The investigation into the murder and dismemberment of the Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta, whose author confessed to being Daniel Sancho last August in Thailand, continues. The son of actor Rodolfo Sancho and grandson of Sancho Gracia remains in provisional prison awaiting trial, where the prosecution is expected to request the capital punishment - legal in the country - for having committed a premeditated murder.
Sancho has few options to avoid facing the death penalty. However, although there will be a trial, the last word goes to Maha Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand, who could grant him a royal pardon. However, Sancho would not have requested it, despite it being key to getting his sentence commuted if he were sentenced to the death penalty.
Next September 30 is the birthday of the Queen of Thailand, which means that she grants a privilege to the country's prisoners to be able to reunite with their families and hug each other. However, this privilege would not be granted to Daniel Sancho, since he does not meet the requirements to be eligible for it.
As confirmed by Ramón Chippirrás, one of the spokespersons for the Sancho family, to the newspaper La Razón, Daniel Sancho has not requested royal forgiveness. In addition, he is still looking for a Thai lawyer to be represented in the trial, as dictated by the rules of the Asian country.
After the trial, in which a final sentence will be determined, Daniel Sancho would only have two opportunities to escape the death penalty, and he would go through the king of Thailand. The first is to send a letter of apology to the monarch within 60 days and for him to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment. Apologies that may or may not be accepted.
The second option is to ask to commute the death sentence through the general system, which is sent the letter to the king on the occasion of his birthday (July 28). To do this, the prisoner must serve a minimum of eight years in prison in Thailand.
An alternative that could have to do with the latest refusal of the Spanish Prosecutor's Office to request the extradition of Daniel Sancho to Spain for his pending trials and the current agreement in force between Spain and Thailand, which does not allow requesting the surrender of a person for a trial. that is pending, but only when he has already been "declared guilty and sentenced.
Now, this agreement has several requirements: first, that the sentence is final and no appeal is possible; and the second, that the sentence is not the death penalty, reserved for aggravated homicides, as is this case. Therefore, the only possibility is that Sancho is convicted of "non-aggravated" homicide under article 288 of the Thai criminal code, which provides for life imprisonment and sentences of between 15 and 20 years in prison.
