Caption: Daniel Sancho (second from left) was arrested in August 2023.Article information
- Author, Editor
- Title by the author, BBC News World
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August 29, 2024
Chef Daniel Sancho, son of renowned Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, was found guilty of the premeditated murder, dismemberment and concealment of the body of Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta, on the tourist island of Koh Phangan, in southern Thailand, in August 2023.
Sancho, 30, pleaded guilty to hiding the victim’s body but denied premeditated murder.
He claimed he acted in self-defense after an alleged sexual assault.
Speaking to Spanish news agency EFE last year, Sancho said he had been held “hostage” by Arrieta and accused him of being obsessed with him.
“He held me hostage. It was like a glass cage. He made me destroy my relationship with my girlfriend, he forced me to do things I would never have done,” she said at the time.
But during the trial, the prosecution provided evidence that Sancho had purchased knives and plastic bags that were kept in the room where the murder occurred, confirming the premeditated nature of the crime.
The Samui criminal court also ordered him to pay US$119,000 in compensation to Arrieta’s family.
“Justice has been done”
The court had initially sentenced him to death, but it was commuted to life imprisonment after considering Sancho’s cooperation during the investigation.
After the court decision was announced, lawyers for both families spoke out.
“The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence because he (Sancho) will be jailed for life and they (the plaintiffs) will receive financial compensation,” Bussakorn Kaewleeled, legal representative in Thailand for the victim’s family, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
In Spain, Juan Gonzalo Ospina, another lawyer for the Arrieta family, said that the victim’s relatives never wanted the death penalty and that they believe that “justice has been done.”
“This life sentence also corresponds to the family’s desire that Daniel spend as much time as possible in prison, especially when, to date and at this moment, there has still not been a sincere, humane apology for the harm caused to parents who did not say goodbye to a son and to a sister who could not say goodbye to her brother.”
Image copyright Sitthipong Charoenjai/EPA
Caption: Marcos García-Montes and Carmen Balfagón, Sancho’s lawyers, announced upon leaving the court that they will appeal the court’s decision.
Bussakorn explained that under Thai law, both parties have the right to appeal the court’s decision.
“We are going to appeal the sentence,” said Sancho’s lawyer, Carmen Balfagón, who said that they did not expect a life sentence, but “we have to accept what the Thai justice system has said, we have always respected it.”
“It would be presumptuous to assess a ruling that we do not know. Now we have to translate it, see the motivation and, later, we will say the reasons for appealing, but that it will be appealed, for sure, without a doubt,” added another lawyer, Marcos García-Montes.
Chronology of the crime
The macabre story began on July 31, 2023, when Arrieta – 44 years old – arrived on the Thai island to enjoy a few days with his Spanish friend Daniel Sancho.
According to information provided to the court, they had met online and had arranged to meet on the island.
After spending several days together enjoying the gastronomy and tourist attractions of Koh Phangan, the Colombian suddenly disappeared.
Image source, Instagram
Caption: Arrieta had a successful career that allowed him to garner tens of thousands of followers on social media.
It was Daniel Sancho himself who reported the mysterious disappearance of his friend to the Thai authorities.
The Bangkok Post reported that the two had dinner at a restaurant on the island on August 1. Shortly afterwards, the Spaniard was caught on security cameras buying knives, rubber gloves, garbage bags and cleaning supplies at a store.
On Thursday, August 3, local media reported that a garbage collector had found a severed pelvis and human intestines hidden in a bag at around 12:30 pm at a landfill on the island.
On Friday, more human remains were found stuffed in a plastic bag at the same dump, along with several items of clothing.
The new findings led investigators to question Sancho as a suspect that same day.
Photo caption: Actor Rodolfo Sancho, who starred in “La Señora”, arriving at the court in Thailand where his son was being tried.
Sancho was arrested on August 8 last year on the Thai island and pleaded guilty before the Thai courts.
The Spaniard later led police to seven locations on the island, where he disposed of Arrieta’s dismembered body in plastic bags.
Shock in Colombia
Edwin Arrieta Arteaga was born and raised in Lorica, a municipality in the department of Córdoba, in the Colombian Caribbean.
He lived in the El Recreo neighborhood in Montería, the capital of the department.
According to the Colombian press, he was raised by a working-class family. His father Leobaldo Arrieta was a radio and television repairman, while his mother Marcela Arteaga was a teacher.
Caption: In August 2023, Arrieta’s family and friends attended a mass in his honor in the municipality of Montería.
In his hometown, there was shock over his murder.
As a surgeon, he was a member of the Colombian Society of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery (SCCP).
His sister described him as a noble person with a generous heart, in statements to local broadcaster Caracol.
“He was an excellent son, an excellent brother, uncle, friend. A person who liked to do charitable works,” said Darling Arrieta, who added that it tortured her to think about what happened to her brother and the fact that she will never be able to defend herself against Sancho’s accusations.
“His dream was to see the whole world, so Edwin spent his time travelling. My mother was always worried and told him: ‘Edwin, stop flying so much.'”
Arrieta studied medicine in Barranquilla, before continuing his studies in Buenos Aires, where he became a plastic surgeon.
After completing his studies, he returned to his native Colombia and settled in Montería, a city not far from his parents’ home.
According to his website, he treated “generally healthy patients who are uncomfortable with their bodies.”
Through his career operating primarily on women in Colombia and Chile, Arrieta has garnered tens of thousands of followers on social media.
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