Man admits to killing kids

CONCORD, N.H. -- A man accused of killing his two children told authorities he shot them in New Hampshire and buried them in a shallow grave in the Midwest after saying a prayer and making a duct tape cross on each child's chest, according to court documents released Wednesday.\nManuel Gehring, 44, was arrested in California earlier this month after a cross-country trek and was charged with murder. Investigators have yet to find the youngsters' bodies, despite a search across the Midwest.\nGehring, an unemployed accountant, told police "that he pulled the van over and shot them with the handgun," according to the documents.\nGehring had been locked in a custody dispute with his ex-wife and was despondent and emotional, according to his first police interview.\nPolice reported they found a note on Gehring's living room floor that said: "I hate my life."\nGehring and the children, Sarah, 14, and Philip, 11, were last seen in Concord, arguing after a Fourth of July fireworks show.\nIn an affidavit, police said Gehring told them he returned home with the youngsters after the fireworks, picked up a handgun, drove a half-hour to 45 minutes south of Concord, then pulled over and shot them.\nFBI agents who searched Gehring's van in California reported finding bullet holes, bloodstains and apparent brain matter.\nGehring, according to the documents, said that after killing the children, he drove to western Pennsylvania, where he bought a pick ax, a shovel, a utility knife and scissors at a Wal-Mart.\nHe then drove another three to four hours to somewhere on Interstate 80 in Ohio, where he left the highway, drove two to three miles and dug graves for his children, the documents said.\n"He told police that he said a prayer, fashioned a cross made of duct tape across the chest of both children and buried them in shallow graves," according to the court papers.\nProsecutors declined to comment on the documents. Gehring's lawyers did not immediately return phone messages Wednesday afternoon.\nGehring was being held without bail on two charges of first degree murder.\nGehring's public defender, Jacalyn Colburn, said last week at Gehring's arraignment that her client was sad and grieving over the loss of his children, whom he adored.\nColburn said there could be a reasonable explanation for Gehring's actions or there "could be severe mental health issues."\nJust days before he and the children disappeared, Gehring angrily told his ex-wife he would not abide by a new custody agreement, she said. He also had just lost his job.