Man confesses to drowning girl, 4, after making her watch as he shot her parents in horrifying police testimony

A man has admitting killing a four-year-old girl after making her watch as he killed her parents.

Prison warder Raven Samar is seen on a police video confessing to “wilfully” killing the child.

Samar, himself the father of a small child, is now the subject of an appeal to Vladimir Putin by furious locals in Crimea to allow an exception to Russia’s suspension of use of the death penalty.

The 28-year-old was taken to the crime scene where he had attempted to extort cash from Konstantin Larkov, 35, who arrived to clinch the deal with his partner Inna Khodareva, 32.

He lured them and their daughter Arina to the scene on the pretext of selling them his car.

He showed police how he shot the parents in their family car with a his Makarov pistol, issued to him as a prison officer.

The father-of-one fought back and was shot five times, including in the chest.

The man died on the spot in full view of his distressed wife and daughter, said police.

Then Samar fired two bullets at the woman, killing her, as the girl cowered inches away by her mother’s knees on the back seat.

He then stole a sum of 255,000 roubles – about £3,200 – and a Samsung mobile.

He then put the Chevrolet Lanos into first gear – so that it drove into the Kerch Strait bay between the Black and Azov seas.

The girl was still alive as the car sank.

In horrific testimony to police, Samar said: “The child was inside the car.”

He was asked: “Did you understand that it is the cold time of year, that the doors are closed, the car in the water, did you suppose that the child will die?”

He replied: “Yes, I did suppose this.”

He was pushed further and asked: “So you did it wilfully?

Samar confessed: “Yes, wilfully.”

He faces life imprisonment after his confession, but locals are saying he should be given the death penalty.

A petition is demanding that Putin allow the death sentence in this case because of the cold-blooded murder of the child.

Russia suspended use of the death penalty after the collapse of the USSR.

Local community activist Alexander Talipov said it was time to restore the death penalty, which is suspended in Russia.

“I am in deep shock,” he said.

Crimea was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.