YouTube chef, son of Spanish stars, sentenced to life in Thai prison for brutal murder

Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a Spanish YouTube chef and member of a well-known actor family, was convicted guilty of premeditated murder on Thursday and given a life sentence for the horrifically violent death and mutilation of a Colombian surgeon on a Thai island.

The court first condemned him to death, but lowered it to life imprisonment after hearing his account of the events during cross examination. He was sentenced to pay compensation to the victim's family totaling 4.42 million baht.

August of last year saw the accusation of Sancho, 30, killing Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, 44. The two men were on a holiday on Koh Pha-ngan, an island well-known for its legendary "Full Moon" beach parties, which draw partygoers from all over the world for an all-night party. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, Sancho informed authorities that they had linked on Instagram a year prior and started dating.

Sancho stated during his Samui island trial that he got into a physical altercation with Arrieta because she was allegedly attempting to sexually assault him. Arrieta, he claimed, lost consciousness and eventually died after falling when they struggled and hitting his head on a bathtub.

He had entered a not guilty plea to the charge of planned killing.

Sancho admitted to mutilating the victim's body and discarding the pieces in both land and marine environments. He was given a four-month prison sentence for concealing or causing damage to a body, but that was lowered to two months when he admitted to the crime, according to Paisan.

Along with receiving a two-year prison sentence, he had also entered a not guilty plea to the allegation of destroying the victim's passport.

At a garbage disposal site in Koh Pha Ngan's Moo 4 precinct, sanitation workers discovered a sawn-off pelvis and intestines, weighing around 5 kilogrammes, inside a fertilizer sack.

Further evidence linking Bronchalo to the murder came from incriminating surveillance footage that was recovered from multiple sites on the island. This film showed the Spanish chef buying a knife, saw, and rubbish bags. Based on the video evidence, which claimed that Bronchalo was the last person seen with the victim, the police sought an arrest order for him.

According to the police story, Sancho admitted to the murder and stated that he had planned to kill Arrieta because the two were allegedly in a romantic relationship and that Arrieta had threatened to expose their relationship and bring shame upon the Sancho family.

Via his father and legal representatives, Sancho denied having a sexual relationship with Arrieta and argued that the police account of his story was misrepresented.

Regarding Arteaga's disappearance, Bronchalo was led to the Koh Pha Ngan Police Station yesterday for questioning. The Spanish chef first denied any knowledge of the charges, but after being questioned more, he admitted to killing and dissecting Arteaga at the hotel.

He left parts of the body at the town's garbage disposal facility after placing them in a fertiliser sack, according to his statement. More bones were stuffed into a suitcase, which the Spanish chef paddled out to sea in a kayak and threw overboard.

A kayak was found at Salat Beach, just 300 meters from the hotel where the horrific deed took place, police officials announced today. The Spanish chef is thought to have used the vessel to get rid of the suitcase containing the human remains.

Earlier in the trial, Sancho expressed regret to the court during his closing speech, according to a report by the Spanish newspaper El País.

“I am sorry that a life has been lost and that parents have lost a son,” Sancho said. “I am sorry that his family was not able to bury him properly. I’m sorry for what I did after the death.”

A contract between Thailand and Spain states that, after serving several years in prison in Thailand, Sancho may, under certain circumstances, seek to be repatriated to serve the balance of his prison sentence back home.