A celebrity chef who has been charged with murdering his lover in Thailand reportedly saw killing him as the only option after he was allegedly blackmailed with intimate images.
Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 29, the son of two Spanish film stars, was arrested for the killing and dismemberment of Columbian surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga after Thai police found body parts in a rubbish dump.
Before the killing, the YouTuber chef is believed to have wanted to split from Arrieta, 44, which the doctor refused to allow reportedly threatening to publish pictures of his partner.
Sancho, who is the son of Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre and actress Silvia Bronchalo is said to have been so worried about the pictures ruining his family’s reputation that he decided to kill Arrieta, Thai news outlets report.
The couple, who were holidaying on the popular island of Koh Phangan, are said to have met to attend the famous Full Moon Party techno event before the gruesome murder took place.
The killings of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga emerged last week after plastic bags containing his body parts were discovered at a landfill site on the island. These were later identified by police as belonging to Arrieta.
Sancho came in to report a missing person after the body parts were found and was subsequently detained.
He reportedly told authorities that the two had a romantic relationship and that he tried to break up with the ‘obsessed’ victim, but that he refused.
It has also been reported that Arrieta invested 10,000 euros in one of the chef’s restaurants.
The Spaniard reportedly said: ‘It ended up destroying my relationship with my girlfriend.
‘He was obsessed with me and wanted to do business with me. He put money into my company. It was all a lie.’
The social media influencer later confessed to killing and dismembering Arrieta and then dumping the body parts in the landfill and the sea, although he denied that it was premeditated, police said.
Authorities have now suggested that he had been planning the killing even before Arrieta arrived on the island from Colombia.
New CCTV images, shared by Bild, are said to show the chef buying the tools he allegedly used for the murder from a supermarket.
‘The investigation showed that Daniel Sancho had prepared himself thoroughly. He bought items to make the body go away,’ said Police Lt.
Gen. Surapong Thanomjit, commissioner of the local provincial police.
Police have not yet ruled out that jealousy may have been a motive for the bloody deed or that Sancho could have feared separation from his partner.
Sancho’s arrest warrant was issued by the Koh Samui Provincial Court on Saturday. His charge could result in a death sentence, authorities have said.
Sancho meanwhile told Spanish news agency EFE Arrieta was obsessed with him and had kept him ‘hostage’.
Regional police chief Surapong Thanomchit told the public broadcaster that Sancho was seen buying a knife, garbage bags, and cleaning solutions before Arrieta’s death.
Sancho’s father starred in El Ministerio del Tempo (The Ministry of Time), while his mother is also a respected actor.
His uncle, Felix Sancho, told journalists in Spain: ‘A little respect for the family is all we ask for because this is so painful.’
A family spokesperson previously asked for ‘maximum respect, both for Daniel Sancho himself and for the whole family, in these delicate moments of maximum confusion’.
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