An Illinois man facing charges of allegedly drowning his three children in a bathtub left a chilling note to find his estranged wife, prosecutors said Wednesday.
“Mr. Carels left a note at the home that said, ‘If I can’t take them, neither can you,'” Lake District Attorney Eric Reinhart told a court hearing Wednesday for Jason Carels.
Karels, 35, is charged with the murder for Monday of the deaths of his three young children, 5-year-old Bryant, 3-year-old Cassie and 2-year-old Gideon. On Wednesday, a Lake County judge set the father’s bail at $ 10 million.
Prosecutors say that after Karels drowned his children one by one in the bathroom, he wrote the ominous note addressed to his estranged wife Debra Karels. Hours later, Debra called the police and asked them to check the well-being of his home. The devastated mother, who spoke exclusively to The Daily Beast on Tuesday, said she intended to take her children to see a doctor.
When police at Round Lake Beach entered Camden Lane’s home, they found the three children dead and their father missing, sparking a massive search. Karels was eventually tracked down in his red Nissan Maxima on a local highway and arrested after a 17-minute high-speed chase that ended in a crash.
“After the crash, Karels made statements to police officers involved in the chase and carried worn-out cameras showing he was responsible for the deaths of children at the Round Lake Beach home,” Round Lake Beach Police Chief Gilbert Rivera told a news conference on Tuesday. announcement of the charges. “He also said he tried to commit suicide several times after the children’s deaths, but was unsuccessful during those attempts.”
Authorities said the shocking killings were “motivated by a domestic situation.” Debra Carels’ daughter-in-law, Christina Neumann Berg, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that Jason “had serious mental problems and refused to receive help”.
Debra Karels told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that she was disappointed with the news that her estranged husband, with whom she was in the process of divorce, had received bail, given the nature of the crime. She added that she knew about the note, but did not see it in person.
“I don’t want to see him,” she said.
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