Local
Wellesley mother indicted in deaths of Kai and Ella MacAusland
A Norfolk County grand jury has indicted Janette MacAusland on two murder counts in the April deaths of her children, ages 7 and 6. The case will move to Superior Court; an arraignment date has not been set.
A Norfolk County grand jury has indicted Janette MacAusland on two counts of murder in the deaths of her children, 7-year-old Kai and 6-year-old Ella, whose bodies were found at their Wellesley home in April.
The indictment, returned Monday, moves the case to Massachusetts Superior Court. MacAusland, 49, had previously been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. No arraignment date has been set, and the charges remain allegations.
MacAusland was arrested in Vermont after the children were found. According to police reports and an affidavit, she told an officer she had strangled them and then tried to kill herself. Prosecutors have said the deaths occurred April 24.
The case’s progress was delayed while the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner worked to determine the children’s cause of death. At a court hearing last month, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office requested more time to develop the case, and a judge granted the delay.
The killings came days after a court-appointed investigator was assigned to examine custody and parenting concerns. Court documents say MacAusland’s husband, Samuel, filed for divorce last year and the couple were disputing custody of the children.
MacAusland’s attorney, Joseph Kroski, has said the case raises questions about how the criminal justice system treats mental illness. “This is not Lindsay Clancy 2.0. Janette MacAusland is her own woman,” he said after last month’s hearing, referring to another Massachusetts case involving a mother charged in the deaths of her children.
MacAusland is being held without bail at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee.