4 key questions about the case of Daniel Sancho, the chef convicted of murdering the Colombian surgeon

Guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Spanish leader Daniel Sancho received this sentence from the Thai prosecutor’s office, after being found guilty of murdering Edwin Arrieta, a Colombian plastic surgeon found dismembered in a landfill in the Asian country.

Thai authorities They accused Sancho of three crimes: premeditated murder, concealment of the body and destruction of other people’s documents. (since the Spaniard got rid of the Colombian’s passport after murdering him).

In view of this, during the lengthy hearings, Sancho pleaded guilty to murdering him and hiding Arrieta’s body, but he categorically ruled out that it was premeditated homicide.

Sancho’s defense is considering appealing the conviction. But in the meantime, to better understand the case, BBC World armed four key questions that explain in detail the facts and positions of each side.

Son of the famous Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, who appears in titles such as Loving in Troubled Times And The Ministry of Time— and actress Silvia Bronchalo, Daniel Sancho is a 30-year-old Spanish chef.

The young man has a YouTube channel called pure pleasure where I posted cooking videos.

Then he met Edwin Arrieta (44 years old), the Colombian surgeon, through the Internet. After long conversations, They agreed to travel and share a few days together on the paradise island of Ko Pha Ngan, in the south of Thailand, in early August 2023.

In fact, it is exactly on these dates, exactly on August 3, that we celebrate the Full Moon Festival, better known as Full Moon Party—, which is very attractive for foreign tourists.

Nevertheless, That day, a garbage collector discovered a macabre find: a severed pelvis and human intestines hidden in a bag in a landfill on the island.

And, by chance, Daniel Sancho reported that day that his “friend”, Edwin Arrieta, had mysteriously disappeared.

Edwin Arrieta was born in Lorica, a municipality in Colombia. His family was working class: his father, Leobaldo Arrieta, repaired radios and televisions, and his mother, Marcela Arteaga, was a teacher, according to the local Colombian press.

Arrieta was able to attend the University of Barranquilla and graduated as a surgeon. He then specialized in aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and joined as a member of the Colombian Society of Plastic Surgery (SCCP).

The Colombian’s sister, Darlin Arrieta, told Caracol that He always traveled, because he dreamed of traveling the whole world.

“He was a great son, a great brother, uncle, friend. “A person who loved to do charity work.”

The surgeon has treated women in Colombia and Chile, and documented dozens of cases on their social networks where he gained several thousand followers who mourned his death in the comments.

After agreeing to travel together to Thailand, Daniel Sancho arrived on the island on July 31, 2023, and Edwin Arrieta landed a few days later, on August 2.

That day, They rented a bungalow in a villa in the north of the island. And, according to Thai authorities, it was on that same day that Sancho murdered Arrieta and then dismembered him.

For the prosecution, The homicide was premeditated, because during the investigation it was discovered that the Spanish chef had purchased knives, a saw and plastic bags. Before for the Colombian surgeon to arrive on the island.

He hid all these tools in the same room where he murdered Arrieta.

But Sancho’s version is different: according to his statements, collected by EFE They had made the trip as friends and The Colombian had told him to do business together, however, he allegedly took him hostage.

“It was a glass cage. “It made me destroy my relationship with my girlfriend, it forced me to do things I would never have done.” he said, a few days after his arrest.

“He was obsessed with me. He deceived me, he made me believe that what he wanted was to do business with me, to put money into the company I am a partner in. That we did things together, that we went to Mexico, Chile, Colombia, to open a restaurant. But it was all a lie. The only thing she wanted was for me to be her boyfriend.

Already in his story, during the trial, Sancho claimed that Arrieta tried to rape him and they started fighting. It was between two blows that the Colombian fell in the bathroom and hit his head on the toilet, which caused his death.

SO, Sancho admitted to having dismembered the body and placed it in different bags that he scattered in the sea and on the island, to get rid of the body.

Anyway, This version has not been validated by the Thai prosecution.

Daniel Sancho was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of the premeditated murder of Edwin Arrieta, as well as hiding his body and stealing the victim’s passport.

This sentence “cannot be combined with additional sentences,” the court said in a press release.

In addition, Sancho must pay $119,000 in compensation to Arrieta’s family, The victim’s lawyer explained that after their son’s death, his parents found themselves bankrupt and in “poverty,” since it was the doctor who sent them money month after month so that they could survive.

First of all, The court had sentenced Sancho to death, but as the Spaniard cooperated with the investigation, it decided to reduce the sentence to life imprisonment.

Anyway, Sancho’s defense has assured that he will appeal the sentence, as it seeks to establish that the homicide was involuntary and thus guarantee that the leader will go to prison only for 3 to 15 years. What is the punishment in Thailand for this type of crime. In addition, they might seek to ensure that the convict can serve part of his sentence in Spain.

For his part, Edwin Arrieta’s family lawyer, Bussakorn Kaewleeled, assured that they were satisfied because “he (Sancho) will be imprisoned for life and they (the plaintiffs) will receive financial compensation.”

The other defender of the Arrieta family in Spain, Juan Gonzalo Ospina, assured that Arrieta’s relatives never wanted Sancho to be sentenced to death, but that with the current sentence, justice was being served.

“This life sentence also corresponds to the family’s wishes that Daniel spend as much time as possible in prison and, even more, when he is released with him. and at this moment, we still do not hear a sincere forgiveness, a human forgiveness for the harm done to the parents who did not say goodbye to their son and to a sister who was not able to say goodbye to her brother.