The son of a well-known Spanish actor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing and dismembering a man on the Thai island of Koh Phangan last year. Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, the son of television star Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre, claimed he acted in self-defence when he killed Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga. He pleaded guilty to the murder in August 2023, BBC reported.

Sancho, now 30, told the Spanish news agency EFE at the time that he had been a “hostage” to Arrieta, whom he described as obsessed with him. The case has attracted significant attention in Spain, with many journalists travelling to Thailand to cover the trial.

Sancho was found guilty of premeditated murder, concealing a corpse, and destroying property.

A court on the nearby island of Koh Samui, where the trial took place, initially sentenced him to death for murder. However, this was reduced to life imprisonment due to his cooperation during the trial.

Sancho, a chef with his own YouTube channel, was also ordered to pay 4 million baht ($118,000) to compensate Arrieta’s family. Bussakorn Kaewleeled, the victim’s family lawyer, expressed satisfaction with the verdict.

“The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence because he (Sancho) will be put in prison for life and they (the plaintiff) receive some financial compensation,” Bussakorn told reporters outside the Koh Samui court, as reported by AFP news agency.

Police found parts of Arrieta’s body at a landfill in Koh Phangan in early August last year.

Around that time, Sancho reported to the police that Arrieta, then 44, was missing. After further questioning, Sancho confessed to the murder.

Thai media reported that investigations had shown Sancho had purchased a knife, rubber gloves, and a bottle of cleaning agent, leading police to conclude the murder was premeditated.

Sancho later led police to seven locations around the island where he had disposed of Arrieta’s dismembered body in plastic bags.

Reports stated that Sancho and Arrieta had agreed to meet after becoming acquainted online.

The defence argued that Sancho acted in self-defence when Arrieta tried to force him into a sexual encounter. In a statement published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Sancho said the plastic surgeon “tried to rape [him].”

Sancho comes from a family of actors; his mother is actress Silvia Bronchalo, and his grandfather was the late actor Felix Angel Sancho Gracia.

Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, father of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, talks to reporters arriving at Koh Samui provincial court in southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

A Thai court on Thursday (August 29, 2024) 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 Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the tourist island of Koh Phangan last year.

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.

Bussakorn Kaewleeled, 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 put in prison for life and they receive some financial compensation,” 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,” Bussakorn added.

When asked about Mr. Sancho’s reaction, she said: “He is sad, but we can’t forget the loss of the dead one”.

Sancho claimed he killed Arrieta, 44, in self-defense, and admitted hiding the body, but denied destroying the Colombian’s passport.

The trial heard that Sancho chopped up 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.

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,” Darling Arrieta, the victim’s sister, said in an HBO documentary about the case.

“He not only dismembered my brother, he dismembered a family.”

Self-defence claim

Sancho and Arrieta agreed 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 fight, and in this fight, there was an accident”.

The defence argued that Sancho acted in legitimate self-defence after Arrieta tried to force him to have sex.

“He tried to rape me, and we fought,” Sancho said in a statement quoted by the Spanish daily El Mundo.

A lawyer for the victim’s family, Juan Gonzalo Ospina, 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 supplies ahead of the crime, and kept them in the room where the killing took place.