Manama: The man who killed his wife and four children in Saudi Arabia has confessed to the murders as the shocked nation is trying to make sense of the tragedy.

As more details have come to light over the gruesome multiple murder case in Sharurah, a small town in the southern part of the kingdom near Najran, officials said that the murderer was not a Saudi citizen and that he was a bidoon (stateless person) who had applied for Saudi citizenship.

According to news site Sabq, the murderer said that he killed his wife and the four children to “make sure they did not live through difficult conditions, particularly as he was a stateless person”.

Local daily Al Watan said that his name was Saleh and that he was 33 years old.

According to the daily, the family tragedy started when Saleh woke up in the morning, took a fruit knife and killed his wife, 26, “without displaying the slightest emotion or feeling”.

He then dragged her to the kitchen where he left her on the floor and covered her. He then went to the room where he used the same knife to kill his sons Fahd, five, and Mohammad, four, and his daughter Reem, two.

The murders are believed to have occurred at noon.

Three hours later, he went to the house where his ex-wife was staying and asked to see his son Abdullah, 11.

He told the family that he had guests and wanted Abdullah to be with him. He also reportedly said that he wanted to buy him the things he needed for the new school year.

However, when they arrived home, the father stabbed his son with the knife and then killed him “in cold blood”.

He placed the bodies next to one another, covered them with a blanket and left the house. He is believed to have returned home and left several times before heading to the police station at around 10pm to inform them that he had killed his wife and his four children. He was reportedly accompanied by a relative when he admitted the crime.

The police kept him at the station and went with the relative to the house where they found the five bodies, Al Watan said.

Najran Governor Prince Mesha’al Bin Abdullah has called for prompt and decisive measures to complete the investigation and understand all the motives behind the murders, local media reported.

Reports in the Saudi media differed over how sane and sound the killer was.

A report in Al Madinah quoted his relatives as saying that he suffered from “diminished mental capacity”.

“Several of his relatives said that he had mental health problems and that he had undergone treatment for some time,” the report said. “The relatives said that they were shocked by the news and that he was a loving father who cared deeply about his children. They added that he took them wherever he went and that his youngest son was always accompanying him. However, they said that he lately became a bit reclusive and did not often leave his house.”

However, a report in Al Watan daily quoted the killer’s brother, Qah’tan, as saying that he was “in full possession of his mental faculties”.

“My brother did not suffer from any illness and he was in full possession of his mental faculties,” Qah’tan said. “He did suffer from poverty and need. He was unemployed and his only possession was a rickety car.”

He added that the crimes were a tragedy that struck the family and the community.

“I have not seen my brother in the last three days and I never thought there was something unusual at his home,” he said. “When I heard that the police went to his house, I rushed there, but they did not allow me to enter and refused to tell me anything. I then went to the police station where I was told about the crimes.”