A man who murdered his ex-wife in front of her two small daughters on her birthday after refusing to accept their breakup has been seized by police.

Janaina Aparecida Martins Filho was shot dead on her 24th birthday by ex Neif Schanadelbach, 31, while her daughters aged two and 18 months looked on.

This occurred at the young mother’s residence in the town of Gaucha do Norte in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil around 8am on Sunday morning, 4th September.

Schanadelbach will be charged with aggravated homicide after he confessed to killing his former wife by firing two shots at her.

This was after the victim’s mother went to the local police station and said that her daughter had been murdered that morning around 8am after receiving continuous death threats from her ex-husband.

The suspect took advantage of the fact that Janaina’s parents had gone to church and broke into their house before murdering their daughter and trying to flee with their grandchildren, according to the police’s incident report.

He then put the children in his car and left them at his sister’s house before driving to his mother’s house, where he allegedly confessed to what he had done and threatened to take his own life.

Schanadelbach then revealed details of the incident to a friend who helped him go off the radar before he allegedly felt compelled to confess his crimes to the police.

His friend was later arrested while Schanadelbach was apprehended on foot by Military Police on his return home.