VIENNA, Austria _ Austrian police discovered the bodies of five people today after a man turned up at a Vienna police station saying he killed his family to spare them the shame of his financial ruin.

Police say they found the bodies of the man's wife and seven-year-old daughter in his home in an affluent part of the Austrian capital.

Both had been killed with an axe.

Authorities also discovered the bodies of his parents and father-in-law in Upper Austria province, in the cities of Ansfelden and Linz.

The man, identified only as a 39-year-old public relations consultant, told police he killed his 42-year-old wife and daughter early Tuesday morning.

He then drove to Ansfelden where he beat his parents _ ages 72 and 69 _ to death, and then to Linz, where he killed his 80-year-old father-in-law.

Criminal investigator Thomas Stecher said the man explained that he wanted to spare his family the shame of financial ruin he caused through speculative financial dealings.

``He is completely matter of fact ... without emotion,'' Stecher said.

Police said they were awaiting autopsy results to determine exactly how the victims died.

The man could face a life sentence if convicted, said Gerhard Jarosch, spokesman for the Vienna public prosecutor's office. © 2008 The Canadian Press