In the TV series, where some of the victims' names were changed out of respect, Sobhraj was seen poisoning, drowning and burning backpackers. While he was also dubbed The Serpent due to his ability to slide away from the police during a game of cat and mouse that went on for years. This led to the Bangkok Post dubbing Sobhraj the Bikini Killer as the bodies of several female victims were found in swimwear. One of his first targets, Seattle tourist Teresa Knowlton, was found drowned in a tidal pool in the Gulf of Thailand wearing a flowery bikini in 1975. He posed as a drug dealer or gem salesman to try and impress Western tourists, then stole their money and would kill them if they threatened to expose him.
The criminals were arrested in Greece, but Sobhraj switched identities with his brother and escaped, while Andre spent 18 years behind bars in Turkey.Īt this point, Sobhraj's most notorious crimes as depicted on The Serpent started to take place on the hippie trail. He spent the following two years on the run across Eastern Europe and the Middle East before linking up with his younger half-brother Andre in Istanbul. Using the same scam, Sobhraj faked illness then drugged a hospital guard to escape and ran away to Iran without his family, who went back to France. However, he was able to escape by feigning illness, a trick he would use multiple times throughout his life, but was recaptured shortly after.Īfter borrowing money from his father for bail, he then fled to Kabul and was arrested once again for robbing tourists.
Sobhraj and pregnant Chantal fled from France in 1970, robbing tourists and using fake documents while travelling through Eastern Europe.Ĭhantal gave birth to their daughter, Usha, in Mumbai while her husband ran a car theft and smuggling operation.Īs was shown in The Serpent, Sobhraj was imprisoned after an armed robbery for jewels at Hotel Ashoka in 1973. He was arrested on the day he proposed to Chantal for attempting to evade police while driving a stolen vehicle and spent eight months in prison, immediately marrying her when he was released. Sobhraj switched between high society and the criminal underworld, during which time he met his future wife Chantal Compagnon. He was sent to prison for the first time in 1963 in Paris and manipulated prison guards into granting him special favours such as having books in his cell. Charles Sobhraj, who was born in Saigon to a Vietnamese mother and an Indian father, started committing crimes as a teenager in France and didn't look back.
0 kommentar(er)
