Daniel Sancho Bronchalo will be sentenced for the murder and dismembering of a Columbian plastic surgeon in Thailand on Thursday. He is accused of committing the crimes in 2023 after meeting the now-deceased plastic surgeon online.
The accused, a chef with a YouTube channel, is the son of Rodolfo Sancho, a Spanish actor. The trial has generated a vast amount of interest in the Spaniard’s home country, with many Spanish reporters coming to Thailand and multiple Spanish news outlets covering it.
The “Accident”
The 30-year-old chef is accused of the murder and dismembering of Edwin Arrieta Arrieta, a 44-year-old Columbian plastic surgeon, on Koh Pha Ngan, a tourist island in Thailand.
His trial on the charges of premeditated murder, hiding the Columbian’s body, and destroying documents was held in April of this year in Koh Samui, another well-known tourist hotspot.
????A Thai court is set to sentence Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, son of Spanish film star Rodolfo Sancho, on Thursday. The 30-year-old chef is charged with the murder and dismemberment of Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, whom he met online. pic.twitter.com/t5p9pzGUC4
— US-Crimes (@OfficialUScrime) August 26, 2024
Sancho denies that the murder was premeditated and the defence strongly maintains that the Spaniard acted in self-defence. Sancho, in a statement quoted by El Mundo, a Spanish daily, said that Arrieta had tried to “rape me” and they fought implying that he killed Arrieta during this fight. The paper states that the accused did not immediately inform the authorities regarding the Columbian’s death out of shock, as it was “an accident”.
He has been in detention since admitting to the murder and hiding the body but denies destroying the deceased’s passport.
According to what the trial heard, Sancho had dismembered the deceased, placed different parts of Arrieta’s body in plastic bags and then distributed them around the island where the murder took place.
During the trial a few months ago, it was proven that the accused had brought knives as well as plastic bags and cleaning supplies before the murder took place and kept them in the room where the crime occurred.
The lawyer for the victim’s family, Juan Gonzalo Ospina, stated that Sancho continues to deny responsibility for his actions. He stated that the police already knew the outcome of the crime when Sancho went to report that the victim had “disappeared”. The lawyer added, “This is indisputable”.
He also stated that during the trial, Sancho had acknowledged that the victim had gone into convulsions after the latter was hit.
A Positive Approach?
Camren Balfagon, a lawyer for the Sancho family, expressed to Cronica, a Spanish news programme, that they were “very optimistic” as they were able to demonstrate that there was “no premeditation”.
While Sancho’s crimes are punishable by the death penalty as per the laws, Arrieta’s family would prefer the punishment of life in prison.
In a documentary titled ‘El Caso Sancho’ that detailed the murder, Arrieta’s sister, Darling Arrieta stated that she would like Sancho to be left in Thailand so that he can use all the time that “God gives him to live, to think about what he did.” She said that Sancho not only dismembered her brother but “dismembered a family” in the process.
