DEDHAM, Mass. (Court TV) — A mother charged with killing her two young children returned Thursday to court, where a judge refused to grant her bond over her attorney’s objections.
Janette MacAusland appears in court on Sept. 10, 2026. (Court TV)
Janette MacAusland, 49, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of her children, Ella MacAusland, 6, and Kai MacAusland, 7. The two children were found dead in a home in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on April 24 after MacAusland arrived at her aunt’s home in Bennington, Vermont, where she allegedly confessed to killing the victims.
MacAusland was scheduled to appear for her probable cause hearing on Thursday, but prosecutors said they were not ready to move forward, citing delays at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Prosecutor Jennifer Hickman said that the medical examiner had not yet been able to determine the manner and means of death, but should have that determination available within the next few weeks.
Joseph Krowski Jr., MacAusland’s defense attorney, objected to the delay, citing Massachusetts law requiring probable cause hearings within 30 days, with no more than one continuance allowed on behalf of the commonwealth. “We’re now here at the four-month mark, and, well, I will say my client is being treated humanely; notwithstanding that, we really are in an intermediate state of limbo. There’s nothing we can do to advance her defenses. This court doesn’t have jurisdiction over substantive motions.”
Krowski said that because the prosecution was asking for another delay, either the charges against his client should be dismissed or she should be granted bond. “Just because it’s a murder case, the default position shouldn’t be that we afford the government six, eight or nine months to get the case presented. They’re probably going to tell you how significant and serious and how much of a priority the case is. If that’s true, then the priority should be to get it indicted as quickly as possible,” Krowski said. “I’m not impugning the integrity of the frontline district attorney prosecuting this case, but … the laboratories, the OCME, that’s all part of the prosecution team and if they’re insufficiently resourced to get this done, that’s not the fault of Ms. MacAusland and she should not be deprived of her liberty while they get their act together at OCME.”
“Well, I would certainly hope that this is a priority for OCME,” Judge Jeanmarie Carroll said. “It would seem rather disturbing if it is not.”
Prosecutors said there was already good cause to show a basis for the charges against the defendant, including body-camera video from the Bennington Police Department. A grand jury that had been hearing the case, seated in July, had already been dismissed, Hickman said, but would be reconvened as soon as the results from OCME were available.
Carroll agreed to grant the commonwealth’s motion for a continuance over the defense’s objection and ordered that MacAusland remain held without bond.
Carroll scheduled MacAusland’s probable cause hearing for Oct. 29.
