A butcher who stabbed and then shot his wife in the head in front of their children during a furious row on a family drive has been seized by police in Turkey.

Huseyin Akbulut, 33, who confessed to the killing, told police he had stopped the car as the row erupted when she had agreed to get back together with him and make the family trip to the kid’s grandparents.

He then stabbed his wife Zeliha, 26, as she tried to flee, he told police, before finishing her off with a handgun.

The couple’s three horrified children, aged 18 months, three and six years old, watched the bloodbath from the back seat, according to local media.

After the killing on 31st August in Konya, in Central Anatolia, Akbulut reportedly called a family friend and told him he had run out of fuel.

He repeatedly confessed to the police after his arrest: “We set out to go to my grandfather on the day of the incident.

“We were arguing on the road. First I stabbed her, and when she tried to get out of the car and run away, I shot her in the head with a gun.

“Then I called my friend and told him that I was out of fuel.”

Akbulut, who worked as a butcher, lived in Cihanbeyli and had been married to Zeliha for eight years.

Her family has claimed that he was so possessive he did not allow her to use a mobile phone.

They also claimed that she had returned to her father three months ago because Akbulut was using drugs.

Akbulut, who has previously been jailed for drug dealing, told police: “I am a drug addict. That’s why my wife returned to her father’s house three months ago.

“So I went and slept in the car in front of their house for 15 days. That’s how I persuaded her to return home.”

The three children, who have not been named, are now reportedly in state care.

The investigation is ongoing.