The son of a famous Spanish actor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering and dismembering a man on the Thai island of Koh Phangan last year. Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, the son of television star Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre, has claimed he killed Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga in self-defence. He pleaded guilty to the murder in August 2023. BBC Report.
Sancho, now 30, told Spanish news agency EFE at the time that he was a “hostage” of Arrieta, who he described as obsessed with him. The case has attracted considerable attention in Spain, with many journalists travelling to Thailand to cover the trial.
Sancho was found guilty of premeditated murder, concealing a body and destruction of property.
A court on the nearby island of Koh Samui, where the trial took place, initially sentenced him to death for the murder. However, this was reduced to life imprisonment due to his cooperation during the trial.
Chef Sancho, who runs the YouTube channel, was also ordered to pay 4 million baht ($118,000) in compensation to Arrieta’s family. Busakorn Kawalid, a lawyer for the victim’s family, expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
“The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence, because he (Sancho) will be sentenced to life imprisonment and they (the plaintiff) will receive some financial compensation,” Busakorn told reporters outside a Koh Samui court, according to the AFP news agency.
Police found parts of Areeta’s body at a landfill site on Koh Phangan in early August last year.
At the same time, Sancho reported to the police that 44-year-old Arrieta 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 agent, leading police to the conclusion that the murder was premeditated.
Sancho later led police to seven locations around the island where he had disposed of Arrieta’s mutilated body in plastic bags.
Reports said Sancho and Arrieta had agreed to meet after becoming acquainted online.
The defense argued that Sancho acted in self-defense when Arrieta tried to force him to have sex. In a statement published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Sancho said the plastic surgeon “tried to rape him.”
Sancho comes from an acting family; his mother is actress Silvia Bronchalo, and his grandfather was the late actor Félix Ángel Sancho Gracia.
