The Appeal Court on Friday upheld the death sentence for a Spanish man convicted of murdering and dismembering the body of a fellow Spaniard two years ago.
Artur Segarra Princep, 38, was given the death penalty by the Criminal Court last year.
He was convicted of the premediated murder of David Bernat, 41, kidnapping, body concealment, torture and theft. He had entered pleas of not guilty.
Segarra, 38, was taken to the courthouse from Bang Kwang Central Prison on Friday to hear the Appeal Court's ruling. The judges upheld the judgement of the Criminal Court.
The court was told that between Jan 20 and Jan 26, 2016, Segarra forcibly kept his business friend Bernat in a room at PG Condominium Rama IX in Huay Kwang district and tortured him into transferring 10 million baht into Segarra's bank account. Segarra withdrew about 700,000 baht in cash before killing him in the room.
The victim's body was frozen before Segarra dismembered the corpse and dropped the bagged pieces in the Chao Phraya River. He fled Thailand to Cambodia, where he was arrested in Sihanoukville on Feb 7, 2016. Cambodian authorities handed him over to Thai police a day later.
The case drew huge media and public attention. Even after his conviction, Segarra has consistently denied the charges through lawyers and friends.
