Sancho, a chef with his own YouTube channel, also had to pay 4 million baht
The son of a famous 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-defense when he killed Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga. He pleaded guilty to the murder in August 2023. BBC reported.
Sancho, now 30, told Spanish news agency EFE at the time that he had been a “hostage” of Arrieta, who he described as obsessed with him. The case has attracted widespread attention in Spain, with many journalists traveling to Thailand to cover the trial.
Sancho was found guilty of first-degree 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, due to his cooperation during the trial, this was reduced to life imprisonment.
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 prosecutor is satisfied with the sentence because he (Sancho) will be put in prison for life and they (the prosecutor) will receive financial compensation,” Bussakorn told reporters outside the Koh Samui court, as reported by news agency AFP.
Police found parts of Arrieta’s body at a landfill in Koh Phangan in early August last year.
Around that time, Sancho reported to police that Arrieta, then 44, was missing. After further questioning, Sancho confessed to the murder.
Thai media reported that investigations revealed that Sancho had purchased a knife, rubber gloves and a bottle of cleaning fluid, leading police to conclude that the murder was premeditated.
Sancho later led police to seven locations on the island where he disposed of Arrieta’s dismembered body in plastic bags.
According to reports, Sancho and Arrieta had agreed to meet after meeting online.
The defense argued that Sancho acted in self-defense when Arrieta tried to coerce him into a sexual encounter. In a statement published by 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.