Thai court sentences YouTube chef to life for murder

The Koh Samui Provincial Court in Thailand on Thursday sentenced Daniel Sancho to life in prison after he was found guilty of premeditated murder.

Sancho, a 30-year-old chef with a YouTube channel and a member of a famous Spanish acting family, had been charged with the murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, a 44-year-old plastic surgeon from Colombia.

What happened in court?

The court had initially issued a death sentence, but this was commuted to imprisonment because of Sancho's cooperation during the trial.

It also ordered Sancho to pay the victim's family compensation of 4 million baht (around $117,500, or €106,000), Spanish media reported.

Sancho's arrest made big headlines not only in Thailand and Colombia, but also in Spain where his father is famous as a film actor.

Arrieta and Sancho were both on vacation on the island of Ko Pha-ngan — famed for its monthly "Full Moon" beach parties — in August last year.

Sancho — who pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder — claimed he had gotten into a fight with Arrieta who he said had allegedly tried to sexually assault him.

He maintained that, during the scuffle, Arrieta had hit his head on a bathtub before losing consciousness and then dying.

Guilty plea to dismemberment

Sancho pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, but he did admit to dismembering the victim's body and disposing of the parts on land and at sea.

He received a four-month prison sentence, reduced to two months for acknowledging the act, for the charge of concealing or damaging a body.

Sancho also received a two-year prison term after being found guilty of destroying another person's documents — Arrieta's passport.

The verdict could still be challenged at the Court of Appeal and even before the Supreme Court of Thailand if necessary.

Sancho's father, Rodolfo Sancho is a well-known and successful actor in Spain and his mother Silvia Bronchalo was also in the profession.

Both were present for the verdict, with Rodolfo Sancho telling media after the verdict that he intended "to always keep fighting, to keep fighting."

Grisly find sparked police probe

An investigation was launched after trash collectors found what the Bangkok Post newspaper described as a sawed-off pelvis and intestines inside a fertilizer sack at a garbage dump.

Sancho reported to police that Arrieta was missing shortly after that, and police gathered evidence that led them to detain and interrogate him.

Police told the press Sancho had confessed to the murder and had planned it because Arrieta was threatening to blackmail him by revealing their alleged sexual relationship.

Police pointed to surveillance video showing Sancho allegedly buying a knife, rubber gloves, garbage bags and cleaning solutions at a convenience store before Arrieta's death. Prosecutors claimed this solidified the charge of premeditated murder.

rc/nm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)