Australian man Googled 'how can I kill my ex-wife' before murdering their two children

Charles Mihayo, 36, smothered his daughters while their mother was outside

The Supreme Court of Victoria (Google images)

An Australian man Googled “how can I kill my ex-wife” before murdering their two children in revenge for a custody battle, a court has heard.

Charles Mihayo, 36, has pleaded guilty to killing four-year-old Savannah and her sister Indianna, two, in Melbourne on Easter Sunday.

Victoria's Supreme Court heard that he had asked to “say goodbye” to his daughters after losing a bitter custody dispute with their mother, Yahoo 7 News reported.

Mihayo took them to the cinema on the day and dressed them in new frilly dresses and shoes when they got home, filming them dancing while they sang “Let It Go” from the Disney film Frozen.

When their mother arrived to pick the girls up, Savannah ran outside to show her the new dress but her father called her back inside and shut his ex-wife out.

Gavin Silbert, a lawyer for the prosecution, told the court Mihayo smothered the children with a pillow minutes later after they went into a bedroom to play hide and seek.

Their mother called police from outside after becoming concerned when there was no answer at the door.

Officers arrived to find Mihayo drying his hands after bathing his dead daughters and re-dressing them, the Herald Sun reported.

He has pleaded guilty to murder and will be sentenced at a later date.