Charles Sobhraj

Frenchman Charles Sobhraj, a serial killer portrayed in a hit BBC drama, will be released and deported.

During that time he briefly managed to escape from prison by drugging the prison guards. It later became the title for a hit BBC and Netflix series about the killer, which was released in 2020. His lawyer says he could be released as soon as Thursday.

Nepal's top court on Wednesday ordered the release from jail of Charles Sobhraj, the infamous French serial killer who inspired the award-nominated TV ...

It tells how for years, he evaded the law across Asia as he allegedly drugged, robbed and murdered backpackers along the so-called “hippie trail” – while former Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg worked with authorities to capture him. His true number of victims is unknown. The court made the decree on the grounds of his age and health, according to the court’s spokesperson Bimal Paudel.

Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police suspect was responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, is due to be freed on Thursday after ...

He was later caught and jailed there until 1997. Sobhraj was born to an Indian father and Vietnamese mother. He returned to France following his release in India but in 2003 was arrested at a casino in Kathmandu in connection with the 1975 murders of Bronzich and Carriere. He was also known as "the serpent" because of his ability to disguise himself following his escape from a prison in India in the mid-1980s. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story KATHMANDU, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police suspect was responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, is due to be freed on Thursday after nearly 20 years in prison in Nepal, his lawyer said.

Many of his victims were starry-eyed Western backpackers on a quest for spirituality. Read more at straitstimes.com.

“Many people were getting sick in his home,” she told AFP last year. In 2008, Sobhraj married Nihita Biswas – 44 years his junior and the daughter of his Nepalese lawyer – in a secret prison ceremony. the return to his country within 15 days.” Later, he would claim the escape was a well-crafted plan to have his sentence extended to avoid extradition to Thailand, where he was wanted for multiple murders and could have faced the death penalty. He was arrested in India in 1976, after a French tourist died from poisoning at a Delhi hotel, and was sentenced to 12 years for murder. Suave and sophisticated, he was implicated in his first murder, that of a young American woman whose body was found on a beach in Pattaya wearing a bikini, in 1975.

Nepal's top Court also tells government to send him to his home country France in 15 days.

Charles Sobhraj wouldn't live on the street as his mother had; he would have a respectable life. But punishments only angered Charles further.

To maintain the standards he wanted to portray to the world, he was in constant need of money. He was frequently in and out of the juvenile prisons in France. While in Poissy, Charles got an intimate exposure to the criminal underworld of France. His term in this Parisian prison was perhaps the last chance he had to pause—and reverse—the infernal storm taking over his soul. Charles was sent to a hostel in Paris while they moved back to Saigon. Charles was unable to bond with his new family in France. Noi’s firstborn was soon relegated to the status of the neglected child of warring, estranged parents—the child who didn’t fit anywhere. Four years passed by before Russel and Noi got the chance to visit Vietnam. Noi and the textile merchant fell in love, got married, and became parents to a baby boy in 1944. ‘I am sorry,’ he claimed when he was back in Vietnam. Charles, the Satan of this trail, wielded strength and notoriety enough to make anyone wince. The intensity of his new conversion became evident when he was asked about Ayatollah Khomeini’s death fatwa against the author, Salman Rushdie.

Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of the 78-year-old Frenchman of Indian and Vietnamese parentage Charles Sobhraj, who has been in jail ...

In 2014, he was convicted of killing Laurent Carriere, a Canadian backpacker, and given a second life sentence. A few other dailies in Goa had also carried the news in that day's edition. "A few seconds later, the taxis left for Mumbai. He said there were six to seven taxis and Sobhraj was bundled into one of them. Journalists from other newspapers in Goa had also landed at the spot, he said. I was relaxed after that," he said.

Sobhraj was convicted for the murders of American tourist Connie Jo Bronzich and Canadian Laurent Carriere. Nepal's Supreme Court ordered his release due to ...

For reasons that remain unclear, Sobhraj then returned to Nepal, where he was wanted by police for murder. Judges ordered Sobhraj’s release within days on the basis of his old age, good conduct, and the length of prison term already served, according to a ruling issued by Nepal’s Supreme Court. Sobhraj spent 21 years imprisoned in India from 1976 after being convicted of theft.

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj expected to return to France but will not leave prison until Friday, lawyer says.

A decade later he was also found guilty of killing Bronzich’s Canadian companion. It was sheer luck that I recognised him,” Nathan told AFP on Thursday. “I think it was karma.” He was arrested in India in 1976 and ultimately spent 21 years in jail there, with a brief break in 1986 when he escaped and was caught again in the Indian coastal state of Goa. He was soon spotted in Kathmandu’s tourist district by journalist Joseph Nathan, now an adviser to the Himalayan Times daily, and arrested in a casino. Suave and sophisticated, he was implicated in his first murder, that of a young American woman whose body was found on a beach wearing a bikini, in 1975.

Nicknamed "the Bikini Killer" and "the Serpent", Sobharaj was serving a life-term in the Kathmandu jail since 2003 for the murder of American woman Connie ...

He was slapped with a life sentence for the murder after a trial. The immigration authorities have requested to postpone his release till Friday as they need preparation for his accommodation," said his lawyer Gopal Shivakoti Chintan. Sobhraj through his petition had claimed that he had completed his jail term as per the ‘concessions’ entitled to senior citizens of Nepal.

NEW DELHI: It was in 1986 that Charles Sobhraj scripted his great escape from Tihar by offering drug-laced sweets to prison staff on the pretext of ...

He was tried and convicted in the case,” he said. A popular businessman Rajender Sethi was also well connected to Sobhraj as he was also dealing with his case in UK and wanted Sobhraj’s help,” he said. In 2014, he was convicted of killing Laurent Carriere, a Canadian backpacker, and given a second life sentence. Hall, a UK national who was arrested in a case of drugs, was indebted to Sobhraj as he had got Hall released based on false medical papers. It was around 3-3:30 pm when the incident took place,” he added. He drugged them, made them unconscious, then robbed them and many a times managed to kill them,” he said. Terming Sobhraj as ‘a heartless and ruthless character’ who sometimes pretended to be spiritual, intellectual, soft gentleman, the officer said he took full advantage of having mixed parentage. Amod Kanth, founder of Prayas NGO, was then the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), was tasked with investigating the case, that had led to a huge furore, nationally and internationally. “With the help of his friend David Hall, he managed to get a drug called Larpose and got it mixed with burfi in heavy doses. In those times, since cooking was allowed inside the jail, he got sweets prepared for his birthday. In those days since there were no limitations on the number of guests, all sorts of people used to come and meet him during the day,” he added. He scripted his great escape in March 1986, only to be caught after 22 days by Delhi Police.

The so-called Bikini Killer committed at least 12 murders and repeatedly escaped the law with serpentine slipperiness.

It was probably hubris that caused Sobhraj to return to Nepal in 2003 — one of the few countries where he was still wanted. Herman Knippenberg, a Dutch diplomat who was key to uncovering details about Sobhraj, told The Guardian in 2020 that he killed his victims because they rejected his criminal entreaties. He often used the passport and identities of his victims to travel to multiple countries. A trial court convicted him, but he was acquitted by the Allahabad HC and then the Supreme Court in 1996 after the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. He would be accused of killing at least another 11 people in Thailand, Nepal, and India; some estimates put the number of his victims at 30. Sobhraj was born to an expatriate Indian moneylender and a Vietnamese woman in French-occupied Saigon in 1944.

Disarmament expert Angela Kane played a key role in the 1970s in helping to secure the arrest of the French criminal linked to more than 20 murders across ...

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, responsible for multiple murders of young foreigners in the 1970s across Asia, was set to be released from prison on ...

"I don't have any feelings towards him now that it's been so long," said Suthimai, 90. A decade later he was also found guilty of killing Bronzich's Canadian companion. It was sheer luck that I recognised him," Nathan told AFP on Thursday. "I think it was karma." Thai police officer Sompol Suthimai, whose work with Interpol was instrumental in securing the arrest of Sobhraj in 1976, had pushed for him to be extradited to Thailand and tried for the murders he committed there. Behind bars, Sobhraj maintained that he was innocent of both murders and claimed he had never been to Nepal before the trip that resulted in his arrest.

Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, was freed from prison in Nepal on Friday ...

KATHMANDU, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, was freed from prison in Nepal on Friday after nearly 20 years behind bars, according to a Reuters witness. (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous words from the headline) Convicted killer Charles Sobhraj freed from Nepal prison - Reuters witness

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, responsible for multiple murders of young foreigners in the 1970s across Asia, was set to be released from prison on ...

Nicknamed 'the Bikini Killer' and 'the Serpent', Sobhraj was serving a life-term in the Kathmandu jail since 2003 for the murder of American woman Connie Jo ...

The immigration authorities have requested to postpone his release till Friday as they need preparation for his accommodation,” said his lawyer Gopal Shivakoti Chintan. His release was delayed by a day as the immigration authorities on Thursday requested to postpone his release till Friday citing lack of space to accommodate him. Nicknamed “the Bikini Killer” and “the Serpent” due to his skill at deception and evasion, Sobhraj was serving a life-term in the Kathmandu jail since 2003 for the murder of American woman Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975 in Nepal.

Kathmandu, Nepal (AP) -- Confessed French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Nepal, was ordered Wednesday ...

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, responsible for multiple murders of young foreigners in the 1970s across Asia, was freed on Friday after spending ...

A decade later he was also found guilty of killing Bronzich's Canadian companion. He was recaptured in the Indian coastal state of Goa. "I don't have any feelings towards him now that it's been so long," said Suthimai, 90. It was sheer luck that I recognised him," Nathan told AFP on Thursday. "I think it was karma." Sobhraj also wants that," Gopal Shiwakoti Chintan told reporters, adding that he would be departing on a Qatar Airways flight at 6pm (1215 GMT).

Charles Sobhraj, the infamous French serial killer who inspired the award-nominated TV series "The Serpent," walked free from a Nepali prison Friday.

It tells how for years, he evaded the law across Asia as he allegedly drugged, robbed and murdered backpackers along the so-called “hippie trail” – while former Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg worked with authorities to capture him. His true number of victims is unknown. He is suffering from a heart disease and needs open-heart surgery, the court said. We are working with the home ministry on his safety,” Kumari added. “Sobhraj has been released from the jail. We are working to deport him keeping that timeframe in mind.

The French serial killer preyed on Western tourists on the 'hippie trail' in Asia in the 1970s and 1980s.

He was quickly recognised and arrested in Kathmandu for the 1975 murders of two tourists, Canadian backpacker Laurent Armand Carriere and American Connie Joe Bronzich. On December 21, 2022, Nepal’s top court ordered the release of Sobhraj from prison on health grounds. Charles Sobhraj, a French serial killer who police say is responsible for a series of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, has been released from prison in Nepal. He fled while on bail and went to Greece, where he was arrested – but managed to escape. In July 1976, he was arrested in India after trying to drug a group of more than 20 French tourists in a hotel in the national capital, New Delhi. In October, the body of a young woman was found on a beach in Pattaya, wearing a bikini.

French national suspected of murdering western backpackers on the hippie trail in 1970s and 80s.

Sobhraj was eventually released in 1997, when he returned to France, but he later decided to risk returning to Nepal, believing he was safe from the authorities. He was said to have drugged, robbed and then killed about 20 western backpackers, but he was was convicted of only three of the murders. Sohbraj had already served a two-decade prison sentence in India for the poisoning and killing of a French tourist, Jean-Luc Solomon. She said she would remain in Nepal and join Sobhraj later, as she still had court cases going on. “Sobhraj has heart issues and he wants to do a health check-up before he flys out,” said Siwakoti. Sobhraj was known to many as a seductive and ruthless con-artist and murderer.

Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, was released from a Nepal prison on Friday ...

A statue of Sobhraj stands at the restaurant in Goa to this day. He has been the subject of several dramatizations, including a Netflix [(NFLX.O)](https://www.reuters.com/companies/NFLX.O) and BBC joint production released last year. I have to sue a lot of people. I have a lot to do. tourist Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975. ["bikini killer"](/world/asia-pacific/who-is-bikini-killer-charles-sobhraj-2022-12-21/) in Thailand, and "the serpent", for his evasion of police and use of disguises.

PARIS: For decades Asia's most wanted man, French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, terrorised the continent with a string of murders in the 1970s that ...

He flees while out on bail and goes to Greece, where he also manages to escape after being arrested. Advertisement He is quickly recognised and arrested in Kathmandu for the 1975 murders of two tourists, a Canadian backpacker Laurent Armand Carriere and American Connie Joe Bronzich. In May 1982, he is handed a life sentence by an Indian court for the 1976 murder of Israeli tourist Alan Jacob, but is acquitted on appeal a year later for lack of evidence. In July 1976, he is arrested in India after trying to drug a group of more than 20 French tourists in a New Delhi hotel. In 1970, he moves to India, where he is arrested a year later for a jewellery heist.