A Dubai court has sentenced a 26-year-old man to death for the murder of an expat couple and the attempted murder of their daughter, local media reported.

Hiren and Vidhi Adhiya were killed in a frenzied knife attack in their home in Dubai’s Arabian Ranches after a construction worker broke in and tried to rob the family on June 17, 2020, UAE newspaper The National reported. 

The man had initially planned to steal money and jewelry he had seen while working in the family’s house, but the burglary turned deadly when 48-year-old Hiren woke to the sound of his bedside drawer opening, according to local news reports. 

The worker stabbed the man 10 times in the head, chest, abdomen and left shoulder before proceeding to stab his wife 14 times. 

When the assailant tried to make his escape, he encountered the couple’s 18-year-old daughter who had rushed to help her parents after hearing their cries. He then stabbed her in the neck and ran away, the reports said. 

The injured girl and her younger sister, who was 13 at the time, called the police and a family friend for help – neither daughter has been named. 

A bloody handprint on a wall inside the house and a mask on the victims’ bed that was covered in blood samples helped police identify the man, the reports added. 

Police also found the murder weapon, a knife, about 500 meters away from the villa. 

During the trial, judges were told that the assailant had waited outside the victims’ home for six hours before he broke in. 

“I met him at the room’s door and he stabbed me at sight, but I kicked him before he fled,” the 18-year-old daughter was quoted as saying during the trial last February. 

The man has been convicted of two pre-mediated murders, the attempted murder of the daughter and the robbery, the reports said. He has 15 days to appeal the verdict