and sued for custody of their children last October.

Cale Darrah, who told the Boston Globe she was a babysitter for the family for about one year through June 2024, said both MacAusland children seemed happy and healthy.

“Never did I enter the house and feel like there was anything that was extremely off,” Darrah told the newspaper.

“It doesn’t really feel real at all,” Darrah added. “Not that it should happen anywhere but especially in a town like Wellesley where nothing like this ever happens.”

The breakthrough in the investigation began when a relative residing in Bennington, Vermont, observed a series of highly concerning behaviors and statements from Janette MacAusland that deviated sharply from her usual character. This individual, whose identity has been shielded for privacy during the ongoing criminal proceedings, reportedly witnessed Janette appearing in a state of extreme psychological distress, purportedly mentioning that she had found a way to “end the pain of the children’s future.” This chilling remark, combined with the fact that Janette was over one hundred and fifty miles away from her children without a logical explanation, prompted the relative to contact the Bennington authorities immediately. This call acted as the definitive trigger for the multi-state law enforcement response, shifting the focus from a potential missing person case to an urgent welfare check on the MacAusland residence in Massachusetts.

Upon receiving the alert from Vermont, the Wellesley Police Department dispatched officers to the family home on Seaver Street, where the silence of the neighborhood masked the tragedy within. It is hypothesized that the relative’s intervention occurred during the narrow window when Janette was attempting to establish a new location, perhaps seeking refuge or a final place of seclusion. The specific “unusual” detail noted by the relative may have involved Janette’s possession of items belonging to the children, such as specific toys or photographs, which she was clutching in a manner that suggested a permanent separation. This observation provided the probable cause necessary for officers in Wellesley to force entry into the home, where they were met with the horrific scene of the two deceased children in their respective bedrooms.

The timeline suggests that the relative’s call saved Janette from her own self-inflicted injuries but arrived too late to intervene in the fate of Kai and Ella. As investigators piece together the final seventy-two hours, the Bennington welfare check remains the most critical pivot point in the narrative, transforming a private family breakdown into a public criminal investigation. The “something unusual” witnessed by the family member is now a cornerstone of the prosecution’s timeline, potentially establishing Janette’s state of mind and her movements immediately following the commission of the crimes. While the legal battle over custody had lasted seven months, it took only one observant relative and a single phone call to bring the hidden violence of the MacAusland household into the light of the justice system.