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Published 11:09 28 Apr 2026 GMT
A mother-of-two accused of killing her children while going through a tumultuous divorce allegedly made a shocking confession to cops when they found her.
Janette MacAusland, 49, reportedly told a Vermont officer her chilling intention when they found her in a distressed state at her aunt's house following the heinous crime.
The Massachusetts-based acupuncturist allegedly said: “I strangled them and then I tried to kill myself," per the New York Post.
When police asked where her estranged husband was, she said, “at the lake.”
MacAusland allegedly told the officer: “I wanted the three of us to go to God together, but it didn’t work.”
Since her shocking confession, the mother has been charged with murdering Kai, seven, and Ella, six, after a brutal attack in their $1.5 million family home in Wellesley last week.
Reportedly, the woman arrived at her aunt Sandra Mattison's house 140 miles west of her Boston suburb and began banging on the windows at around 9:15PM, when Mattison bought her inside and asked about her children.
In a statement to police, Mattison said: “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.
"Janette told me that she had driven to Quieches [bridge] and tried to jump off the bridge but could not do it. She said she drove to my house.”
Allegedly, MacAusland told her aunt: “I wanted the [three] of us to go to God together but it didn’t work.’”
Then Mattison called the police, asking them to perform a welfare check on her niece, who had wounds across her throat.
According to the incident report made public at her first court appearance on Monday, MacAusland promptly confessed to her crimes for a second time.
The responding officers “became increasingly concerned for the welfare of her children,” and forced authorities across state lines to check on the children, Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette said.
Both children were found dead inside the home, and Massachusetts State Police issued an arrest warrant charging MacAusland with two counts of murder on Saturday.
She is currently being held at Marble Valley Correctional Facility in Vermont, where she faces a fugitive from justice charge.
MacAusland had reportedly been fighting for custody of the children after her husband filed for divorce last October following nine years of marriage.
Samuel MacAusland, the children’s father, was seeking custody of the couple’s children and the family home, court filings show.
According to official documents, in the weeks prior to the killing, the parents had filed a joint motion, agreeing to have a third party investigate and make recommendations about the custody battle.
