A Thai court will on Thursday sentence the son of a famous Spanish actor accused of murdering and mutilating the organs of a Colombian plastic surgeon he met online.
The case against Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a 30-year-old chef and son of actor Rodolfo Sancho, has generated considerable interest in his country, with large numbers of Spanish journalists flocking to the trial.
They are accused of killing Edwin Arrieta Arteaga and dismembering his body on the tourist island of Koh Pha Ngan last year.
His trial on charges of premeditated murder, concealing a body and destroying documents was held in April in nearby Koh Samui, another tourist destination known for its turquoise waters and rave parties.
Sancho has denied premeditated murder but is in custody after admitting he killed Arrieta, 44, in self-defense.
He also admitted hiding the body, but denied destroying the Colombian’s passport.
After knowing each other online, both had agreed to meet.
The trial said Sancho had packed Arrieta’s body parts into plastic bags and distributed them around Koh Pha Ngan.
Although his crimes carry the death penalty, Arrieta’s family has said they would prefer a life sentence.
“He should be left in Thailand so he can take the time he wants, as much time as God gives him, to think about what he did,” the victim’s sister, Darling Arrieta, said in an HBO documentary about the case.
“He not only tore apart my brother but a family.”
‘An accident’
In the same documentary, Sancho’s father said that Arrieta had threatened his son, which led to “a quarrel and an accident”.
The defense says that when Arrieta tried to force Sancho into having sex, he acted in legitimate self-defense.
“He tried to rape me and we had a fight,” Sancho said, according to the Spanish daily El Mundo.
According to the newspaper, Sancho said he did not immediately report Arrieta’s death to police because he was in shock and thought it was “an accident.”
But Juan Gonzalo Ospina, a lawyer for the victim’s family, said in a recent interview with El Mundo that Sancho was living a “false reality.”
“He continues to refuse to take responsibility for his actions,” he said.
He said Thai police had done a “commendable job” in reconstructing the crime and finding evidence.
“When Sancho went to report the disappearance of Edwin Arrieta, they already knew that he was the author of the crime,” he said.
Ospina said it was proven at the trial in April that Sancho had bought knives, plastic bags and cleaning materials before the crime, and had placed them in the room where the killing took place.
“It’s indisputable,” he said.
He said Sancho admitted during the trial that Arrieta began to convulse when he hit her.
“In his statement he admitted that he later killed her. In other words, he murdered her,” he said.
However, Sancho’s family lawyer Carmen Balfagnan told Spanish news programme Crónica that they were “very optimistic, because in the trial we have shown that there was no pre-planning”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)