Charged with strangulation deaths of her two children, ages 6 & 7

RUTLAND — A Wellesley, Mass. mother, who is charged with strangling to death her two young children and leaving them in her bed, will be headed back to the Commonwealth to contest the two murder charges.

The lawyer for Janette R. MacAusland, 49, said Monday afternoon in Vermont Superior Court that she would not fight the extradition request and wants to head home as soon as possible.

“She’s decided the best thing to do is to get back to Massachusetts as soon as possible and address these charges,” defense lawyer Jeff Rubin told the court.

MacAusland is charged in Norfolk County, Mass. with two counts of homicide for the deaths of Kai, 7, who was in second grade, and Ella MacAusland, 6, who was in kindergarten, in their home on Friday.

They were found there by Wellesley Mass. Police acting on a request by Bennington Police to conduct a welfare check.

Autopsies were ordered, but complete results were unavailable Monday. The toxicology report will tell if the children were provided any drugs before being strangled.

“I wanted the 3 of us to go to God together but it didn’t work,” a very distraught MacAusland was quoted as telling an aunt in Bennington upon arriving at her home on Friday night, Bennington Police reported.

MacAusland had sustained a deep self-inflicted knife wound of her throat, court records show. She said she also contemplated jumping off the Quechee Gorge in Windsor County.

The defendant, a 1995 Arlington Memorial High School graduate, had the maiden name of Whitman. She reportedly graduated from Vermont College in Montpelier with a bachelor’s degree in health studies.

MacAusland is in the midst of a bitter divorce case with Samuel MacAusland, with each parent wanting custody of the two children and the home, court records show.

The arrest warrant for two counts of murder in Wellesley, Mass. was ordered sealed Monday by a judge at the request of the office of Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey, an office spokesman said.

The court file might be unsealed when she is arraigned, spokesman David Linton said. Vermont courts do not allow for sealing of charging documents for people arrested.

MacAusland appeared by video from the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland for her 6 ½ minute court hearing. She was wearing a one-piece green padded quilted safety smock designed to prevent suicide.

It was a high-profile hearing with at least 12 TV outlets tuned in across Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire to the video.

Judge Cortland Corsones said Massachusetts officials have 30 days to claim her. Defense lawyer Jeff Rubin asked for a hearing in two weeks to make ensure the return trip happened quickly since it was a neighboring state.

Corsones set a hearing May 11 in Vermont Superior Court in Bennington, if the transport has not been completed.

Corsones discussed with MacAusland her legal rights before he asked her to sign the court document approving her removal. He said the form would be sent from the prison to the courthouse so he could sign off on it.

She will remain jailed without bail until Massachusetts law enforcement pick her up.

Linton, a spokesman for Morrissey’s office, said after the court hearing it was unknown when Massachusetts State Police would send officers for the 3-hour trip to Rutland to pick up MacAusland. Wellesley is an affluent suburb about 15 miles west from Boston.

It was somewhat unusual that neither Wellesley or Massachusetts State Police had sent officers to Vermont like other nearby states often do in fugitive cases for the hearing in case the defendant does not contest removal.

Bennington Police, in court documents, outlined the following:

MacAusland arrived at the home of her aunt, Sandra Mattison, on Northside Drive shortly before 9 p.m. Friday.

Mattison, 66, reported somebody was banging on a window and when she looked out, she did not realize right away it was MacAusland The woman had a major laceration on her neck with blood, but eventually Mattison said she recognized her niece.

Mattison said MacAusland mentioned she had tried to kill herself. Mattison said she called Bennington Police and while waiting, her niece mentioned she had killed her two children.

When asked about her husband, MacAusland reported he was “at the lake,” Bennington Police said Mattison reported.

Vermont News First has learned the MacAusland family has a second home on Lake Winnipesaukee in Central New Hampshire.

Bennington Police obtained from a state judge a search warrant that allowed officers to search MacAusland’s car, her cellphone and to scrape anything from under her fingernails.

Her white 2015 Volkswagen Passat, her car keys and a holiday photo with the children that MacAusland was displaying at the Bennington home were all impounded, Bennington Police said in court papers.

Police also seized her clothing, including a jacket and scarf, and her Massachusetts driver’s license.

Bennington Police, working in conjunction with the office of Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage throughout the weekend, helped collect key evidence to help assist Massachusetts authorities obtain the murder warrants.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office announced the arrest warrant for MacAusland had been obtained a few hours after Vermont News First had initially reported Bennington Police had jailed the mother about 2 p.m. Saturday as a fugitive from justice for two counts of homicide in Wellesley, Mass.

Bennington Detective Sgt. Jason Burnham said in court papers that Officer Robert Morris IV arrived on scene first Friday night. He learned directly from Mattison the events leading up to his arrival and that MacAusland may have killed her two children.

MacAusland pulled out a holiday picture of the family which included her two children and handed it to Officer Morris. Morris asked if the children were okay, to which MacAusland shook her head side to side, Burnham wrote.

“MacAusland was asked where the children were, to which she stated, ‘I strangled them and then I tried to kill myself.’ MacAusland said that the children were in her bed,” Burnham wrote.

Bennington Sgt. Keith Diotte reported Mattison indicated when her niece arrived at the house she was hysterical.

“I brought her into my house. She had knocked on a window to get my attention and I could see that she had a large cut on her throat. After getting her to calm down I checked her neck and could see that the blood on her was dried, Janette stated that she tried to kill herself. I asked where her husband was and she said he was at the lake. I asked her where her children were and she told me that she had killed them,” police quoted Mattison as reporting.

Mattison said she asked for police, ambulance and the United Counseling Crisis team. MacAusland also indicated she drove to Quechee Gorge and tried to jump off the bridge but could not do it. Instead she drove to Mattison’s house and caused a disturbance outside the residence.

Sgt. Diotte contacted the Wellesley Mass. Police to request a welfare check at the residence listed on MacAusland’s license. Wellesley Police responded to 63 Edgemoor Avenue and confirmed that two children, a six-year-old female and a seven-year-old male, were located deceased in a bed, corroborating MacAusland’s earlier statements, police said.

Bennington Rescue later took MacAusland to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center with Cpl. Sean Madigan on board. She remained under armed guard until she arrived at the Rutland prison.

Burnham said based on the suspect’s spontaneous admissions to both a witness and law enforcement, and the subsequent confirmation of the two deceased victims by Wellesley Police at their home, he believed he had enough to arrest her as a fugitive from justice for two homicides in Massachusetts.

MacAusland’s resume indicates she has worked at New England Integrated Health as an associate acupuncturist since July 2021. She is listed also as the Director of Clinical Education since August 2023. While her name and photograph were on the NEIH website early in the weekend, they had disappeared by Sunday afternoon.

News accounts in Massachusetts indicate that MacAusland and her estranged husband, Samuel MacAusland, have been going through contested divorce proceedings that began when he filed in October after nine years of marriage, according to Norfolk County probate court records.

Janette MacAusland countersued seeking custody of the two children and home. A joint motion was filed April 16 to continue/reschedule a pre-trial conference until early May, as the parents were disputing custody of the children.

The parents wanted a neutral third party to investigate and make recommendations about custody, and a guardian ad litem was appointed on April 21, records show.

Wellesley Public School (WPS) Superintendent David Lussier issued a statement over the weekend to the community and media saying there would be counselors at the schools on Monday.