PUBLISHED : 16 Aug 2023 at 09:37
Police have closed their investigation into the murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on Koh Phangan, even though most of the victim’s body, allegedly dismembered by his partner, remains unaccounted for.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn told reporters on Tuesday that after wo weeks of intense work, the investigation into the murder and dismembering of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, 44, had been closed.
Arrieta was believed murdered on Koh Phangan on Aug 1, allegedly by his boyfriend, Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 29, a popular YouTube chef and son of Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre and actress Silvia Bronchalo.
According to Pol Gen Surachate, who led the investigationm, the suspect arrived in Thailand on July 31, the day before Arrieta. They planned to meet on Koh Phangan on Aug 2 so Arrieta booked a hotel room for them both to stay in. However, Mr Sancho also had a room booked at a different hotel, where he later allegedly killed his lover.
Police charge that Mr Sancho cut the body into 17 parts, some of which he stuffed into a duffel bag he threw into the sea. The rest he allegedly put in a trash bag that he dumped at the tambon Koh Phangan Municipal Solid Waste Management Centre. These remains were discovered by local trash pickers on Aug 3.
Pol Gen Surachate said investigators believed the murder was premeditated. There was evidence Mr Sancho had bought a long knife, plastic bags, cleaning solutions and rubber gloves on Aug 1. Police also found bloodstains, human tissue, grease marks and hair while searching the hotel room.
Mr Sancho has acknowledged charges of premeditated murder, concealing and/or removing body parts to cover up a death or cause of death, according to police.
Pol Gen Surachate said the Royal Thai Police will ask the Colombian embassy to contact Arrieta’s family so they can claim his remains.