Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho visited his son, Daniel Sancho, at Samui Prison in southern Thailand on Friday. He had returned there after a Thai court sentenced him to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta.
Sancho arrived at the prison around 9:45 local time, accompanied by parts of his legal team from Spain, criminologists Ramon Chipirras and Carmen Balfagon, while several television crews waited outside the facility.
Both Sancho and the convicted man’s mother, Silvia Bronchalo, an investment analyst, were at the sentencing hearing the previous day at the Samui Provincial Court. The court handed down a life sentence for the premeditated murder of Arrieta on August 2, 2023, near Phangan Island. Bronchalo later visited the prison after the ruling, which is situated in a quiet area of the island close to the courthouse.
The actor did not speak to reporters upon entering the prison facility. On Thursday, after the verdict became known, he declined to comment beyond telling the large media contingent gathered at the courthouse that they would continue to fight the case, saying, “We will keep fighting. Always fight.”
Meanwhile, his legal team in Spain signaled plans to appeal the verdict. They indicated that appeals would be lodged with the Court of Appeals and possibly reaching the Supreme Court of Thailand’s southern network of judicial authorities.
As the situation unfolds, observers note the ongoing media attention in Spain and abroad, where the case has attracted sustained coverage due to the high-profile nature of the defendant and the international implications of a life sentence in a foreign jurisdiction. The families involved have faced intense scrutiny, and legal experts emphasize that the appeals process may hinge on detailed examinations of the evidence, procedural steps, and specificities of Thai criminal procedure.