Spanish YouTube chef gets life in Thai prison after grisly murder

After a long investigation surrounded by waves of media attention, Daniel Sancho, a YouTube influencer and son of a famous Spanish actor, received his sentence for the murder of a Colombian physician in Thailand: life imprisonment.

The influencer thus escaped the maximum sentence for the crime in Thailand, which is the death penalty. While the relatives of the victim considered the crime particularly cruel, they had expressed their preference for imprisonment over capital punishment.

Photo: Still from Daniel Sancho's cooking account on Instagram

Thai justice ruled that Daniel Sancho was guilty of three crimes that occurred in August 2023. He premeditatedly murdered the surgeon Arrieta (in the photo), dismembered and concealed his body, and finally destroyed his passport so as to conceal the crime.

The young Spaniard must pay the surgeon's family a compensation of 4 million baht (Thai official currency), approximately $130,000. The payment of compensation was stipulated because the deceased's family was financially dependent on him.

Image: Instagram

The judge in charge of the case rejected Sancho's argument that it was "involuntary homicide in self-defense". He says that numerous pieces of evidence have demonstrated it was a premeditated and cruel murder.

Photo: Carmen Balfagon and Marcos Garcia-Montes, Daniel Sancho's lawyers.

Initially, the 30-year-old influencer, son of known Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, said he had killed the Colombian doctor in self-defense. He said the man had physically threatened him and he accidentally died during an altercation.

Image: Instagram

However, evidence suggests that he had planned to murder the Colombian surgeon. Arrieta, 44 years old, visited Sancho in Thailand in the context of a romantic relationship. Before meeting with him on the fateful night of his death, Sancho had been seen buying knives and a saw.

The death penalty was a possibility that Sancho's team and family feared from the beginning of the process. According to the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, he was spared from death because he had collaborated with the investigation from the start and conducted himself well in prison.

Image: Instagram

Following the verdict, Daniel Sancho was transferred to the Surat Thani provincial prison. However, it is expected that the young Spaniard will end up serving his sentence in the high-security Bang Kwang prison in Bangkok.

In the photo, Sancho's lawyer shows the press photos of the imprisoned suspect.

Sancho is transferred to the high-security facility because he is considered particularly dangerous. This penitentiary center houses more than 8,000 prisoners and has cells where up to 30 of them sleep together.

Image: Instagram

Daniel Sancho's parents, the divorced glamor couple of actor Rodolfo Sancho (photo) and investment analyst Silvia Bronchalo, have been present for the entire process.

His father also cooperated in an HBO documentary about the case. According to the Spanish news channel LaSexta. he received approximately 120.000 to 150.000 euros (between 133 and 166 thousand USD) for his participation in the program about the Colombian surgeon's murder by his son.

Image: HBO

Arrieta's family was in Colombia with a legal team in the Thai court. As for the sentence, the lawyers said they were satisfied. "Justice has been served," the lawyers stated. "Premeditated murder and life imprisonment. ... Thank you to the Koh Samui Court for delivering a solid sentence based on the evidence presented in the oral trial."

However, Edwin Arrieta's family had asked for compensation for 30 million baht, around 960 thousand dollars, and they now receive only 4 million baht, or 130 thousand.

According to several media reports, the convict himself fainted during the hearing and could not hold back his tears as he was sentenced to life in prison in Thailand. His team will appeal the sentence within a month after sentencing. In addition, he can also ask for a revision after ten years in prison with good behavior.

As he left the courtroom, his dad Rodolfo Sancho simply told reporters: "We will continue to fight." His legal team will try to have the convicted influencer transferred to Spain, where prison conditions would be less severe, according to Semana magazine.

There has been much discussion about this case in and outside of Spain. While some say the Spaniard should not get a punishment more severe than his country's constitution would allow, others complain that he's gotten preferential treatment in Thailand for being European and should have been treated like everyone else there.

In the photo, a younger Daniel Sancho sits next to his father, watching a tennis match in 2015.

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