The Phuket Court has rejected the appeal filed by Daniel Sancho, sentenced to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of Colombian Edwin Arrieta in Thailand, and will not repeat the trial, as requested by Sancho's defense. The magistrates have ruled out that there was a “need for new evidence requested by the defendant” and have not considered it necessary to increase the compensation to the parents of the Colombian surgeon who was the victim of the crime, according to the authorities' statement cited by Efe.
Ramón Chipirrás, a member of the team of lawyers in charge of Daniel Sancho's defense, assures that there are questions about the Spaniard's appeal that have not been answered outright and asks to wait until he has the written resolution to make an assessment. "The main requests, such as the one referring to the Thai law that requires recording of statements or the request to change the court, have not been addressed. It is known that they have denied the need for new witnesses and little else," he details in a telephone conversation. The lawyers representing Arrieta's family are considering their next steps in the procedure and plan to make an assessment public throughout the day.
Sancho was convicted of the premeditated murder and dismemberment of Edwin Arrieta on August 2, 2023 on the Thai island of Phangan. The sentence held that Sancho, who is now 32 years old, planned the crime and “hit” with “the intention of killing” the Colombian plastic surgeon, with whom he had arranged to spend a few days on vacation. He also sentenced him to compensate the deceased's family, who depended financially on him, with around 107,000 euros (4 million bats, official Thai currency).
The crime achieved great media significance, especially in television, because Sancho is the son and grandson of the Spanish actors Rodolfo Sancho and Sancho Gracia, respectively. His mother is the investment analyst Silvia Bronchalo. Arrieta's dismembered remains were found in various places on the island, including the sea. Premeditated murder carries the death penalty in Thailand, but the judge noted in the sentence that Sancho's initial confession to the police served as a mitigating circumstance to reduce the sentence to life imprisonment.
The Court of Samui, where the trial was held between April 9 and May 2, 2024, has summoned the parties at nine in the morning this Friday, four in the morning Spanish peninsular time, and planned to inform them of its decision on the appeals. Once the first instance has been exhausted, the parties can also appeal to the Supreme Court.
Sancho's defense lawyer, Aprichat Srinuel, and his translator, Alice Keartjareanlap, have traveled there. Daniel Sancho has followed the decision by videoconference from Surat Thani prison, a maximum security prison located in the south of Thailand. Sancho, arrested on August 5, 2023, has already been in prison for three years. His defense maintains that Arrieta's death was due to an accident resulting from a fight in which the convicted man acted in self-defense, which is why he rejects the conviction for premeditated murder.
The hearing was held behind closed doors. In its appeal, the defense asked to repeat the trial or hold another hearing with new witnesses, while the family demands that the punishment be increased to the death penalty and greater compensation than that established in the first instance ruling in August 2024.
Life imprisonment in Thailand does not allow prospects for future parole. Sancho's defense lawyers are working to try to achieve a reduced sentence. If this route is not fruitful, there is also the possibility that his case will be included in the measures of grace granted by the Thai monarch Maha Vajiralongkorn, who reigns as Rama X.
