The investigation into the murder of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta has reached a critical point. Big Joke, number two in the Thai police force, has abruptly announced the end of the search for the victim’s remains. “We have half the body and all the evidence, we are not going to continue looking. The investigation is practically closed,” he stated in a preview of the interview that he has given to Y ahora Sonsoles and that will be broadcast next Monday.
Such a statement is surprising, since key elements are still missing to unravel both the motive and the exact circumstances of Arrieta’s death, although the autopsy has confirmed that he died with his throat cut and not from the previous fight.
However, the confession of Daniel Sancho, the Spanish chef accused of the crime, appears to be the cornerstone of the investigation. For this reason, he has publicly urged him to give more details “if he doesn’t want to die.”
An interesting element of this case is the strategy that the investigators used to obtain Sancho’s confession. According to the testimony of the police officer, they took the defendant to dinner at the best restaurant on the island of Koh Samui. “It was a tactic to gain his trust,” Big Joke explained, adding that while some had dinner with Sancho, others were dedicated to checking the security cameras.
But what is perhaps more disconcerting is the absence of Sancho in the recordings of the airport, the place where he supposedly picked up Arrieta. “We believe he tried to hide,” Big Joke said.
Currently, Sancho has been in pretrial detention since August 7, after pleading guilty. He has received visits from his mother and his father, Rodolfo Sancho, is expected to travel to Bangkok to join him next week.
As Big Joke has advanced, the chef has not received any favorable treatment with respect to the other prisoners, whom he will join soon. In addition, he has assured that he will serve “All the sentence, always, always in Koh Samui”.
