Arrival in Bangkok and disappearance
David Bernat, a Spanish telecommunications engineer and consultant, arrived in Bangkok on January 19, 2016. Hours after landing, he met fellow Spaniard Artur Segarra. The prosecution later established that Bernat was taken to Segarra's rented apartment and held there while Segarra sought access to money in Bernat's bank accounts.
Investigators reconstructed the period using surveillance footage, banking records, forensic traces from the apartment and witness testimony. No witness saw the killing itself, but the trial court accepted the combined circumstantial and forensic evidence.
Discovery and investigation
Authorities began recovering Bernat's remains from the Chao Phraya River on January 30. Police identified Segarra as the principal suspect in early February. After being recognized in Surin Province, he fled across the border into Cambodia, where he was arrested on February 7 and returned to Thai custody the following day.
Forensic testing linked blood traces in Segarra's apartment to Bernat. Investigators also relied on security-camera images showing the two men entering the building and on financial records documenting movements involving Bernat's money.
Trial and first conviction
On April 21, 2017, a Bangkok court convicted Segarra of premeditated murder along with kidnapping, robbery, extortion and other offenses arising from the same criminal episode. The court imposed the death penalty. Segarra maintained his innocence during the trial and argued that the evidence had been misinterpreted.
The judgment was not yet final. In July 2018, an appellate court rejected his challenge and upheld both the finding of guilt and the death sentence.
Supreme Court judgment
On November 20, 2019, Thailand's Supreme Court upheld the conviction and death sentence, exhausting the ordinary appeal process. The judicial status of the case was therefore settled: Segarra stood finally convicted of Bernat's kidnapping, robbery and premeditated murder.
After the final ruling, Segarra changed the position he had maintained during the proceedings. In a clemency request to King Maha Vajiralongkorn, he admitted killing Bernat, although his account of how the death occurred differed from the prosecution's findings. That later statement did not replace the court's factual determination.
Royal commutation
In August 2020, the Thai Department of Corrections confirmed that Segarra was among prisoners receiving royal clemency. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
The commutation changed the punishment, not the conviction. It did not acquit Segarra, erase the Supreme Court judgment or reopen the finding that Bernat had been murdered for financial gain.
Timeline
January 19, 2016: David Bernat arrives in Bangkok and meets Artur Segarra.
Late January 2016: prosecutors later establish that Bernat was held and killed during the period after his arrival.
January 30, 2016: authorities begin recovering Bernat's remains from the Chao Phraya River.
February 7–8, 2016: Segarra is arrested in Cambodia and returned to Thailand.
April 21, 2017: a Bangkok court convicts Segarra and imposes the death penalty.
July 13, 2018: the appellate court upholds the judgment.
November 20, 2019: the Supreme Court leaves the conviction and death sentence in force.
August 2020: royal clemency commutes the death sentence to life imprisonment.
Current status
The murder of David Bernat is solved / adjudicated. Artur Segarra's conviction became final in Thailand's Supreme Court in 2019. His punishment was subsequently reduced by royal clemency from death to life imprisonment.
Sources
- RTVE / EFE — first-instance conviction, April 21, 2017
- RTVE / EFE — appellate court upholds conviction, July 13, 2018
- RTVE / EFE — Supreme Court final ruling, November 20, 2019
- El País / EFE — Segarra's post-judgment clemency letter, January 30, 2020
- RTVE / EFE — royal commutation to life imprisonment, August 17, 2020