Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, father of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Koh Samui Provincial Court in southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. | Photo credit: AP
A Thai court on Thursday (August 29, 2024) sentenced the son of a famous Spanish actor to life imprisonment for the gruesome murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on a tropical holiday island, a horrific case that has gripped Spain.
Chef Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 30, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the tourist island of Koh Phangan last year.
The case has aroused considerable interest in Spain, as the defendant’s father, Rodolfo Sancho, is a famous actor, and a large number of Spanish journalists have attended the trial.
Busakorn Kawalid, a lawyer for the victim’s family, said they were happy with the outcome.
“The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence because he will be sentenced to life imprisonment and they will receive some financial compensation,” Busakorn told reporters outside the court on the island of Koh Samui.
“The verdict has been handed down, both parties have the right to appeal according to Thai law,” Busakorn said.
When asked about Mr Sancho’s reaction he said: “He is sad, but we cannot forget the loss of the deceased”.
Sancho claimed he had killed Arrieta, 44, in self-defence, and admitted hiding the body, but denied destroying the Colombian’s passport.
The trial said Sancho cut Arita’s body into pieces and packed the pieces into plastic bags and distributed them across Koh Phangan.
Although Thailand still has the death penalty for some crimes, including premeditated murder, it rarely carries out executions – the last one was in 2018.
Arrieta’s family said before the verdict that they were in favor of a life sentence.
“He should be left in Thailand so he can take the time he wants, as much time as God gives him, to think about what he did,” the victim’s sister, Darling Arrieta, said in an HBO documentary about the case.
“He not only tore apart my brother but a family.”
Self-defense claim
Sancho and Arrieta agree to meet in person after getting to know each other online.
Sancho’s father said in the same HBO documentary that Arrieta had threatened his son, and then “there was a quarrel, and in this quarrel an accident occurred”.
The defense argued that when Arrieta attempted to force Sancho into having sex, he did so in legitimate self-defense.
“He tried to rape me and we had a fight,” Sancho said, according to the Spanish daily El Mundo.
Juan Gonzalo Ospina, a lawyer for the victim’s family, said in a recent interview with El Mundo that Sancho was living a “false reality.”
Ospina said it was proven at the trial in April that Sancho had bought knives, plastic bags and cleaning materials before the crime, and had placed them in the room where the killing took place.