Daniel Sancho, son of Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for the 2023 murder and dismembering of Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga at a Thai resort. Photo By Somkeat Ruksaman/EPA-EFE
Daniel Sancho, son of Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for a 2023 murder and dismembering of Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga at a Thai resort.
Sancho was also ordered to pay $118,000 in damages to victim Arteaga’s family. Sanchez was found guilty of premeditated murder, concealment of a body and hiding another person’s documents in the killing Arrieta on the island of Koh Phangan off Thailand’s southern coast. Advertisement
He pleaded guilty but claimed he killed Arrieta in self-defense, alleging he had been Arrieta’s “hostage.” He claimed the killing was not premeditated.
“The court saw his confession to the murder was useful during the trial. So the court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment,” Police Col. Paisan Sangthep of the Surat Thani Provincial Police told CNN.
“Before committing the murder, the defendant had bought a knife, gloves, plastic bags, garbage bags, (a cleaning sponge), cleaver knife and a saw.”
The original sentence was death, but it was commuted to life in prison following Sancho’s’ confession and other cooperation at trial.
Sancho led police to seven different sites on the Thai island where he had gotten rid of Arrieta’s body. Advertisement
Sancho and Arrieta met after connecting online. According to a statement published in Spain’s El Mundo newspaper, Sancho argued Arrieta tried to rape him.
