A man who took his wife and her three children for a riverside walk in the country shot them all dead and then turned the gun on himself.

Killer Fabio Jose Mafra de Oliveira, 43, gunned down Priscila Oliveira Franco Mafra and her children in cold blood.

Then he wrapped their bodies in sheets and drove them home to Apore, Brazil, on 14th January.

He then called a friend – reported local media – and asked him to “do a job” for him.

But when the pal arrived at the home on 16th January, he found all five family members dead.

The children were named in reports as Guilherme Davi Fernandes de Oliveira, six, Danilo Fernandes de Freitas Junior, eight, and 13-year-old Savana Daniele Fernandes.

In letters he left behind, Mafra de Oliveira claimed to be suffering from depression and complained of constant fights with his wife.

He also said he was not allowed to play a proper fatherly role with the children.

Police retrieved the bodies and sent them to Jatai to be autopsied. They also seized a handgun at the scene.

Local media reported that there were restraining orders against him, one of which was taken out by another woman.

Victim Priscila had worked for the Municipality of Serranopolis, where she coordinated a Social Welfare Reference Centre.