A Russian man killed his four-year-old son because he had grown tired of looking after him at home while his policewoman wife was at work.
Maxim Gorev, 34, and wife Yevgenia, from Nizhny Novogorod, southwest Russia, had been together 13 years and to friends and family seemed the perfect couple.
Gorev was a stay-at-home father, caring for their son Artem, but had become increasingly frustrated following his wife’s promotion to the rank of detective.
Playing happy families: Maxim Gorev was a stay-at-home father, caring for Artem, four, but had become frustrated that his wife Yevgenia’s only spent time at work and with their son
Gorev had not wanted to become a full-time parent, but had been unable to find a steady job himself.
Over time, the couple’s arguments became more intense with her dividing her time between her work and their child, local news reports.
Gorev then hatched his macabre plan in the hope that she would start spending more time with him.
Picking the 4-year-old up from kindergarten, he sent her a chilling text message saying: ‘We have gone to die.’
Ignoring her puzzled calls, he then locked the child inside his car and connected a hose from the window to the exhaust pipe.
Tragic: Jealous and fed up with being a stay-at-home parent, Gorev locked his son inside his car and connected a hose from the window to the exhaust pipe
Jealous: Mrs Gorev, pictured left in her uniform had recently been promoted to detective
Evil: After Gorev had killed their son, he texted his wife ‘I have saved you from trouble’
When the boy was dead he sent his wife, who had not been allowed to leave work to find out what was happening, another message saying: ‘I have saved you from trouble.’
Returning home at the end of her shift, the worried mother found the apartment empty and called colleagues in to investigate.
The child’s body was found the following day hidden amongst a pile of boxes near a garage close to their apartment.
Heartbreaking: The couple are pictured while they were expecting their son
The husband, who has a criminal record for petty theft, was found hiding at his parents’ flat.
A police statement said: ‘Investigators discovered the body of a deceased boy with signs of violent death in one of the garages.
‘A 34-year-old man who is the father of the deceased child was detained.’
He is now facing life in jail.