The Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced Kittikorn Wiphana, 26, and Supatchai Chansi, 25, to death, declining to commute the sentence even though they confessed to the crime.

The court reasoned that they pleaded guilty only because the evidence against them was so strong.

Prosecutors presented a CCTV surveillance recording that showed Kittikorn stabbing Wasin Luangjaem several times in the torso and once in his throat before snatching his mobile phone and fleeing on a motorcycle driven by Supatchai.

The murder occurred at 11pm on January 4 at the mouth of Soi Sukhonsawat 27 in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district. The men were arrested in Nonthaburi the following day.