A twist takes place in the case of surgeon Edwin Arrieta’s death, for which chef Daniel Sancho is being held in faraway Thailand. The man, 29, pleaded not guilty to ‘first-degree murder’.

Sancho, who on August 5, 2023, “confessed to the murder and mutilation of the surgeon from Colombia”, three months later, on the morning of Monday, November 13, denied being guilty of the premeditated murder of the Colombian on the island of Phangan.

He also, 20 Minutos notes, distanced himself from the accusation that he “made Arrieta’s passport disappear,” two of the three charges against him.

Instead, Spanish media clarified, “he pleaded guilty to dismembering and hiding his body.” Sancho assured that the Colombian surgeon died as a result of an accident, EFE reported.

The agency emphasizes that the suspect, “who for the first time had an interpreter from Thai into Spanish as he requested in court, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.”

“They tried to make Edwin look like the perpetrator”: says Darling Arrieta, while a friend of the doctor criticizes actor Rodolfo Sancho and tells him that this is not a script

What comes next in the judicial process

It is to be expected – as EFE reported – that the defense will concentrate after this by claiming that Arrieta’s death occurred accidentally during a fight and that it was not a premeditated murder, as the police and prosecutors claim.

During his statement to the police, Sancho – according to the police report accessed by EFE – “confessed that he had killed Arrieta in a fight on August 2 after trying to break off their relationship, and then dismembered the body and body had been stripped. parts.” themselves into the sea and in a landfill in Phangan.”

Regarding what happened on Monday, November 13, legal experts told EFE that the most important thing is what Sancho testifies at the trial.

According to prosecutor Jeerawat Sawatdichai, cited by the Spanish agency, the suspect has the right to change his statement at any time, although he warned that this will prolong the trial.

Judges do not attach much importance to statements during police interrogations.

Lawyers

EFE also recalled that premeditated murder in Thailand is punishable by death, which is reduced to life imprisonment or many years in prison if convicted.

Arrieta’s family represented in court

The Thai lawyer representing Edwin Arrieta’s family also attended the Samui court for the first time.

On Friday, November 10, the victim’s relatives announced that they would appear at the hearing.

From Madrid, Arrietas’ lawyers in Spain, Juan Gonzalo Ospina and Beatriz Uriarte, and via video conference from Colombia, legal professional Adriana Behaine made the announcement, El Heraldo de Barranquilla reported.

The lawyers reported that if Daniel Sancho did not confess on Monday the 13th, “a procedure would begin that would culminate in a trial – possibly in March 2024 – in which the family’s lawyers could ask and propose the victim’s parents to testify . ”.

The court said this on November 13, according to EFE It will be examined on the 27th of this month Arrieta’s family’s request to be part of the prosecution.

On the same day, the 27th, a process of verification of evidence from the prosecution and defense will be carried out.which will make way for a trial that could take place between February and April 2024.

Videos recorded by Edwin Arrieta in Spain come to light: he accompanied Daniel Sancho when he opened a ‘hamburger restaurant’ in Thailand two months before the tragedy

Rodolfo Sancho’s “striking” response

Actor Rodolfo Sancho was in court on the island of Samui, where his son denied everything related to the premeditated murder.

According to 20 Minutes, the Spanish press has seen Daniel Sancho’s father ‘with a strange and striking reaction’.

The man, “visibly calm, smiled.” He said he was “very good and looking forward to it.”

When asked if his son did it (murder) with premeditation, he replied: “Of course not.”

“I was Edwin’s hostage,” first statement

The chef and surgeon met via Instagram in 2022. The relationship is said to have started with proposals for alliances to open restaurants.

But according to EFE, “the Spaniard had tried to reach the finish between February and March 2023, although the Colombian surgeon threatened to publish photos and messages, take revenge on his relatives and kill him.”

In August, they agreed to meet in Thailand, where the tragedy occurred.

‘I’m guilty, but I was Edwin’s hostage. He held me hostage. It was a glass cage, but it was a cage. “It caused me to destroy my relationship with my girlfriend, it forced me to do things I would never have done,” the chef noted that month.

Police, quoted in EFE, reported that on August 1, the chef “bought knives and black and green garbage bags from a shop on the island (Koh Phangan).”

Respect for my son, Edwin Arrieta’s parents asked

“We are destroyed, this cannot be compared to anything, may God forgive Mr. Daniel”: mother of surgeon Edwin Arrieta asks respect for his memory

Last September, Arrieta’s parents, Leobaldo and Marcela, asked Sancho “not to say things that are not true.”

‘Don’t let them talk bad about my son. He is dead and the dead are respected,” said the surgeon’s mother.

Doña Marcela, quoted in El Tiempo, stated: “May God forgive Mr. Daniel, not me. “What he did to her is unforgivable.”

(JO)