Lawyer for Wellesley, Massachusetts mother accused of killing 2 children: "This is not Lindsay Clancy 2.0"

The lawyer for Janette MacAusland, the Wellesley, Massachusetts, mother accused of killing her two children, is urging prosecutors to take a second look at the first-degree murder charges in the wake of the Lindsay Clancy mistrial but says there are key differences between the two cases.

MacAusland, 49, allegedly confessed to killing her 6-year-old daughter Ella and her 7-year-old son Kai at their Edgemoor Avenue home in April. She was in a custody battle at the time with her husband Samuel, who had filed for divorce the previous October, court records show.

Investigators say she went to her aunt's house in Vermont after the murders and confessed to her, "I wanted the three of us to go to God together but it didn't work." She had dried blood on her neck from a large cut.

"I strangled them and then I tried to kill myself," MacAusland allegedly told police, according to an affidavit.  

"This is not Lindsay Clancy 2.0"

After a hearing at Dedham District Court Thursday, defense attorney Joseph Krowski Jr. told the media that he's "cautiously optimistic" that prosecutors might be taking a second look at MacAusland's case after the Clancy trial. The jury failed to reach a verdict, and jurors have said there was just one man who refused to find Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity.

"This is not Lindsay Clancy 2.0," Krowski Jr. said. "Janette MacAusland is her own woman, but there's been a discussion, a discourse that's opened up in this country about whether or not we want to criminalize mental illness."

In Clancy's case, the defense argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and could not be held criminally responsible for her actions. Krowski Jr. said it's too soon to say if he'll pursue an insanity defense for MacAusland.

"This is not a postpartum situation, right? The children are older," he said. "Until I get all of the information I'm not prepared to say anything about any potential defenses, but everything is on the table."

Janette MacAusland had "history of mental illness," lawyer says

Krowski Jr. did say that MacAusland had a "history of mental illness." He's appealing to outgoing Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey and his successor to revisit the charges.

"Let's not go back and fall back on the same default position that when a woman that is obviously mentally ill is involved or associated with a horrific tragedy like this, we automatically prosecute them criminally to the fullest extent of the law," he said. "These district attorneys nationwide have to start taking note, because the public is taking note, aren't they? You saw that in the Clancy case."

Court proceedings against MacAusland have been delayed because the medical examiner has yet to determine a cause and manner of death for her two children. Krowski Jr. asked the judge to either dismiss the charges or set bail for MacAusland, but his requests were denied. Her next court date is Oct. 29.

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