An acupuncturist accused of strangling her two young children at the family’s $1.5 million New England home during a bitter divorce case broke down in court Tuesday as she pleaded not guilty to their murders.
Janette MacAusland, 49, sobbed through her arraignment in Norfolk Superior Court, keeping her head bowed and her eyes closed while appearing in handcuffs, according to the Boston Globe.
MacAusland was indicted last month on two counts of first-degree murder in the April deaths of her seven-year-old son, Kai, and six-year-old daughter, Ella, at the family’s Wellesley, Massachusetts, home.
Autopsies determined that the siblings died from strangulation and the combined effects of several substances, including zolpidem, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and lorazepam.
After the hearing, defense attorney Joseph Krowski Jr. highlighted MacAusland’s longstanding mental health difficulties and history of treatment.
“She’s broken,” Krowski told the Boston Globe. “You saw that today in the courtroom.”
When asked whether he planned to pursue an insanity defense, Krowski said every option remained under consideration. He referenced the Lindsay Clancy case and the broader debate over women’s mental health care.
“Janette MacAusland spent her life as a healer and a nurturer, so we have to ask ourselves, ‘How does someone get accused of this? What went wrong?’” he said.
The acupuncturist accused of killing her two young children at the family’s $1.5 million New England home wept in court while entering not-guilty pleas
Janette MacAusland, 49, sobbed during Tuesday’s arraignment, keeping her head lowered and her eyes shut
MacAusland faces two first-degree murder charges in the April deaths of her seven-year-old son, Kai, and six-year-old daughter, Ella
Autopsies found that the children died from strangulation and the combined effects of several substances
“We have to start addressing these problems before these tragedies occur.”
If convicted of first-degree murder, MacAusland could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Judge Peter B. Krupp ordered that she remain held without bail. Her attorney did not oppose the decision, but Krowski said he could seek bail after examining about 2,000 pages of evidence recently provided by prosecutors.
The judge also approved a defense request to temporarily seal the prosecution’s statement of the case. Krowski argued that the document was “nothing more than a glorified press release” and included details seemingly “designed to elicit a visceral response” from prospective jurors.
MacAusland is due back in court on December 16, though her attorney has asked that she be excused from appearing.
According to police, MacAusland strangled the children before fleeing to her aunt’s home in Vermont, where she was arrested on April 24.
She reportedly arrived distraught and with a visible injury to her neck, then told her aunt that she had killed Kai and Ella.
Investigators later said MacAusland told them she had planned for herself and the children “to go to God together.”
MacAusland allegedly strangled Kai and Ella, pictured, on April 24 before escaping to her aunt’s Vermont home, where police arrested her
She allegedly confessed to killing her children and said she had planned for them and her to “go to God together”
Court documents previously obtained by the Daily Mail say MacAusland and the children’s father, Samuel MacAusland, were embroiled in a bitter divorce involving custody and control of their three-bedroom New England home
Samuel filed for divorce in October 2025, and the couple agreed during a May 5 hearing that a court-appointed guardian would represent the children; that hearing never took place
MacAusland also told investigators that she drove to Vermont’s Quechee Gorge Bridge intending to jump to her death, but ultimately could not go through with it.
At the time of the killings, MacAusland and her estranged husband, Samuel, were engaged in a contentious divorce dispute over custody of their children and control of the family’s three-bedroom home, according to court documents previously obtained by the Daily Mail.
Samuel filed for divorce in October 2025. The couple had agreed that a court-appointed guardian would represent Kai and Ella at a hearing set for May 5.
The children were killed before the hearing was held.
Before their relationship deteriorated, MacAusland frequently praised Samuel on social media and described him as a devoted husband and father to their two children.