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Spanish film star’s son gets life sentence for killing and dismembering plastic surgeon in Thailand
A Thai court jailed a famous Spanish actor’s son for life on Thursday for the grisly murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on a tropical holiday island in a case that has gripped Spain.
Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a 30-year-old chef with a YouTube channel, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga on the tourist island of Koh Phangan last August.
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The case has generated enormous interest in Spain because the defendant’s father, Rodolfo Sancho, is a well-known actor, and scores of Spanish reporters flew in for the trial.
Sancho’s mother, Silvia Bronchalo, has also been in acting and both parents were at the sentencing, The Associated Press reported, adding that both are 49.
Bussakorn Kaewleeled, a lawyer for the victim’s family, said the family members were happy with the outcome.
“The plaintiff is satisfied with the sentence because he will be put in prison for life and they receive some financial compensation,” Bussakorn told reporters outside the court on the island of Koh Samui.
“The verdict has been delivered, both sides have the right to appeal according to Thai law,” Bussakorn added.
When asked about Sancho’s reaction, she said: “He is sad, but we can’t forget the loss of the dead one.”
The court at first sentenced Sancho to death but commuted that to life imprisonment due to his cooperation during the trial, the AP reported, citing Police Col. Paisan Sangthep, deputy commander of the Surat Thani Provincial Police, who attended the hearing.
LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA / AFP via Getty Images
Lurid details of Arrieta’s death
Sancho claimed he killed Arrieta, 44, in self-defense and admitted hiding the body but denied destroying the Colombian’s passport.
The trial had testimony that Sancho chopped up Arrieta’s body and put the parts in plastic bags before distributing them around Koh Phangan.
Sancho led police to seven sites where he allegedly disposed of the victim’s dismembered body in plastic bags, CBS News partner network BBC News reported.
While Thailand still has the death penalty for some crimes, including premeditated murder, it rarely carries out executions — the last being in 2018.
Arrieta’s family said before the verdict that they favored a sentence of life imprisonment.
“Let him be left in Thailand so he can take time, all the time that God gives him to live, to think about what he did,” Darling Arrieta, the victim’s sister, said in an HBO documentary about the case.
“He not only dismembered my brother, he dismembered a family.”
Photo by JOSE PERDOMO / AFP via Getty Images
Disputed versions of events
Sancho and Arrieta agreed to meet in person after getting to know each other online.
Sancho’s father said in the same HBO documentary that Arrieta had threatened his son, and then “there was a fight, and in this fight, there was an accident.”
The defense argued that Sancho acted in legitimate self-defense after Arrieta tried to force him to have sex.
“He tried to rape me, and we fought,” Sancho said in a statement quoted by the Spanish daily El Mundo.
Sancho testified that Arrieta fell as they fought and hit his head on a bathtub, lost consciousness and died, the AP reported.
Another lawyer for the victim’s family, Juan Gonzalo Ospina, said in a recent interview with El Mundo that Sancho was living a “false reality.”
Ospina said it was proven at the trial in April that Sancho had bought knives, plastic bags and cleaning supplies before the crime and kept them in the room where the killing took place.
According to IMDB, Rodolfo Sancho has dozens of film and TV credits to his name and starred in “El Ministerio del Tiempo” (“The Ministry of Time”).
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A Georgia county’s emergency call center was overwhelmed by calls on Sept. 4 about a school shooting at Apalachee High School that killed four people and wounded nine others, records released Friday by Barrow County show.
Local news organizations report many of the 911 phone calls were not released under public record requests because state law exempts from release calls recording the voice of someone younger than 18 years old. That exemption would cover calls from most of the 1,900 students at the school in Winder, northeast of Atlanta.
Calls spiked around 10:20 a.m., when authorities have said that 14-year-old suspect Colt Gray began shooting. Many calls were answered with an automated message saying there was a “high call volume,” WAGA-TV reported.
One man called 911 after receiving text messages from a girlfriend. He was put on hold for just over 10 minutes because of an influx of calls at the time of the shooting, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“She hears people yelling outside, so I don’t know if that’s officers in the building or that’s — I don’t know,” he said, adding that she was eventually evacuated out of the school.
Other adults also called 911 after their children contacted them.
“My daughter calling me crying. Somebody go ‘boom, boom, boom, boom,'” one mother said. The 911 operator responded: “Ma’am we have officers out there, OK?”
Parents of students at an elementary school and middle school neighboring Apalachee also flooded 911 seeking information.
“Sir, my daughter goes to school next door to Apalachee. Is there a school shooter?” one caller asked.
“We do have an active situation (at) Apalachee High School right now,” the operator responded. “We have a lot of calls coming in.”
More than 500 radio messages between emergency personnel were also released Friday.
“Active shooter!” an officer yells in one audio clip while speaking with a dispatcher, CNN reported. Another officer responds, “Correct. We have an active shooter at Apalachee High School.”
The shooting killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, as well as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of those hit by gunfire.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported Thursday that the suspect rode the school bus on the day of the shooting with the assault-style rifle concealed in his backpack.
He then asked a teacher for permission to go to the front office to speak with someone, and when he received it, he was allowed to take his backpack with him, GBI said. He then went to a restroom, where he hid, and then eventually took out the weapon and started shooting, investigators said. A knife was also found on him when he was arrested.
According to investigators, the suspect enrolled at Apalachee High on Aug. 14, and between Aug. 14 and the day of the shooting, he was absent for nine days of school.
The family told CBS News that the suspect’s maternal grandmother had visited the school the day before the massacre to discuss the suspect’s alleged behavioral issues.
The suspect has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, alleging that he gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.
The 13,000 students at Barrow County’s other schools returned to class Tuesday. The 1,900 students who attend Apalachee are supposed to start returning the week of Sept. 23, officials said Friday.
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