The legal team of Daniel Sancho, who has confessed to the murder and dismemberment in Thailand of the Colombian doctor Edwin Arrieta, with whom he had a sexual relationship, explained yesterday to the Efe agency that the collaboration of the Spanish in the process could speed up the police investigation and the start of 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 actor Rodolfo Sancho (La señora, Isabel or Mar de plástico) and grandson of the deceased Sancho Gracia (Curro Jiménez) have been in prison since Monday.
According to the lawyer, the police investigation should be completed in a maximum of 84 days and the prosecutor should have passed the case to court. On 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, which has greatly accelerated the police part. But we don't even know if that will shorten the deadlines, it will depend on the tests they are waiting for and the investigation they carry out. They have to see if they want to talk to more witnesses, or they are also waiting for different analyzes and so on.
Sancho's lawyer, Anan Chuayprabat, known as Khun Anan, has taken charge of his defense once he entered the Koh Samui prison, since the defendant 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 the moment the Thai police have ruled on two charges against Daniel Sancho: "One is premeditated murder and the other is concealment of evidence of a crime of a crime." And although the investigation is still open, he does not believe that they will add more charges.
Fernando Oca also released a new statement from Daniel Sancho's family yesterday lamenting "Edwin's death" and reiterating his intention not to make any more statements "to respect the very painful moment that both families are experiencing."
"We appreciate the interest of the press, but we cannot make statements at this time so as not to interfere in the investigation and to respect the painful moment that both families are experiencing in this terrible situation that we have had to live," reads the brief statement. "We are very sorry for Edwin's death and we accompany his family in their feelings," adds the text.
This is the second statement that the Sancho family has issued, since the chef's arrest, on Thursday of last week. On Sunday the first was made public, in which Rodolfo Sancho begged for "maximum respect" for his son and for the whole family, "in these delicate moments and maximum confusion", and asked the media to refrain from broadcasting any hasty judgement.
