Daniel Sancho’s ex-girlfriend, summoned as a witness in the trial on April 9 in Thailand

The countdown has begun. There are only 26 days left until the trial for the murder of Edwin Arrieta in Thailand. It will be April 9 when the procedure begins by which the Asian prosecutor’s office requests the maximum sentence for Daniel Sancho, confessed author of the events. They accuse him of premeditated murder and concealment of a corpse, although he has only admitted to the second crime. The Spanish chef’s version is that the Colombian surgeon died accidentally in a struggle between the two when he wanted to end their intimate relationship.

During the process, the son of Rodolfo Sancho He will be defended by a Thai lawyer and this, in turn, supported by a team of Spanish professionals that the actor hired. These are the reputed Marcos García Montes, Ramon Chippirras y Carmen Balfagon. The latter will also participate in the trial as an expert, trying to demonstrate the malpractice of the Thai police under the command of Big Joke, the number two who carried out the investigation and who has now been arrested for corruption. They claim that they tricked Daniel into confessing by promising him falsehoods, such as that he would be extradited to Spain, that they forced him to sign a statement in Thai that he did not understand, and that they led him to reconstruct the events without the help of a translator or lawyer.

A very complete trial

Sancho’s defense also has 50 witnesses who will participate in the trial to demonstrate their arguments, among others, Daniel’s ex-girlfriend, his parents and a well-known psychiatrist who will talk about the chef’s emotional state before traveling to Thailand to corroborate her testimony: Edwin threatened to share sexual images and videos to undermine her reputation and that of her family if she abandoned him, as was Daniel’s wish. In his first statement, the Spaniard already revealed: “He had me in a golden cage, he forced me to do things I didn’t want to do. He threatened me and my family. I had no other alternative.” In addition, the defense will also present as evidence the complaint that Edwin Arrieta had for having harassed a man in Venezuela.

They will also present videos and photographs that support their theory that Daniel bought knives and saws to cook with logs and coconuts. These objects are the central axis on which the theory of premeditation defended by the prosecution revolves: Daniel took Edwin to Thailand with the intention of murdering him and therefore acquired the utensils with which he dismembered the body into 14 parts a few hours before kill the surgeon. For this reason, the prosecution brings as witnesses the department store clerk who served Daniel, the owner of the kayak company and the rental motorcycle company, as well as the owners of the bungalows where everything happened, in which, presumably, Daniel asked for permission to record cooking videos.

The trial begins on April 9 and will last until April 3. As we said, the Prosecutor’s Office requests the maximum sentence for Daniel.