WELLESLEY, Mass. – Janette MacAusland’s life looked like a postcard – a beautiful family, a $1.5 million home in one of the richest suburbs in America and a successful career.
But behind closed doors, her world was crumbling. Her marriage was failing and her husband was fighting her for the house and the kids.
Now, the mom who seemed to have it all is accused of slaughtering her two young children – leaving even those close to her reeling about how such horror could allegedly hide in plain sight.
“When I heard the news, it was probably the biggest shock of my life,” one of MacAusland’s friends told The Post.
“I couldn’t process it. I’m still trying to reckon with it. It doesn’t make sense. There was nothing that would point to something like this.
“I think I’m going to be trying to reckon with it for a long time.”
The friend, who wished to remain anonymous, described MacAusland as “gentle, kind, with-it and personable” in both her professional and personal life.
“She was an acupuncturist, meditation teacher,” the pal said.
“She talked about her kids like any normal mother would. It really seemed like she loved them.”
Just six months ago, MacAusland was discussing parent-teacher conferences for her towheaded children – Kai, 7, and Ella, 6.
It’s a stark contrast to what authorities say happened last week, when MacAusland allegedly confessed to strangling the children inside the family’s $1.5 million home.
“I was completely shocked,” said the source, who recalled reading online about MacAusland’s arrest at her aunt’s house in Vermont.
It was nearly impossible to reconcile the woman they knew with the person in MacAusland’s chilling mugshot, which shows grisly cuts across her throat, the source said.
And “nothing seemed off” the last time they spoke about two weeks ago, they added.
Still, there were dark parts of MacAusland’s life she kept private – including her estranged husband and a bitter divorce and custody battle that had been playing out behind the scenes.
She and her husband Samuel, 62, were locked in the contentious split after he filed for a divorce last October, citing an “irretrievable breakdown” of their nine-year marriage.
Both parents were fighting for full custody of the children, as well as control of their leafy suburban home.
Photos from happier times show the couple smiling together on date nights and spending quality time with their kids.
MacAusland once even posted a sweet photo of her husband in bed with the kids, alongside the caption: “Happy Father’s Day to every dad that shows up. And this one, shows up BIGTIME!”
But their legal battle reportedly intensified in the days leading up to the senseless killings.
On April 16, the parents filed a motion to have a third party weigh in on custody, leading a guardian to be appointed on April 21 – just one day before the children were killed, according to authorities’ timeline of the alleged crimes.
To outsiders, however, the family still appeared picture-perfect.
“Never did I enter the house and feel like there was anything that was extremely off,” the family’s former babysitter, Cale Darrah, told the Boston Globe.
But the picturesque facade allegedly collapsed last week.
Two days after the kids were killed, MacAusland turned up roughly 140 miles to her aunt’s Bennington, Vermont, home with a grisly slash across her throat and a terrifying message: “I strangled them and then I tried to kill myself.”
Back in Wellesley, police discovered the children’s maimed bodies – a scene that reportedly left their father in shambles.
For Samuel – who was described as “uncontrollable” while speaking to dispatchers – fatherhood “was the joy of his life,” family friend Albert Bowley told the Globe.
“It was like a piece of life he finally fulfilled,” Bowley said, adding that Kai and Ella were “cute as a button.”
On Wednesday, around 500 mourners gathered at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Wellesley to honor the young victims.
There, parents and children alike expressed grief and confusion – with one 11-year-old even telling the Globe she was “shocked” and “felt a little sick” after hearing what happened.
A heart-wrenching tribute complete with bouquets of flowers, candles and stuffed animals – including a large stuffed teddy bear holding a sign with “Kai and Ella” written in children’s handwriting – adorned the front lawn of the family’s Wellesley home.
MacAusland, who was an acupuncturist with New England Integrated Health, is currently in custody in Vermont, where she faces a fugitive from justice charge.
During a court appearance Monday, she agreed to be expedited to Massachusetts, where she’s charged with two counts of murder.
MacAusland “decided that the best thing is to get back to Massachusetts as soon as possible and address these charges,” her attorney, Jeff Rubin, reportedly said.
Her next court appearance in the Vermont case is May 11.
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