Daniel Sancho was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta, whose remains were found early last August on the island of Koh Phangan in Thailand. A Thai court found him guilty of the three crimes for which he was tried: premeditated murder, dismemberment and concealment of a corpse, and destruction of the victim’s passport, El País reports.
The Spaniard will also have to pay compensation in the amount of 107 thousand euros to the family of Edwin Arrieta.
According to the same source, the prosecution asked for the death penalty for premeditated murder, while the defendant claimed it was an accident.
Sancho admitted the crime after his arrest, but later claimed that Arrieta had accidentally died during a fight in which he defended himself from an alleged sexual assault attempt.
Of the three charges, Sancho admitted only one – concealing a corpse, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison.