Mother’s Actions Unveiled: Struggles Behind Tragic Family Incident

An unhinged acupuncturist mother reportedly confessed to strangling her two children and attempting suicide because she wished for them all to “ascend to God together,” as revealed in a police report.

Janette MacAusland, aged 49, admitted to the tragic deaths of her seven-year-old son, Kai, and six-year-old daughter, Ella. The incident occurred in their $1.5 million residence in Wellesley, Massachusetts, this past Friday, according to information obtained by The Boston Globe.

After the horrific act, the distraught mother reportedly drove to her aunt’s house in Vermont, where she pounded on the window and confessed the terrible deed, prompting her aunt to alert the authorities.

“I strangled them and then I tried to kill myself,” she admitted to a Bennington Police Department officer.

She further explained, “I wanted the three of us to go to God together but it didn’t work,” as documented in the report.

She was seen with a visible bloody neck injury in her mugshot.

After hearing her chilling confession, authorities in Vermont immediately notified police in Massachusetts, who conducted a welfare check on the couple’s home in the affluent Boston suburb and discovered the deceased children.

MacAusland, who was in the middle of a bitter divorce with her husband Sam when she allegedly killed their kids, was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. 

Janette MacAusland, 49, admitted to strangling her seven-year-old son Kai and six-year-old daughter Ella to death in a bed in their family home in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on Friday night

Authorities in Vermont immediately notified police in Massachusetts, who conducted a welfare check on the couple’s home in the affluent Boston suburb and discovered the deceased children. Ella and Kai (above together) both attended Schofield Elementary School

She attended a court hearing in Rutland, Vermont, on Monday, donning a green anti-suicide smock. She also covered her face at times and appeared emotional. 

During the hearing, she agreed to be extradited back to Massachusetts to face the murder charges, the Globe reported. 

Sandra Mattison, MacAusland’s aunt, told police she did not initially recognize her niece when she arrived on her doorstep. 

After realizing who it was, she let the mother in before MacAusland told her aunt that she killed her kids and tried to take her own life, per the report. 

Mattison specifically recalled seeing the ‘dried’ blood on her niece’s neck before MacAusland revealed she tried to harm herself. 

She then questioned where her husband, Samuel, was and MacAusland said, ‘He was at the lake.’ 

‘I asked her where her children were and she told me that she had killed them,’ Mattison said in her police report, The Globe reported. 

Her aunt also revealed that MacAusland tried to jump from Vermont’s Quechee Gorge Bridge, but couldn’t go through with it, Mattison’s statement continued. 

Samuel filed for divorce from MacAusland in October 2025, citing an ‘irretrievable breakdown,’ according to court documents reviewed by the Daily Mail. 

MacAusland was in the middle of a bitter divorce with her husband, Sam MacAusland, when she allegedly killed their kids. Above, together in 2016

MacAusland was listed as an acupuncturist with New England Integrated Health, which has since removed her bio

In early April, the couple agreed to have a court-appointed guardian look after the best interests of their children, court records showed. 

The legal battle included the couple feuding over the custody of their children and who would get control of their three-bed home in recent months.  

Janette was taken into custody on murder charges. She has a visible injury to her neck in her mugshot

An appointment to start this process was scheduled just days before they died, records stated. 

Before their marriage took an ugly turn, MacAusland gloated about her husband online, calling him a good partner and father to their kids. 

The two of them were married in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, in February 2016, according to the divorce complaint document that Samuel filed last year. 

MacAusland was listed as an acupuncturist with New England Integrated Health, which has since removed her bio.

Her profile said she also worked at Massachusetts General Hospital and founded Boston Acupuncture Trauma Relief after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Sam’s occupation remains unclear, but according to records reviewed by The Globe, his father, William ‘Bill’ MacAusland Jr, was a distinguished orthopedic surgeon in the Boston area. 

A growing memorial has since appeared outside the family home, with locals leaving flowers, stuffed animals, and heartfelt messages in honor of Kai and Ella

The children, one in second grade and the other in kindergarten, attended Schofield Elementary School. 

A growing memorial has since appeared outside the family home, with locals leaving flowers, stuffed animals, and heartfelt messages in honor of Kai and Ella.  

Authorities said the investigation remains ongoing.

The Daily Mail contacted Samuel, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, and New England Integrated Health for comment.