SAVAGE DEATHS
A MOTHER found her three young children drowned after her estranged husband's chilling warning he would "never hurt them".
Debra Karels went to collect them from her ex Jason's home but then had to call police who were with her when she discovered their bodies in a suburb of Chicago.
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Jason Karels, 35, was charged with triple murder yesterday after leading cops on a high-speed car chase.
He is said to have confessed to drowning his kids on purpose.
On Monday morning Debra had been due to pick up her daughter Cassidy, three, and sons Bryant, five, and Gideon two, after a weekend staying with their father in Round Lake Beach.
The children had seemed “happy” when she last spoke to them on Sunday night, Debra .
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She said: “They were excited to chat.
“They were not doing anything special, they just seemed excited that I was going to pick them up the next morning.”
After there was no answer she called police and officers were dispatched to perform "a wellbeing check" at 1.40pm.
Debra went in with the officers and found the children dead in a bedroom, said Police Chief Gilbert Rivera.
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Karels was missing along with his red Nissan Maxima.
Hours later the car was spotted on Interstate 57, and he allegedly fled at high speed.
After a 17-minute chase he crashed on Interstate 80 and was pulled from the wreckage.
Karels was filmed on the cops' body-worn cameras admitting he was responsible for the children's deaths, police allege.
He also said he had tried to kill himself several times.
He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and transferred to a local hospital under police guard.
Initial autopsy results indicate the children died by drowning.
Police said they found blood at the house but not on the children.
The tragedy came just a month after Debra left her husband and started divorce proceedings.
Sister-in-law Christina Neuman Berg said: “Unfortunately, there was domestic abuse in their relationship and Debbie was finally getting the strength to leave him and proceed with a divorce.
“But Debbie wanted to maintain a relationship with her kids’ father and let him visit them, and now we know that was a horrible mistake.”
Disbelief
Debra, who took out a loan to pay a divorce lawyer, said she willingly gave Jason access to the children despite fears over his mental state.
She said alarm bells should have rung when he promised he would “never hurt the kids”.
He also told her “All my beef is with you”, she added.
At the weekend he suggested joining them on a family trip to the doctor after she picked them up on Monday.
“He wanted the kids to be peaceful,” she added.
Debra broke down in tears as she remembered her "wonderful" children.
Bryant was a “very, very smart” kid who loved video games and was keen to start kindergarten this year.
“He used to say, ‘Don’t worry mommy, I’ll always take care of you’,” she said.
Cassidy was a “little middle child” who would protect her brothers and youngest Gideon “was a sweet little momma’s boy” who loved dinosaurs and Mickey Mouse.
Debra added: “I am just in disbelief. I never thought he would do this to his kids.
“But now I know, if you have any inkling of doubt, don’t ignore it and stick to your guns.”
The murders have shocked the tight-knit community north of Chicago.
Already almost $50,000 has been donated to set up by Lake County Board Member Dick Barr.
He said: "Tragedy pierced the the barrier between TV news and our own hometown and back yards.
"Three young and innocent souls were taken from this earth by unspeakable evil.
"That unspeakable evil existed in the heart and mind of the man who so heinously took the lives of three of his own children.
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"As heartbroken as I am, I am equally angry.
"I'm angry that this coward is not dead while his innocent children are stacked up at the morgue and his estranged wife weeps with sorrow no human should ever have to endure."
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