Son of Spanish Actor Is Convicted of Murdering and Dismembering Surgeon in Thailand

[Pelican Press 0]

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Son of Spanish Actor Is Convicted of Murdering and Dismembering Surgeon in Thailand

A court in Thailand on Thursday sentenced Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, the son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, to life in prison after finding him guilty of murdering a Colombian surgeon and dismembering his body.

The trial, which ended in May on Koh Samui, an island popular among tourists, drew international headlines for involving the scion of a famous Spanish acting family and for the gruesome nature of a ******** in a region known for its resorts, parties and beaches.

Prosecutors had accused Mr. Sancho, 30, of murdering Edwin Arrieta Arteaga in August last year. The two men had met up on the Thai island of Koh Phangan during its monthly full-moon celebrations, during which partygoers dance all night on the beach. Mr. Sancho said they had connected on

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a year earlier and become romantically involved, the Spanish newspaper

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.

During the trial, prosecutors accused Mr. Sancho, a chef who posted cooking videos on

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, of purchasing knives and a saw before meeting Mr. Arrieta, a 44-year-old surgeon from northern Colombia. Mr. Sancho then ******* Mr. Arrieta, they argued, before dumping some parts of the body in a landfill on the island and others in the sea. After attending a full-moon party the next evening, he reported Mr. Arrieta as missing to police officers.

Mr. Sancho, whose mother, Silvia Bronchalo, is also an actress, pleaded guilty to a charge of concealing the body, according to a statement from the Koh Samui Provincial Court, and he admitted during the trial to dismembering and disposing of Mr. Arrieta’s body.

But he denied that the ******** had been premeditated, claiming that Mr. Arrieta had threatened to ********* ******** him and had accidentally ***** during an altercation, according to

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, which reported on the case throughout the trial.

Lawyers for Mr. Sancho said they planned to appeal the decision and accused the Thai police of deceiving Mr. Sancho into a reported confession earlier in the process,

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was “full of irregularities.”

“We have to accept what the court has said,” Carmen Balfagón, a spokeswoman for Mr. Sancho, told the Spanish news outlet

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. “There are two appeals ahead, and we have to exhaust them.”

Rodolfo Sancho, Mr. Sancho’s father, an actor whose credits include the Spanish series “El Ministerio del Tiempo,” said after the verdict that his family would “continue fighting,” El Mundo reported.

Ramón Chippirrás, another spokesman for the family, said in an email that they would carefully study the full decision, which would be released in several days. “We will appeal for sure,” he said.

In addition to the life sentence, the court ordered Mr. Sancho to pay over four million baht, or about $130,000, to Mr. Arrieta’s family. “We are satisfied with the court sentence because we believe this sentence gives justice to the victim’s family,” Metapon Suwancharern, one of the lawyers representing Mr. Arrieta’s family, said in an interview. “Through the trial, we have proven that it is not self-defense.”

Mr. Sancho was eligible to receive the ****** penalty, but such sentences are rarely carried out in Thailand. Mr. Arrieta’s family did not want him to receive that punishment, said Juango Opsina, another lawyer representing the Arrieta family, who spoke to

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in Madrid. “I hope that this sentence will serve to make Daniel Sancho reflect on the profound damage that has been done to a family.”

Muktita Suhartono contributed reporting.

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#Son #Spanish #Actor #Convicted #Murdering #Dismembering #Surgeon #Thailand

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