Koh Samui, Thailand, Sep 25 (EFE).- A Thai appeals court on Friday upheld the life sentence imposed on Spaniard Daniel Sancho for the premeditated murder of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta, rejecting appeals by both the victim’s family and the defense.
The Provincial Court of Samui, in southern Thailand, held a closed-door session to read the ruling issued by the Phuket Court of Appeals on the appeals filed by Arrieta’s family and Sancho’s defense.
The victim’s family had asked for the sentence to be increased to death and for higher compensation, while Sancho’s defense had sought a retrial.
“The Region 8 Court of Appeal upheld the judgment,” Thailand’s Office of the Judiciary said in a statement.
The hearing was attended by lawyers and representatives of both parties: Aphichart Srinual and Alice Keartjareanlap for Sancho, and Metapon Suwancharen and Nattha Jongratwanin, known as “Lak,” for Arrieta’s family.
Sancho, 32, joined the hearing by videoconference from Surat Thani prison, in the province that includes Koh Samui, where he is serving his sentence.
The ruling also upheld Sancho’s convictions for concealing and dismembering Arrieta’s body and destroying the victim’s passport.
Sancho, the son and grandson of Spanish actors Rodolfo Sancho and Félix Ángel Sancho Gracia, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024 for the premeditated murder and dismemberment of Arrieta, a 44-year-old plastic surgeon whom he killed the previous year on the tourist island of Phangan.
The response to the appeals
The judiciary explained the court’s decisions on the appeals filed by both parties.
Regarding the victim’s family’s request to increase the sentence to death, the ruling noted that the first-instance court had already reduced the capital punishment, which Thailand allows for premeditated murder, because, among other reasons, Sancho’s statement was considered useful to the proceedings.
The appellate court also rejected the defense’s arguments challenging the first-instance proceedings.
The court likewise upheld the compensation awarded to Arrieta’s family, set at 4.42 million baht (about 117,000 euros or $133,500), rejecting the request to increase the amount.
The ruling said the compensation set by the first-instance court was adequate.
Regarding the defense’s argument that Arrieta died during a fight, the appellate court said the evidence presented by the parties was sufficient to resolve the case and upheld the finding of premeditated murder.
The court cited evidence including Sancho’s prior purchase of knives, a saw, a machete, or butcher’s knife, garbage bags, rubber gloves, and cleaning products as evidence of premeditation.
Reactions from the parties
The Colombian family’s legal team in Thailand told EFE at the courthouse that, in principle, it would not appeal to the Supreme Court, the country’s third and final judicial instance.
Metapon Suwancharen said they had fought as much as they could and the fight was over for them.
«We were satisfied with it from the very beginning,” Metapon Suwancharen said, regarding the judgment of the court of first instance.
Nattha Jongratwanin, known as “Lak,” another lawyer representing the victim’s family who attended the hearing, told EFE that the court read two documents: the first relating to the defense’s petition and the second covering the appeals and arguments presented by lawyers for both sides.
Lak said the reading of the appeal ruling had concluded and that the proceedings were now over, dispelling earlier uncertainty over whether another session would be held on Oct. 7.
“There won’t be one now,” she said.
The Provincial Court of Samui also confirmed that the Oct. 7 session had been canceled.
Ospina Abogados, the firm representing Arrieta’s family in Spain, said in a statement that it needed time to analyze the ruling thoroughly before making any specific assessment.
“We have to consider it (the ruling) first and consult with the team to see whether they will file an appeal to the Supreme Court or not or how to proceed.”
Ramón Chipirrás, a member of Sancho’s legal advisory team in Spain, told EFE that they disagreed with the ruling.
“We are continuing to work on the next steps to be taken,” he said.
Sancho’s public defender in Thailand, Aphichart Srinual, likewise told EFE that the defense had not ruled out appealing to the Supreme Court, a decision it would “have to study and discuss.”
Once the sentence becomes final, the defense could begin procedures to request Sancho’s transfer to Spain under a prisoner-transfer agreement. EFE
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