DEDHAM, Mass. (Court TV) — A woman charged with murder in the deaths of her two young children cried as she stood for her arraignment on Wednesday.
Janette MacAusland cries during her arraignment on May 6, 2026. (Court TV)
Janette MacAusland, 49, entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of murder in the deaths of her children, Ella MacAusland, 6, and Kai MacAusland, 7. Janette MacAusland was arrested in Bennington, Vermont, last month; this was her first appearance in a Massachusetts courtroom.
Janette MacAusland did not speak during the brief hearing, but was seen clasping her hands tightly in front of her and occasionally bursting into tears.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman said the defendant was taken into custody after she appeared outside her aunt’s home in Vermont. “The defendant had knocked on her window, and at first [the aunt] had not recognized her niece,” Hickman said. “[The aunt] observed the defendant to be hysterical and to have a large cut to her throat.”
Janette MacAusland allegedly confessed to killing her children, first to her aunt and then to officers who were called to the home. The bodies of the two children were found inside their Wellesley, Massachusetts, home after the Bennington Police Department asked officers with the Wellesley Police Department to perform a welfare check. The children’s causes of death were not publicly released.
Hickman requested that the defendant be held without bond, which her defense attorney did not oppose. Joseph Krowski Jr. told the court he had only just been appointed to represent Janette MacAusland and was not in a position to argue for bail. “I only for the first time met her approximately 20 minutes ago,” he explained. “So I not even really have been able to have an in-depth conversation with her.”
The judge agreed to endorse a request from Krowski that the defendant be sent to the Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee, Massachusetts. “The reason is through my experience, both anecdotal and empirical that they have the resources, the facilities, and they are set up for dealing with the situation with the attendant circumstances present here that might be necessary,” Krowski said.
Because prosecutors said the case is currently being presented to a grand jury expected to finish its work in June, the judge set a probable cause hearing for July 13.
Janette MacAusland could be seen crying silently as she was led away in shackles out of the courtroom.
