Thai Police investigation Murder of Colombian surgeon Edwin ArrietaAs young Spaniard Daniel Sancho admits, he has achieved two speeds so far: one that is accelerated by the interest in presenting the closed case publicly, and the other is a slower background determined by the complexity of the process.
About a month after Arrieta was killed on the Thai island of Phangan in southern Thailand on August 2, Police continue to work on the investigative report they will have to submit to the neighboring Koh Samui Procuratorate, where Sancho is temporarily. prison.
Delay is not normal Police have an 84-day period for investigation from their entry into Sancho makeshift prison on 7 August. (therefore it would conclude at the end of October), but would dispute claims that it was apparently over.
Thailand’s number two police officer, Surachate Hakparn, who oversaw the investigation on August 15, In a statement made in front of the press at the Phangan police station, it was announced that the investigations had ended. He filed a lawsuit against Sancho and charged him with willful murder, a crime punishable by the death penalty in the Asian country.
Known as the “Big Joke” (The Big Joke), the veteran Thai police officer, who often turns his back on the most serious incidents or events involving foreigners, repeated in an August 21 interview with EFE that “the case was closed quickly and smoothly”. problems”.
Also, although Phangan island police told EFE today that the report is not yet ready because they still haven’t been tested, they predicted the report would be delivered that week, leading to a hearing date being set. Results of DNA.
The prosecution confirmed today that it did not receive this document and assured that it would not identify the team responsible for the case until the police investigation was completed.
perfect tourist country
Surachate’s allegations are not unusual, and they do not need to stipulate the full content of the final report. As overseer of the investigation, he is also responsible for the public image of the police process in a case that has received more media attention from outside than inside Thailand.
Surachate admitted in an interview with EFE that his test results are still incomplete. “Satisfied” with the investigation, backed by Sancho’s confession and cooperationHe expressed his regret for the possible impact on tourism in Thailand, which is one of the main sources of national income.
“An important part of this case is getting the international community to understand this. It’s about explaining and presenting the facts to ambassadors so they can understand and explain to their compatriots,” he told EFE.
Police investigation at your pace
Therefore, although the Police have made progress in closing the investigation and have shared details, the work of compiling and analyzing the evidence continues. Continuing its activities within the framework of a more confidential and more complex procedure than the one disclosed to the public, nail 30 people attendedamong agents, investigators, forensic scientists and divers.
According to a police document, police evidence also includes: black and green plastic bags containing clothes, eight human parts, and human remainsIt was sent for analysis to the Bangkok Institute of Forensic Medicine, among other specialist centres.
This difficult process may be delayed, expert sources told EFE. They had to send DNA samples from Arrieta’s relatives in Colombia for genetic matching.
This police letter also includes the presence of 20 witnesses; Among the incriminating evidence against Sancho is CCTV footage. On August 1, a young man bought knives and black-green garbage bags from a store in Koh Phangan. the day before the murder and dismemberment.
Similarly, Surachate assured EFE that the “conclusive results” of the autopsy showed that: Arrieta dies after being cut off by SanchoAfter punching him, he fell and hit his head on the sink, but he didn’t die at that time.
Autopsy
However, experts consulted by EFE consider it “difficult” to be completely conclusive in such a situation, without finding important parts of the body such as the rib cage.missing an important organ such as the heart– and was found days later and in places like the sea, due to the possible availability of other remains.
Despite the remnants of the process shared by the police in this way, sources close to the case state that the final report will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office and received later. Sancho’s lawyers may contain new information.
In addition, if the 84-day period has not expired, the investigation can be continued when the report is submitted. Because if the prosecution deems it appropriate, it will have time left to request more evidence.
Attorneys currently hired by Sancho’s family of 29, through a Bangkok-based office, are preparing a defense that only a Thai lawyer can use in the judicial process.
Lawyer Anan Chuayprabat, known as Khun Anan, met with Sancho four times and received a preliminary report from the police, which was also sent to the judge.