Koh Samui/Bangkok, Dec 12 (EFE).- The provincial court of Samui was holding a hearing Tuesday in which the defense and the prosecutor were to present their evidence and witnesses in the case of a Spaniard accused of murdering and dismembering a Colombian surgeon, before a trial date is set.

The hearing against Daniel Sancho began at 9:30 local time (GMT+7) and is presumed to be the last of the preparatory phase before the trial is held next year on a date to be determined by the judge.

The 29-year-old Spaniard, son of actor Rodolfo Sancho and investment analyst Silvia Bronchalo, has been in provisional prison in Samui since Aug. 7 as the sole suspect in the murder and dismemberment of Edwin Arrieta.

His lawyer Aprichat Srinuel was assigned by the judge in the case on Nov. 15 after the Spaniard rejected the services of his previous lawyer.

Silvia Bronchalo (2-L), mother of Spanish chef Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, arrives for her son's murder case court trial at Koh Samui Provincial Court in Koh Samui island, Thailand, 12 December 2023. EFE-EPA/SITTHIPONG CHAROENJAI

Before the judge can establish the trial calendar, the prosecution and defense must present their list of evidence and witnesses, expected to be numerous on both sides.

The prosecution says Arrieta’s death was due to a premeditated murder by Sancho, while the defense says it was an accident during a fight between the two and that the Spaniard was the object of alleged threats and harassment by the victim.

The hearing is a consequence of a postponement granted by the judge in another hearing on Nov. 27, when he extended the deadline for the presentation of evidence due to the numerous documentation and the fact that the defense lawyer was newly assigned.

Spanish chef, Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, accused of murder, sits inside a prisoner transportation vehicle, as arrives for a hearing on his trial at the Koh Samui Provincial Court in Koh Samui island, Thailand, 12 December 2023. EFE-EPA/SITTHIPONG CHAROENJAI

Sancho, son and grandson of famous actors in Spain, which gave the case high media interest from the beginning, has pleaded not guilty to two of the three crimes of which the prosecution accuses him, premeditated murder and destruction of other people’s documentation (in reference to Arrieta’s passport.)

The accused has confessed to a third count of making parts of the victim’s body disappear, some of which were found in various places on the island of Phangan, near Samui.

Sancho and Arrieta, the deceased 44-year-old Colombian plastic surgeon, had known each other since last year and met in Phangan on Aug. 2, the day the alleged crime took place.

The young Spaniard was arrested on Aug. 5 after confessing to the crime before the Thai Police, a country that contemplates the death penalty for premeditated murder. EFE

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