Leaked recordings show Daniel Sancho sought 100,000 euros from prison to influence Thai case

Recorded prison conversations

Audio recordings from 4 October 2025 show Daniel Sancho asking his mother, Silvia Bronchalo, to transfer approximately 100,000 euros to Thailand while he was held at Surat Thani Central Prison. Sancho explained that the money would fund the purchase of land through a Thai national named Alice to secure favorable treatment from judicial authorities. During the call, he urged his mother to board a flight to Thailand immediately so they could manage the funds in person. He claimed that the transaction would allow him to obtain bail and leave prison by 15 November, asserting that the seller would intercede with high-ranking figures on his behalf. Sancho also projected that the broader judicial proceedings would last four years, during which his father, actor Rodolfo Sancho, would continue paying the defense lawyers. Bronchalo questioned the proposal during the exchange, citing tax transfer complications, the legal ban on foreigners directly owning Thai land, and the risk of aggravating his situation.

Bronchalo responds to the leak

Bronchalo addressed the leaked material in comments to journalist Kike Calleja for the television program Vamos a ver, stating that the recording was strictly private and had been altered. She noted that she did not know who recorded or released the audio and confirmed that she had passed the material to her legal team for potential action. Bronchalo stressed that the public disclosure caused severe damage to her son during a precarious phase of his detention in Thailand.

I have been putting up with this for three years and now someone records, manipulates and publishes a private conversation between a mother and her son in prison and desperate.

She reiterated that the dissemination of the audio subjected her to outside conflicts and insisted that legal efforts should focus on substantive defense work.

Whoever leaked this is doing enormous damage to my son, and if they thought they were doing it to me, they picked the wrong person.

Prison footage and legal background

The leak also included video footage recorded in January 2026 showing Sancho speaking through a booth telephone behind a visitor screen while wearing a blue prison shirt with shaved hair and a beard. During the recorded conversation, Sancho reflected on faith, telling his mother that nine out of ten people believe in the devil while ninety percent hesitate when asked about God. The emergence of the recordings follows a ruling by the Phuket Provincial Court that dismissed an appeal filed by Sancho's defense team seeking a retrial with new witnesses. Sancho is serving a life sentence for the premeditated murder, dismemberment, and concealment of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta on 2 August 2023, along with the destruction of official documents.

Defense prepares further appeals

Sancho's defense team, led by attorney Marcos Garcia-Montes, maintains that Arrieta died during a violent physical struggle without premeditation. Following the rejection of the appeal by the Phuket court, Garcia-Montes confirmed that the legal team is preparing an appeal in cassation before the Supreme Court of Thailand. The defense also intends to file an action with the Constitutional Court and submit a formal petition to the United Nations Human Rights Committee over alleged human rights and fundamental freedom violations. Sancho remains held at Surat Thani Central Prison, a maximum-security facility in southern Thailand where inmates sleep on blankets on the floor and face strict regulations prohibiting smoking and private showers.