Spanish film star’s son gets life sentence for killing and dismembering plastic surgeon in Thailand

A Thai court jailed a famous Spanish actor’s son for life on Thursday for the grisly murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on a tropical holiday island in a case that has gripped Spain.

Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a 30-year-old chef with a YouTube channel, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the tourist island of Koh Phangan last August.

The case has generated enormous interest in Spain because the defendant’s father, Rodolfo Sancho, is a well-known actor, and scores of Spanish reporters flew in for the trial. 

Sancho’s mother, Silvia Bronchalo, has also been in acting and both parents were at the sentencing, The Associated Press reported, adding that both are 49.

Bussakorn Kaewleeled, a lawyer for the victim’s family, said the family members were happy with the outcome.

“The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence because he will be put in prison for life and they receive some financial compensation,” Bussakorn told reporters outside the court on the island of Koh Samui.

“The verdict has been delivered, both sides have the right to appeal according to Thai law,” Bussakorn added.

When asked about Sancho’s reaction, she said: “He is sad, but we can’t forget the loss of the dead one.”

The court at first sentenced Sancho to death but commuted that to life imprisonment due to his cooperation during the trial, the AP reported, citing Police Col. Paisan Sangthep, deputy commander of the Surat Thani Provincial Police, who attended the hearing.

Lurid details of Arrieta’s death

Sancho claimed he killed Arrieta, 44, in self-defense and admitted hiding the body but denied destroying the Colombian’s passport.

The trial had testimony that Sancho chopped up Arrieta’s body and put the parts in plastic bags before distributing them around Koh Phangan.

Sancho led police to seven sites where he allegedly disposed of the victim’s dismembered body in plastic bags, CBS News partner network BBC News reported. 

While Thailand still has the death penalty for some crimes, including premeditated murder, it rarely carries out executions — the last being in 2018.

Arrieta’s family said before the verdict that they favored a sentence of life imprisonment.

“Let him be left in Thailand so he can take time, all the time that God gives him to live, to think about what he did,” Darling Arrieta, the victim’s sister, said in an HBO documentary about the case.

“He not only dismembered my brother, he dismembered a family.”

Disputed versions of events  

Sancho and Arrieta agreed to meet in person after getting to know each other online.

Sancho’s father said in the same HBO documentary that Arrieta had threatened his son, and then “there was a fight, and in this fight, there was an accident.”

The defense argued that Sancho acted in legitimate self-defense after Arrieta tried to force him to have sex.

“He tried to rape me, and we fought,” Sancho said in a statement quoted by the Spanish daily El Mundo.

Sancho testified that Arrieta fell as they fought and hit his head on a bathtub, lost consciousness and died, the AP reported.

Another lawyer for the victim’s family, Juan Gonzalo Ospina, said in a recent interview with El Mundo that Sancho was living a “false reality.”

Ospina said it was proven at the trial in April that Sancho had bought knives, plastic bags and cleaning supplies before the crime and kept them in the room where the killing took place.

According to IMDB, Rodolfo Sancho has dozens of film and TV credits to his name and starred in “El Ministerio del Tiempo” (“The Ministry of Time”).