The Appeals Court upheld the death sentence for a 65-year-old...

The Appeals Court upheld the death sentence for a 65-year-old man found guilty of shooting dead a woman and her son.
The Lower Court had convicted Kan Viroj-amporn, a big-time moneylender in Bang Na district, of the pre-meditated murder of his debtors Karaked Samittamorn and her son Karun in Phra Nakhon on April 19, 1999.
The court sentenced Kan to death but he appealed to the higher court, saying that his punishment should be reduced because he had pleaded guilty during his interrogation and in court trials. Kan had claimed that he shot Karaked and Karun in a rage when the Karaked, whom he accused of cheating him out of several million baht, verbally abused him. However the Appeals Court ruled that Kan deserved the death penalty because he continued to shoot the victims after they dropped to the ground.
It also said Kan's confessions did not contribute to the case investigation because the evidence against him was so incriminating that he had no other choice but to plead guilty. Kan was caught with the murder weapon following the shooting.