Photo: GoFundMe
An Illinois father accused of drowning his three kids during a custodial visit allegedly left a note for his estranged wife saying, “If I can’t have them, neither can you.”
According toCBS News, prosecutors revealed the note during the bond hearing for 35-year-old Jason E. Karels, who authorities believe is responsible for the drowning deaths of his children: Bryant, 5, Cassidy, 3, and 2-year-old Gideon, in a bathtub at his Round Lake Beach home.
“The most important thing to me were the kids, and he knew that,” his estranged wife Debra Karels toldCBS Chicagoon Wednesday. “He knew that nothing mattered but those children, and he took them away from me, because he knew that would hurt me the most.”
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Debra told the station she and Jason — who faces three murder charges — were in the middle of a divorce, because he “constantly played games and neglected his family.”
Round Lake Beach Police
According to the outlet, Debra discovered the dead bodies of her children laying on a bed Monday, when she went to pick them up after they spent the weekend with her estranged husband.
“I thought what was right was the father should be involved. The father should see them,” she said, per the outlet.
“I just had so much faith; so much faith, so much love that it would all work out in the end, and it didn’t,” Debra added.
“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 during a press conference, earlier this week.
“He also said he attempted to commit suicide several times after the deaths of the children,” Rivera said.
A judge ordered Jason, who was assigned a public defender, be held on a $10 million bond.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he has entered a plea.
He is due back in court June 21.
source: people.com
