Spanish actor’s son jailed for life over grisly Thai island murder
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A prisoner transportation vehicle carrying Spanish chef Daniel Sancho Bronchalo arrives at Koh Samui Provincial Court, on Aug 29.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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KOH SAMUI - A Thai court on Aug 29 jailed a famous Spanish actor’s son for life for the grisly murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on a tropical holiday island, in a lurid case that has gripped Spain.
Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a 30-year-old chef, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Dr Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the tourist island of Koh Phangan in 2023.
The case has generated enormous interest in Spain because the defendant’s father Rodolfo Sancho is a well-known actor, and scores of Spanish reporters have flown in for the trial.
Ms Bussakorn Kaewleeled, a lawyer for the victim’s family, said they were happy with the outcome. “The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence because (Sancho) will be put in prison for life and (the victim’s family) will receive some financial compensation,” Ms Bussakorn told reporters outside the court on the island of Koh Samui.
“The verdict has been delivered, both sides have the right to appeal according to Thai law,” she added.
When asked about Sancho’s reaction, she said: “He is sad, but we can’t forget the loss of the dead one”.
Sancho claimed he killed Dr Arrieta, 44, in self-defence, and admitted hiding the body, but denied destroying the Colombian’s passport.
The trial heard that Sancho chopped up Dr Arrieta’s body and put the parts in plastic bags before distributing them around Koh Phangan.
While Thailand still has the death penalty for some crimes, including premeditated murder, it rarely carries out executions – the last being in 2018.
Mr Arrieta’s family said before the verdict that they favoured a sentence of life imprisonment.
“Let him be left in Thailand so he can take time, all the time that God gives him to live, to think about what he did,” Ms Darling Arrieta, the victim’s sister, said in an HBO documentary about the case.
“He not only dismembered my brother, he dismembered a family.”
Sancho and Dr Arrieta had agreed to meet in person after getting to know each other online.
Sancho’s father said in the same HBO documentary that Dr Arrieta had threatened his son, and then “there was a fight, and in this fight, there was an accident”.
The defence argued that Sancho acted in legitimate self-defence after Dr Arrieta tried to force him to have sex.
“He tried to rape me, and we fought,” Sancho said in a statement quoted by Spanish daily El Mundo.
Members of the media gather outside the court on the day of the verdict for the trial of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Juan Gonzalo Ospina, a lawyer for the victim’s family, told El Mundo in a recent interview that Sancho was living a “false reality”.
Mr Ospina said it was proven at the trial in April that Sancho had bought knives, plastic bags and cleaning supplies ahead of the crime, and kept them in the room where the killing took place. AFP
