YouTube chef and son of Spanish actor sentenced to life in Thai prison for murder

A court in Thailand sentenced Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a YouTube chef and son of prominent Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, to life in prison on Thursday after finding him guilty of premeditated murder. The high-profile case involved the gruesome killing and dismemberment of Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the Thai island of Koh Pha-ngan.

Sancho, 30, initially faced a death sentence, but the Koh Samui Provincial Court reduced it to life imprisonment due to his cooperation during the trial. However, the case has been marred by significant investigative flaws, including the loss of crucial evidence. According to Spanish publication CASO ABIERTO, the Santoku knife and saw that Sancho used to dismember Arrieta were never recovered, despite Sancho stating that he had left the knife in the sink of the hotel room where the murder took place. Thai police failed to collect the weapon during their investigation, leading to questions about the thoroughness of their procedures.

During the trial, Sancho admitted to dismembering Arrieta’s body but denied premeditated murder, claiming the killing was in self-defense during a fight. He also revealed that he used another knife, recovered from his backpack at the Anantara Resort, to cut the garbage bags used to dispose of the body parts. The police recovered this knife, which had Sancho’s DNA, but it was not the weapon used in the killing.

The court also ordered Sancho to pay over 4.2 million baht (approximately $125,000) in compensation to the victim's family. The case, which attracted significant media attention in Spain and Thailand, was further complicated by the involvement of the famous Sancho family. Both of Sancho’s parents, Rodolfo Sancho and actress Silvia Bronchalo, attended the court session on Thursday, with Rodolfo stating afterward that he intended “to always keep fighting, to keep fighting.”

(Sources: Sahatthaya Kraikhunthot and Grant Peck, AP News; Lydia Chantler-Hicks, The Standard; Luis Rendueles, El Periodico de España)