Autopsy results suggest Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta died after being slashed by young Spaniard Daniel Sancho, Thai police No. 2 Surachate Hakparn, who is in charge of investigating the man committed on April 2, said crime is responsible. “We already have the final results of the autopsy. According to the evidence at the (crime) scene, they initially got into an argument. Daniel hit him, then the doctor (Arrieta) fell and hit his head on the sink, but he didn’t die at that moment but when (Sancho) started cutting his throat, according to forensics,” the deputy director said Thai police.
Sancho, son and grandson of Spanish actors Rodolfo Sancho and Sancho Gracia respectively, has been in provisional custody in Koh Samui prison in southern Thailand since April 7 after confessing to Arrieta’s murder. At a news conference on Tuesday, Thai police concluded that the surgeon’s murder was premeditated and that Sancho stabbed him before dismembering him. “We have consulted with the prosecutor about some of the evidence and it is strong enough to charge him with first degree murder, which carries the death penalty,” Hakparn said at the time. Although it is not uncommon for the Thai judiciary to impose the maximum sentence, in most cases this is not carried out and is commuted to life imprisonment. Investigators must present their report to the prosecutor, who will decide on the type of crime they are accused of during the trial.
“The case was quickly resolved. “Now the police are preparing the final report to send it to the public prosecutor’s office on Friday,” said the official overseeing the investigation. During the interview, the Thai police number two denied offering Sancho “incentives” to get him to confess, which he said is illegal in his country. According to this media representative, who usually deals with the most publicized cases involving foreigners, Sancho “confessed solely because he did not want to face the death penalty.” “As in many countries, if a confession is found, the court can reduce the death penalty to life imprisonment. However, the police will not interfere in this regard. We will not create a report to request a penalty reduction. We haven’t and we can’t,” added Hakparn.
In the press conference on Tuesday, in which they closed the case, they recognized that there were still a few marginal notes in the investigation, such as the results of the autopsy or the analysis of cellphone messages between Arrieta and Sancho. On Friday, Suteep Chadakarn, an agent involved in the investigation, said they were still looking for the remains of the victim’s body and that eight of the 17 pieces it was originally dismembered into have already been found. According to the police at the time, the upper body of the deceased had not yet been found. According to this agent, further testimonies had to be obtained.
The Cell Phone: “A Love Affair”
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Thailand police number two claims the “motivation for the murder was the love affair” claimed by Sancho, 29, and Arrieta, 44, who met via Instagram a year ago. “Daniel wanted to start a new life with his girlfriend, but Dr. Edwin (a plastic surgeon by trade) threatened him that if they broke up he would share intimate photos,” he added. The police officer pointed out that no psychiatric evaluation of Sancho’s condition had been carried out at the time of the murder: “It is difficult to determine in the context of an investigation how Daniel felt before the event.” The young man, a chef by trade, admitted in statements to Efe to murdering and dismembering Edwin Arrieta, claiming he kept him “in a glass cage” and molesting him as his partner.
Police do not believe anyone else was involved in the crime as they found no DNA evidence or images on surrounding cameras, nor do they believe his death was accidental. They have pictures of Sancho buying various cleaning supplies such as gloves or garbage bags, knives and a saw from supermarkets on the island before Arrieta died, as well as proof of purchase for these products. Last week they also showed photos of a victim’s T-shirt with knife-sized cuts on the chest on an electronic tablet.
Sancho and Arrieta had met on the 2nd on Koh Phangan, a very touristy island known for hosting the full moon party, where the beaches are packed with people partying to music until dawn. The next day, several local media reported that a garbage collector had found a severed pelvis and intestines in a bag of fertilizers at a landfill site on the island. Hours later, more human remains were found at the same landfill, including parts of Arrieta’s lower extremities. More remains of the deceased were found at sea, where police are still searching.
The researchers displayed a series of explanatory plaques about their work last week. They showed images from surveillance cameras from supermarkets in the area showing a person with characteristics similar to Daniel Sancho; There were also photos in the vacation rental where the crime occurred, such as a bathroom, a kitchen, or the inside of a closet that contained a safe that police said they had stolen $9,000 from. One of them shows Daniel Sancho sitting with his back on his hips while another member of the research team, wearing a red shirt, lies on the floor. In another, the researcher is clothed and in the shower.
Silvia Bronchalo, the defendant’s mother, visited her son in the Thai prison on Friday. “No one is ready to receive such messages,” he emphasized at the exit. “Daniel is much better, he’s calm, they’re treating him very well and well I just hope everything gets resolved very calmly,” added Bronchalo. Sancho ended the ten-day isolation phase provided for in the Covid-19 protocol on Thursday and has since been able to receive a daily visit of around 15 minutes.