The miniseries, originally aired on BBC One and now available on Netflix, is based on real events and places the plot between 1975 and 1976, before it was captured in India.
It has already hit Netflix ‘The Snake’, new miniseries in which Tahar rahim (‘A Prophet’, ‘The Mauritanian’) gets into the skin of Charles Sobhraj, A scammer and thief, who ended up becoming a dangerous serial killer who terrorized the so-called ‘Hippie Trail’ in Southeast Asia in the 1970s. But who was he really?
The miniseries, originally aired on BBC One, Is based on real events and places the plot between 1975 and 1976, shortly before it was captured in India and focusing on its relationship with her lover and accomplice Casa-Andrée Leclerc. However, the wave of crimes began much earlier, being one of the most wanted men by Interpol and putting in check the police of at least nine countries on two continents.
Charles Sobhraj was born on April 6, 1944 in ancient Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, in ancient French Indochina. Son of an Indian father and a Vietnamese mother, his life was halfway between Indochina, present-day Vietnam, and France. He first set foot in prison in 1963, after being found guilty of theft. In prison, he met Felix d’Escogne, A wealthy volunteer with whom he went to live after being released.
When he moved with Escogne, he went to Paris, making contact with French high society and where he continued to commit white glove crimes. In 1970, she married Chantal Compagnon, A young Parisian from a conservative family, with whom she had her only child. The couple traveled to Asia, where they began to lead a criminal life.
The crimes were considered minor, although they went further, ending up being dedicated to the ‘ smuggling of cars and armed robbery. On more than one occasion he was arrested, escaping very easily. In fact, it was common for him to pretend to be ill to end up hospitalized.
Sobhraj had a gift for people and charisma, which makes it very easy for him to manipulate third parties, as well as gain his trust. On a flight to Iran from Kabul, Sobhraj decided to separate from Compagnon, who returned to live with his family in Paris. For a couple of years, the criminal was hidden between Eastern Europe and the Middle East, thanks to the help of a half-brother.
However, both were arrested in Athens, although Sobhraj managed to escape, being only imprisoned his brother, Who served a sentence of two years and ten months in prison.
Sobhraj is considered to have had one antisocial personality disorder or a form of psychopathy, as it did not kill by violent impulses, but killed as a lifestyle. It is only clear that he had an irrational hatred of hippies, who were his main victims.
THE CRIMES
Sobhraj began committing murders before meeting his favorite lover. Initially, he committed them with Ajay Chowdhury, A young Indian who was his first stable accomplice. His first victim was Teresa Knowlton, A Seattle backpacker who was found drowned on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand in 1975.
Knowlton was wearing a bikini when she was found. Because future female victims were found similarly, Sobhraj was called the Bikini Killer. He was also called the Serpent for his way of escaping justice.
In Thailand, he pretended to be a drug dealer and a seller of precious stones. At this time, he met Marie-Andrée Leclerc, Who became his most loyal accomplice. Sobhraj’s next victim was Vitali Hakin, a hippie of Turkish descent whose body was found charred near the complex where Sobhraj and Leclerc lived.
His next victims were two Dutch students, Henk Bintanja and Cornelia Hemker, who were drowned and their bodies were also burned. Later, the next victim was the Frenchwoman Charmayne Carrou, Hakim’s girlfriend, who traveled to Thailand to investigate the disappearance of her partner.
Sobhraj and Leclerc fled to Nepal, where they met two backpackers, Canadian Laurent Carrière and American Connie Bronzich, whom they murdered. VThey traveled to India, where Sobhraj killed the Frenchman Jean-Luc Solomon and returned to Thailand, using the passports of their victims.
Upon his return to Bangkok, several partners of Sobhraj and Leclerc in their illicit business began to suspect that they were involved in several murders and decided to notify the authorities. Sobhraj, Leclerc and also Chowdhury fled to Singapore and then to Malaysia, where Chowdhury’s trail was lost and they returned to India, Where Israeli tourist Alan Aron Jacobs was murdered just for taking his passport.
On his return to the Thai capital, none of them knew that Sobhraj was already the most wanted man in Southeast Asia. In the spring of 1976 he was questioned by police, Although he was released by the Thai authorities to prevent him from giving a bad image to the country.
SENTENCED TO THEFT IN 1976
Sobhraj and Leclerc continued to make trips to Switzerland and India, posing as jewelry merchants. It was in New Delhi where Sobhraj ended up behind bars. The reason was that he tried swindle and rob a group of 60 French students, to whom he tried to cause severe diarrhea. However, he miscalculated the doses and some of the students began to get sick violently, causing the rest of the group to notice and manage to detain him until the police arrived.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted robbery and imprisoned in Tihar prison. Thanks to his ability to manipulate, he achieved SEVERAL benefits from officials, becoming the great head of the prison. Two years before he was released after serving his sentence, Sobhraj escaped to be intentionally caught.
The reason he extended his sentence to India was to avoid the death penalty in Thailand, where he was wanted for the killings, thanks to the investigation of a diplomat from the US Embassy. Netherlands, Herman Knippenberg, Who began to investigate after the murders of Dutch students. When raiding Sobhraj’s house in Bangkok, different passports with different identities were found.
HE WAS IMPRISONED AGAIN AND STILL IS IN PRISON
When released in 1997, Sohbraj was able to evade the death penalty in Thailand because the call and search order had expired. After his release, he returned to Paris, where he enjoyed some fame. In 2003, he decided to travel to Nepal, to be arrested by the authorities for his crimes, although it was something he sought to regain public notoriety.
Since then, Sobhraj has served his sentence in a Kathmandu prison, as, as of March 2021, he has not yet been released from prison. Officially, it killed 12 people, although it is estimated that there could be more than double the actual casualties. Worse luck ran its loyal lover, because Leclerc was locked up in the prison by accomplice, although it was allowed him to return to Canada in 1983, because it suffered terminal cancer. He died a year later, at the age of 38.