KUALA LUMPUR – The trial of a famous Spanish actor’s son, who allegedly killed his boyfriend and disposed of his dismembered body in the sea at a Thai resort last year, begins today.
The trial opened today in Koh Samui, where Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 29, will face charges of killing another foreigner, AFP reported.
Scores of Spanish reporters flew in, despite being barred from the tiny courtroom.
In November last year, YouTube chef Sancho pleaded not guilty to the murder of 44-year-old Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the nearby Koh Pha Ngan island.
Sancho’s father, well-known Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, arrived at court shortly after 8.30am (9.30am Malaysian time).
“He is fine,” he said, declining to answer any further questions.
Lawyer Juan Gonzalo Ospina Serrano, representing Arrieta’s family, said outside court ahead of the trial they hoped that “Thai law will be forceful and that the truth can be told”.
“We hope that the family can close this painful stage of their lives and that they can begin their mourning,” he said.
Sancho has been in pretrial detention in Thailand since August, after police said he had admitted to the murder.
Under Thai law, premeditated murder convictions carry the death penalty. However, Arrieta’s family previously said they would not seek capital punishment.
Sancho has admitted to hiding Arrieta’s body – which carries up to a year in jail – but he denies the second charge of destroying the Colombian’s passport.
Sancho’s lawyer, Apichart Srinual, confirmed that his client would appear in court but declined to answer reporters’ questions.
The Thai public prosecutor who filed the case against Sancho also declined to speak to the media at the court.
The trial is expected to last until mid-May, with scores of witnesses due to appear in court.
Sancho and Arrieta were reported by Spanish media to have connected on Instagram in 2022, with Sancho travelling to Thailand on July 31 as a tourist, where he met the surgeon.
CCTV footage obtained by local media showed Sancho and the victim on a motorcycle together shortly before the remains were discovered.
Police found body parts that were believed to belong to Arrieta in August last year at a rubbish dump in Koh Pha Ngan.
Sancho travelled with police to seven sites, including a beach, where he was accused of dumping plastic bags containing body parts of a man police later identified as Arrieta.
Sancho was subsequently charged with premeditated murder and concealing and removing body parts to cover up the death or cause of death of the victim.
Police said in August that Sancho’s motive for the killing was unclear.
Daniel Sancho, the son of the well-known actor Rodolfo Sancho, who starred in El Ministerio del Tiempo (The Ministry of Time), and actress Silvia Bronchalo, works as a chef and was visiting Thailand on holiday, the media reported. – April 9, 2024