Thai court sentences son of Spanish TV star Rodolfo Sancho to life imprisonment for murder

Bangkok, Thailand
CNN
—

The son of famous Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho has been found guilty of murdering a Colombian plastic surgeon at a Thai holiday resort and then dismembering the body, a senior police official told CNN.

Daniel Sancho, a chef who made YouTube videos, was sentenced to life in prison by a Thai court on Thursday for killing Edwin Arrieta Arteaga in a hotel room on Koh Phangan, an island off the coast of southern Thailand, last year.

During the trial, it was said that the 30-year-old killed Arrieta after an argument between the two, packed parts of his body in plastic bags and distributed them around the island.

Sancho had expected the death penalty. However, the court on the island of Koh Samui commuted the sentence to life imprisonment due to his cooperation during the trial.

He admitted killing Arrieta but insisted it was not intentional and said he acted “out of extreme anger,” Pol Col Paisan Sangthep, deputy commander of the Surat Thani provincial police, who attended the hearing, told CNN.

“The court considered that his confession to murder was of benefit during the trial. Therefore, the court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment,” Paisan said.

The court found Sancho guilty on all three counts: premeditated murder, concealing a corpse and embezzling another person's documents.

According to news agency Agence France-Presse, Sancho claimed he killed Arietta in self-defense and admitted hiding his body. Sancho denied destroying Arrieta's passport, which was never found.

According to Paisan, there is evidence that Sancho prepared the murder, which suggests that it was intentional.

“Before committing the murder, the defendant had purchased a knife, gloves, plastic bags, garbage bags, (a cleaning sponge), a cleaver and a saw,” he said.

Before the murder, Sancho had booked a room in a different hotel than the one where the murder took place, Paisan added.

Sancho's parents, Silvia Bronchalo and Rodolfo Sancho – both actors – appeared in court, Paisan said. The deceased's parents were not present in the courtroom.

Rodolfo Sancho is one of the best-known faces in Spanish television and has starred in the successful series “Ministry of Time” and “Isabel”.

Daniel Sancho was arrested in August last year, shortly after the murder of Arrieta, a plastic surgeon from Montería in northern Colombia.

Sancho, who wore a face mask in court, “seemed to accept his fate without objection after the conviction,” Paisan said.

Sancho's lawyer, Marcos Garcia-Montes, told reporters he would appeal the verdict. Under Thai law, he has the right to appeal to a higher court.