French serial killer Charles Sobhraj is released this Thursday, December 22, as revealed by 20 Minutes. The 78-year-old was responsible for a series of murders across Asia in the 1970s.
Charles Sobhraj is a name that has marked the spirits. Born in April 1944, he is a French serial killer who, in the 1970s, would have killed 18 people. These are mainly tourists traveling through Asia. He was quickly nicknamed “The Serpent”, in particular because he succeeded in manipulating his victims. He eluded the police for a long time and was able to escape from several prisons. This Thursday, December 22, he will be released, as revealed by 20 Minutes. A decision taken by the highest court of Nepal, which ordered his release. The Supreme Court held that it should be “released for health reasons“and so it will be”extradited to France within 15 days“. In a document made public, the magistrates explained their choice.”Keeping him continuously in prison is not in line with the human rights of the prisoner“, they first stated. “Serial killer needs open heart surgery and his release is in accordance with a Nepalese law allowing the release of bedridden prisoners who have already served three-quarters of their sentence“, is it clarified then.
The facts date back to the 1970s when, after a troubled childhood and several stays in prison in France for minor offences, Charles Sobhraj found himself in Asia. It is more precisely in Bangkok, in the Thai capital, that he puts down his suitcases. Quickly, he befriends several of his victims, “western backpackers in search of spirituality“, specifies 20 Minutes before adding: “He drugs them, robs them and murders them“. It was in 1975 that he was involved in a first murder, when the body of a young American woman was found in a square. He was then in the origin of twenty murders et Charles Sobhraj used the passport of his male victims to travel to his next destination and so, to its new victims. It was in 1976, in India, that he was arrested following the death by poisoning of a French tourist. Sentenced to 12 years in prison for murder, he will finally stay there 21 years old with a brief break in 1896, when he manages to escape. He was released in 1997, went to Paris before being found in 2003, in Nepal. The following year he is life sentence for killing American tourist Connie Jo Bronzish in 1975.
Charles Sobhraj: why was he nicknamed “The Serpent”?
The story of Charles Sobhraj caused a lot of talk and he was quickly nicknamed “The Serpent”. The reason ? His ability to escape justice but also to take on other identities, very often those of its victims. As a reminder, the story of the serial killer greatly inspired Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay who created a British detective mini-series entitled The Serpent. This one has been available on Netflix since April 2021 and it is based on the story of the serial killer. It is Tahar Rahim and Jenna Coleman who are the interpreters of Charles Sobhraj and his wife, Marie-Andrée Leclerc, known as Monique Gautier. An achievement that met with great success as soon as it was released.
