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Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 30, will spend life in prison for the murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, whom he was reportedly romantically involved with.
The son of two Spanish actors will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of murdering and dismembering a plastic surgeon from Colombia.
Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 30, was sentenced Thursday in a Thai court after being found guilty of killing Edwin Arrieta Arteaga in August last year on the island of Koh Phangan, a popular destination for tourists, the New York Times reports. The two had met at a monthly full moon celebration after connecting on Instagram a year prior and becoming romantically involved, according to El País.
Sancho, who is a chef and son of Spanish actors Rodolfo Sancho and Silvia Bronchalo, pleaded guilty to concealing the body by dismembering it and disposing of the parts by throwing some in the ocean and others in a nearby landfill. Sancho himself reported Arrieta missing to authorities the morning after.
Sancho claimed that the killing was not premeditated, alleging that Arrieta had died in an altercation after threatening to sexually assault him. Prosecutors countered that Sancho had purchased knives and a saw before his meeting with Arrieta, the ladder of which he used to dismember his body.
Sancho was also ordered to pay over four million baht (about $130,000) to Arrieta’s family. “We are satisfied with the court sentence because we believe this sentence gives justice to the victim’s family. Through the trial, we have proven that it is not self-defense,” their lawyer, Metapon Suwancharern, said according to the Times.
Sancho was eligible for the death penalty, but the use of capital punishment is rare in Thailand. Furthermore, Arrieta’s family asserted that they did not want Sancho to receive such a sentence. Juango Opsina, another lawyer representing the family, said that they "hope that this sentence will serve to make Daniel Sancho reflect on the profound damage that has been done to a family.”
Sancho's lawyers intend to appeal the verdict.
