Daniel Sancho life sentence upheld in Thailand

Thailand's Appeal Court Region 8 has upheld the life sentence imposed on Spanish chef Daniel Sancho Bronchalo for the premeditated murder of Colombian cosmetic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga.

The ruling was read at Koh Samui Provincial Court in Surat Thani on 25 September 2026. It dismisses separate appeals brought by both Sancho and Arrieta's parents.

Court upholds life sentence

The Koh Samui court had initially sentenced Sancho to death, but reduced the penalty to life imprisonment. It also ordered him to pay 4,424,000 baht in compensation to Arrieta's parents, who had sought 30 million baht.

Once a life term has been imposed, other sentences cannot be added to it under the court's rulings, so the death cannot be later reinstated.

Sancho admitted the charge of concealing, moving or destroying a body or body parts to hide the death or its cause. However, he denied premeditated murder and the charge relating to damaging, destroying, disposing of or making another person's document unusable - in this case, Arrieta's passport.

The parents appealed against the sentence reduction, arguing that there was no basis for mitigation in a premeditated murder case and seeking execution. Sancho appealed on the basis that he did not intend to kill Arrieta, claiming the death resulted from an accident during a fight.

Why the appeal was rejected

The appeal court noted differences between Sancho's trial testimony and his earlier police statement.

At trial, Sancho said Arrieta had sought sex and threatened to expose a secret if he refused. He said Arrieta then tried to strangle him, bit his arm and attempted to bite his neck. Sancho claimed he pushed Arrieta, fell on top of him, and that Arrieta's head struck a washbasin.

In his police statement, however, Sancho said Arrieta pulled and bit his arm, after which he lifted Arrieta and forcefully struck his head against the edge of the washbasin, leaving him unconscious.

The court said Sancho's earlier statement had been given before there was time to construct an alternative account. It also found that, had he not intended Arrieta's death, he could have taken him to hospital or sought help from hotel staff. Instead, the court said, he remained in the room for about an hour before dismembering the body.

Judges said the evidence pointed to planning. Sancho had bought and kept knives, a saw, cleaver, rubbish bags, rubber gloves and cleaning materials at the Bungalow Villa hotel room he had booked. When Arrieta arrived on Koh Phangan, Sancho collected him and took him there rather than to Panviman Resort, where Arrieta had booked accommodation.

The court found this indicated preparation of the location, body-disposal equipment and materials to clean bloodstains. It ruled that the killing was premeditated.

Picture courtesy of Naewna

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26 September 2026

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