Spanish YouTube chef and member of a famous family of actors, Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, was found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for gruesomely killing and dismembering a Colombian surgeon on an island in Thailand.
Sancho, 30, was accused of murdering Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, 44, in August of last year. The two men were vacationing on the island of Koh Pha-ngan, known for its infamous “Full Moon” beach parties where travelers party all night. Sancho allegedly told police they had connected on Instagram a year earlier and became romantically involved.
During his trial on the island of Samui, Sancho claimed he got into a fight with Arrieta for allegedly trying to sexually assault him. He said Arrieta fell during the scuffle, hit his head on a bathtub, lost consciousness, and died.
He had pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder but admitted to dismembering the victim’s body and disposing of it on land and at sea.
The case came to light when trash collectors found a sawed-off pelvis and intestines weighing about five kilograms in a fertilizer sack at a garbage dump. Sancho had reported Arrieta missing to the police, which led to his detention and interrogation.
The police narrative revealed that Sancho confessed to the murder, claiming he planned it because Arrieta had threatened to expose their alleged sexual relationship and disgrace the Sancho family. Sancho, however, denied a sexual relationship with Arrieta.
Surveillance video showed Sancho buying a knife, rubber gloves, garbage bags, and cleaning solutions before Arrieta’s death, supporting the charge of premeditated murder.
Despite his famous family background, the Koh Samui provincial court sentenced Sancho to life imprisonment, commuted from the initial death sentence, due to his cooperation during the trial. In his closing statement, Sancho expressed regret for his actions.
“I am sorry that a life has been lost and that parents have lost a son,” Sancho said. “I am sorry his family could not properly bury him. I’m sorry for what I did after the death.”
In addition to the life sentence, the court ordered Sancho to pay over four million baht, or about C$160,000, to Arrieta’s family.
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