The legal team of Daniel Sancho, who has confessed to the murder and dismemberment of Colombian doctor Edwin Arrieta, with whom he had a sexual relationship, explained yesterday to the Efe agency that the Spaniard’s collaboration with the process could speed up the police investigation and the start of the trial.
Fernando Oca, director of the law firm hired by Sancho’s family, revealed in an interview some particularities of the process from Koh Samui. On this tourist island in the south of the country, the son of the actor Rodolfo Sancho (La señora, Isabel) and grandson of the deceased Sancho Gracia (Curro Jiménez) has been in prison since Monday.
According to the lawyer, in a maximum of 84 days the police investigation should be finished and the prosecutor should have taken the case to court. Regarding the duration of the trial, he clarified: “It is difficult to know exactly, but in Koh Samui, when a defendant pleads guilty [in principle this is the case of Daniel Sancho], it could last a maximum of three months”.
According to Oca, “Daniel has collaborated a lot in the process, and that’s why the police part has accelerated a lot. But we don’t know if this will shorten the timelines, it will depend on the tests they are waiting for and the research they have done. They have to see if they want to talk to more witnesses or if they are also waiting for different analyzes and others”.
Sancho’s lawyer, Anan Chuayprabat, known as Khun Anan, has taken over his defense after entering the Koh Samui prison, as he was previously assigned one ex officio. He confirmed that the trial will be held in Koh Samui, because the crime was committed on the neighboring island of Phangan, and not in Bangkok, as has been said.
According to the lawyers, for now the Thai police have ruled on two charges against Daniel Sancho: “One is murder with premeditation, and the other is concealment of evidence of a crime of a crime”. And while the investigation remains open, he doesn’t think more charges will be added.
Fernando Oca also yesterday made public a new statement from Daniel Sancho’s family in which he regrets “the death of Edwin” and reiterates his intention not to make any further statements “to respect the painful moment that both families are experiencing” .
“We appreciate the interest of the press, but we cannot make statements at this time in order not to interfere in the investigation and to respect the painful moment that we are experiencing for the two families in this terrible situation that we have had to live through,” he says the brief statement. “We are very sorry for the death of Edwin and we share our feelings with his family”, adds the text
This is the second statement that the Sancho family has issued since the arrest of the 29-year-old chef on Thursday of last week. On Sunday, the first note was made public, in which the actor Rodolfo Sancho prayed for “maximum respect” for his son and for the entire family in these delicate moments of maximum confusion and asked the media to refrain from ‘make any hasty judgement’.
