A Massachusetts woman charged with two counts of murder after the deaths of her two young children is being held in Rutland, the Bennington Police Department said in a news release Sunday.
Janette MacAusland, 49, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on a fugitive from justice charge in Rutland Superior Court’s Criminal Division, Bennington Police said.
Massachusetts State Police on Saturday charged MacAusland with two counts of murder after her two children, ages 6 and 7, were found dead in a Wellesley residence, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The Massachusetts State Police and Wellesley Police Department are working with the Vermont State Police to have MacAusland transported to Massachusetts to face the murder charges, the Norfolk County prosecutor’s release said.
At approximately 9:15 p.m. Friday, Bennington police were contacted and asked to conduct a welfare check after a woman arrived at a family residence in that town, the Bennington police release said. The woman appeared highly distraught, police said, and she had a visible neck injury and was bleeding, according to the release.
During the interaction, officers became concerned for the welfare of her children, according to the release. Officers requested that the Wellesley Police Department in Massachusets check on the children at MacAusland’s residence in Wellesley.
Just before 10 p.m. Friday, Wellesley police notified Bennington police that two children were found dead inside the residence. Bennington police then began assisting Massachusetts law enforcement in the investigation, the release said.
MacAusland was taken into custody by Bennington police as a fugitive from justice. She is being held at the Marble Valley Correctional Facility in Rutland without bail, according to Bennington police.
The children’s deaths followed a contested divorce, according to the Associated Press. Court records showed MacAusland’s husband filed for divorce in October and sought custody of the children and the family home, and MacAusland filed a counterclaim seeking the same, the wire service reported.
