Jason Karels, an Illinois man, allegedly drowned his three kids to death in a bathtub before leaving a chilling note for his estranged wife. Karels committed the horrifying crime at his suburban Chicago home on East Camden Lane in Round Lake Beach.
Karels has been charged with murder Bryant (5), Cassie (3), and Gideon (2). His bail has been set at $10 million.
Victims Were Spending Weekend With Their Father
During a court hearing on Wednesday, Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart revealed that the chilling note which Karels left for his estranged wife, Debra Karels, read, "If I can't have them, neither can you."
ABC 7 Chicago reported that the accused was having a custody battle of the kids with his estranged wife. The three kids were with their father for weekend, as part of the couple's agreement.
The incident came to light after Debra called the police to conduct a welfare check on the children around 1.40 pm on Monday. When the police arrived at the house located in the 200-block of East Camden Lane in the Sutton-on-the-Lake subdivision, they found the three kids dead in the bedroom. The outlet reported that as per the preliminary autopsies conducted by the coroner, the victims died from drowning.
Karels Fled From the House After Drowning the Kids
The prosecutors alleged that Karels allegedly drowned one kid at a time and laid the body on the bed. The Daily Beast reported that after committing the crime, he fled the scene in his red Nissan Maxima. He was finally caught on local highway where he crashed his vehicle following a 17-minute chase.
"After the crash, Karels made statements to police officers involved in the chase and wearing body-worn cameras indicating he was responsible for the deaths of the children at the Round Lake Beach home," Round Lake Beach Police Chief Gilbert Rivera said.
"He also said he attempted to commit suicide several times after the deaths of the children but was unsuccessful during these attempts," Rivera added.
Speaking to the outlet, Debra said that she had talked to the kids the night before. "I talked to the kids the night before. I said, 'I love you so much. I can't wait to see you tomorrow.' And the next day they're gone. He knew that nothing mattered to me more than those children. He took them away from me because he knew it would hurt me the most."
