BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand on Thursday convicted Daniel Sancho Brongelo, a member of a famous Spanish acting family, of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison.
The Koh Samui Provincial Court sentenced Sancho to death, but reduced it to life imprisonment because of his cooperation during the trial, said Surat Thani Provincial Police Deputy Commander Police Colonel Phaisan Sangthep, who attended the trial.
Sancho, a 30-year-old chef from a YouTube channel, is accused of murdering Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, a 44-year-old plastic surgeon from Colombia, while the two were on vacation on a Thai holiday island. Koh Pha-ngan August last year.
The island is famous for its monthly “full moon” beach parties, attracting travelers from all over the world for all-night raves.
The convict is the son of famous Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre and actress Silvia Brongelo. Both parents are 49 years old and attended the court session on Thursday.
The court also ordered Sancho to pay 4.2 million baht ($125,000) in compensation to the victim’s family. Spain’s EFE news agency reported that lawyers representing the family at the trial had asked for 30 million baht ($882,000).
EFE quoted Sancho’s father Rodolfo as telling the media after the verdict that he “must always keep fighting, keep fighting.”
At the trial on the island of Samui, Daniel Sancho said he had a fight with Arrieta who tried to sexually assault him. He said they fought and hit his head on a bathtub causing Arrieta to fall, lose consciousness and later die.
He pleaded not guilty to the premeditated murder charge.
Sancho confessed to dismembering the victim’s body and disposing of the parts on land and sea. For concealing or damaging a body, he received a four-month prison sentence, reduced to two months for admitting to the act, Paizan said.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge of destroying another person’s documents – the victim’s passport – for which he received a two-year prison sentence.
Elements of the case – the violent death on the holiday island, the celebrity connections and the vivid details – attracted huge coverage in the Spanish media. HBO produced a Spanish-language documentary about the events.
The case came to light when garbage collectors found what the Bangkok Post newspaper said were about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of hips and intestines in a compost sack at a landfill.
Shortly after, Sancho reported Arrieta missing to the police, who then gathered evidence to link the two men who led them. Catch him and interrogate him.
The police established a story, telling the press that Sancho had confessed to the murder, saying he had planned it because Arrieta had threatened to humiliate him and his family by revealing their sexual relationship.
Sancho, through his father and his lawyers, gave a distorted version of what he told police and denied having a sexual relationship with Arrieta.
Before Arrieta’s death, police obtained surveillance video of Sancho allegedly buying a knife, rubber gloves, trash bags and cleaning solutions at a convenience store, which prosecutors said strengthened the charge of premeditated murder.
Spanish newspaper El País reported that in an earlier closing statement at his trial, Sancho expressed regret for his actions in court.
“I am sorry for the loss of a life and for the parents to lose a son,” Sancho said. “I am sorry that his family could not give him a proper burial. After death I regret what I did.
Under certain conditions, according to an agreement between Thailand and Spain, Sancho can apply to be repatriated after years of imprisonment in Thailand.
Some Spanish nationals in Thai jails include another man for premeditated murder and mutilation of the victim.
Artur Segarra Princip was convicted in 2016 of killing fellow Spaniard David Bernard. Police suspect Segarra of robbing the victim, who he allegedly knew. The body was kept in a freezer in Segarra’s Bangkok apartment until the parts were thrown into the Chao Phraya River in Thailand.
His 2017 death sentence In 2020, he was commuted to life imprisonment by King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand.
