Charles SobhrajCharles Sobhraj Background information Birth name: Born: Hatchand Bhaonani Gurumukh Charles Sobhraj April 6, 1944 (age 66) Saigon, Viet Nam Killings Number of victims: 12+ Span of killings: Country: 1975–1976 Thailand, Nepal, India, Malaysia Date apprehended: July 1976 Hatchand Bhaonani Gurumukh Charles Sobhraj (born April 6, 1944), better known as Charles Sobhraj, is a serial killer of Indian and Vietnamese origin, who preyed on Western tourists throughout Southeast Asia during the 1970s. Nicknamed "the Serpent" and "the Bikini killer" for his skill at deception and evasion, he allegedly committed at least 12 murders. He was convicted and jailed in India from 1976 to 1997, but managed to live a life of leisure even in prison. After his release, he retired as a celebrity in Paris; he unexpectedly returned to Nepal, where he was arrested, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment on August 12, 2004. The Supreme Court of Nepal has finally convicted him and ordered the life imprisonment, this decision was made on 30 July 2010.[1] While Sobhraj is widely believed to be a psychopath, his motives for killing differed from those of most serial killers. Sobhraj was not driven to murder by deep-seated, violent impulses, but as a means to sustain his lifestyle of adventure. That, as well as his cunning and cultured personality, made him a celebrity long before his release from prison. Sobhraj enjoyed the attention, charging large amounts of money for interviews and film rights; he has been the subject of four books and three documentaries. His search for attention and his overconfidence in his own intelligence are believed responsible for his return to a country where authorities were still eager to arrest him. • Early years he and a now pregnant Chantal left France for Asia to escape arrest. This time Sobhraj fled to Iran leaving his family behind. Sobhraj received his first jail sentence (for burglary) in 1963. Sobhraj continued to move back and forth between France and Indochina with the family. At around the same time he met and endeared himself to Felix d'Escogne. the same way he had in India. The father soon deserted the family. Chantal remained supportive during his prison time.Sobhraj was born as Gurmukh Sobhraj to an unwed Vietnamese mother and an Indian father (Sindhi tailor) in Saigon. Sobhraj spent the next two years on the run. Chantal. The profits from this operation of which were used towards his growing gambling addiction.[2] he was adopted by his mother's new boyfriend. he was neglected in favour of the couple's later children. But Sobhraj escaped. As a teenager he developed personality problems and turned to petty crime. but they were re-captured shortly afterwards. Sobhraj and André quickly became partners in many . Sobhraj moved in with d'Escogne and shared his time between moving in the high society of Paris and the criminal underworld. After travelling through Eastern Europe on fake documents and robbing people who befriended them. using as many as 10 stolen passports and visiting several countries in East Europe and the Middle East. Sobhraj resumed his criminal lifestyle by running a car theft and smuggling operation. Soon after. Sobhraj did manage to escape with Chantal's help and faking illness. Stateless at first. wishing to leave their criminal past behind. they arrived in Bombay in 1970. feigning illness and drugging the hospital guard. the couple continued robbing tourists on the "hippie trail" only to be arrested once again. Here Chantal gave birth to a baby girl. After being paroled. Sobhraj and Chantal were married upon his release. He was sentenced back to prison time in Poissy for eight months. the couple made a good impression on the expatriate community there. On the night he proposed to her. The mother blamed the child. he met and began a relationship with Chantal who was from a conservative Parisian family. he managed to manipulate the prison official into granting him special favours like being allowed to keep books in his cell. not only did he weather the harsh conditions of jail. While in Bombay. In the meantime. He soon started accumulating riches through a series of scams and burglaries. Sobhraj was arrested for evading police while driving a stolen car. facing mounting suspicions by French authorities. During this time. a French army lieutenant stationed in Indochina. Sobhraj was arrested and imprisoned after an unsuccessful armed robbery attempt on a jewellery store in Hotel Ashoka. etc. In 1970. He borrowed money for bail from his father in Saigon and soon after fled to Kabul in Afghanistan. He was joined in Istanbul by André. returned to France and vowed never to see him again. not feeling at home in either place. his younger brother. serving at Poissy prison near Paris [3] However. In Kabul. although still loyal to him. However. he met Marie-Andrée Leclerc from Lévis. Carrou was found drowned in circumstances similar to Jennie's. Fearing exposure. he provided shelter and comfort to another Frenchman named Dominique Rennelleau. Murders On the run again. But he left his brother behind. Soon after. in the style of Charles Manson's. 25. a young American Jennie Bollivar. Sobhraj and Chowdhury quickly hustled the couple out. in another. Both were eventually arrested in Athens. Quebec. Just as he had done to Dominique. was found drowned in a tidal pool in the Gulf of Thailand. their bodies were found strangled and burned on December 16. whose burned body was found on the road to the Pattaya resort where Sobhraj and his clan were staying. Sobhraj escaped in his usual manner.crimes in both Turkey and Greece. a fellow criminal who became his lieutenant. and his fiancée Cornelia Hemker. Charmayne Carrou. nomadic Sephardic Jew named Vitali Hakim. Although the murders of both women were not connected by investigations at the time. potential recruits who had threatened to expose Sobhraj. Teresa Knowlton. and wearing a similar-styled swimsuit. He was also joined by a young Indian named Ajay Chowdhury.[4][5] Sobhraj wanted to start a criminal "family" of sorts. according to some investigators. were invited to Thailand after meeting Sobhraj in Hong Kong. Subjugated by Sobhraj's personality. who was found burned like many of Sobhraj's other victims. In Thailand. Sobhraj started gathering followers by helping them out of difficult situations. As they recovered. turning a blind eye to his crimes and his philandering with local women. Sobhraj poisoned them. he helped two former French policemen. After an identity-switch plan gone wrong. Sobhraj financed his lifestyle by posing as a mysterious drug dealer to impress tourists and defrauding them when they let their guard down. Most of the victims had spent some time with the "clan" before their deaths and were. 1975. 29. Sobhraj was visited by his previous victim Hakim's French girlfriend. Leclerc quickly became his most devoted follower. one of many tourists looking for adventure in the East. In one case. and then nurtured them back to health to gain their obedience. whose apparent dysentery illness was actually the results of poisoning by Sobhraj. It was only months later that the autopsy and forensic evidence revealed the drowning to be murder. André was turned over to the Turkish police by Greek authorities. coming to investigate her boyfriend's disappearance. The next victim was a young. The first victim was a young woman from Seattle. It was then that Sobhraj and Chowdhury committed their first (known) murders in 1975. to recover their passports that he himself had stolen. He had to serve an 18-year sentence. Dutch students Henk Bintanja. indebting them to him while he actually was the very cause of their misery. wearing a flowered bikini. Soon thereafter. named Yannick and Jacques." . they would later earn Sobhraj the nickname of "the bikini killer. During interrogation. however. His next victim was Frenchman Jean-Luc Solomon.) Sobhraj and Leclerc then returned to Thailand. Barbara and Mary Ellen quickly cracked and confessed everything. leading to his capture by police. partly with the help of Sobhraj's neighbour. Sobhraj then went to Calcutta. Knippenberg found a great deal of evidence. Knippenberg started to build a case against him. He would from then on accumulate evidence against Sobhraj for decades. There they were interrogated by Thai policemen in connection with the murders. . and disappeared after giving the jewels to Sobhraj. but easily let off the hook because authorities feared that the negative publicity accompanying a murder trial would harm the country's tourist trade. where he murdered Israeli scholar Avoni Jacob for his passport. 26 and Californian Connie Bronzich. In July 1976 in New Delhi. some sources say that Chowdhury was spotted in Germany much later and hunt for him is still on. and used it to move to Singapore with Leclerc and Chowdhury. and suspected Sobhraj even though he did not know his real name.On December 18. Not so easily silenced. when the drugs started acting too quickly and the students started dropping unconscious where they stood.rather boldly . then to India and . Upon his return to Thailand. Sobhraj discovered that his three French companions had started to suspect him. who succumbed to the poison intended to incapacitate him during a robbery. and fled to Paris after notifying local authorities.[4] However. on December 21–22. However. There they met and. starting in Bombay with two lost Western women named Barbara Sheryl Smith and Mary Ellen Eather. Sobhraj and Leclerc entered Nepal using the couple's passports. murdered Canadian Laurent Ormond Carrière. (The two victims were incorrectly identified in some sources as Laddie DuParr and Annabella Tremont. The trio's next stop was in Malaysia. He then drugged them with pills which he pretended were anti-dysentery medicine. 29. such as victims' documents and poison-laced medicines. once again using their latest victims' passport before their bodies could be identified. and it is widely believed that Sobhraj murdered his former accomplice before leaving with Leclerc to sell the jewels in Geneva. where Chowdhury was sent on a gem-stealing errand. Sobhraj started rebuilding his clan. who was investigating the murder of the two Dutch backpackers. the day the bodies of Bintanja and Hemker were identified.back to Bangkok in March 1976. Sobhraj and the three women tricked a tour group of postgraduate French students into accepting them as guides. Sobhraj was charged with the murder of Solomon. No trace of him was ever found. three of them quickly realized what was happening and overcame Sobhraj. despite the lack of cooperation by law enforcement. was Dutch embassy diplomat Herman Knippenberg.[5] Soon back in Asia. found documents belonging to the murder victims. and all four were sent to Tihar prison outside New Delhi while awaiting formal trial. Given police permission to conduct his own search of Sobhraj's apartment (a full month after the suspect had left the country). Indian authorities let him return to France.Prison time Conditions inside the notorious prison were unbearable. He hired a publicity agent and charged large sums of money for interviews and photographs. such as Oz magazine's Richard Neville in the late 1970s. and gourmet food. and eventually going on a hunger strike. He is said to have charged over $15 million (according to Advocate. leading to his deportation and almost certain execution. On February 17. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison instead of the expected death penalty. Bishwa Lal Shrestha who is Ex. since the 20-year Thai arrest warrant against him would still be valid on his intended release date. walked out of the jail. She was still claiming her innocence. evidence and even witnesses against him long lost. and pretended that his actions were in retaliation against Western imperialism in Asia. on his tenth year in prison. having befriended both the guards and the prisoners. He led a life of luxury inside the jail. he gave interviews to Western authors and journalists. 52-year old Sobhraj was released. when she died at home in April 1984.[citation needed] Revelling in his notoriety. bringing in his recently-paroled and still-loyal brother André to help. Sobhraj turned his trial into a show. while never actually admitting to them. Celebrity and re-capture Sobhraj retired to a comfortable life in suburban Paris. Sobhraj's systematic bribery of prison guards at Tihar reached outrageous levels. however. with TV. He would walk in and out of jail whenever he wanted. hiring and firing lawyers at whim. he threw a big party for his prisoner and guard friends and. had entered with precious gems concealed in his body and was experienced in bribing captors and living comfortably in jail. just as he had hoped. Leclerc was found guilty of the drugging of the French students. Sobhraj. He freely talked about his murders. He also needed to find a way to prolong his sentence. both Barbara and Mary Ellen attempted suicide during the two years before their trial. Inspector and investigated the case. So in March 1986. having drugged them with sleeping pills. Shobhraj was quickly tracked down and caught in Goa by Inspector Madhukar Zende of the Mumbai police and had his prison term prolonged by 10 years. with most warrants. 1997. then later paroled and returned to Canada when she developed ovarian cancer. and reportedly still loyal to Sobhraj. framed the charge sheet and registered the case in court) for the rights to a movie based on his life. and Alan Dawson in 1984.[6] . Without any country to deport him to. The journalist quickly reported this to the Nepalese authorities who arrested him two days later in the casino of the Yak and Yeti hotel.[7] In 2008.000 fine for using a fake passport to travel.On September 17. They said that Nihita and her family had been allowed to conduct a tika ceremony. His mother-in-law/lawyer and his wife. Sobhraj announced his engagement to Nihita Biswas (aged 20) from Nepal. Nicolas Sarkozy. along with the relatives of hundreds of other prisoners. Sobhraj's motives for returning to Nepal remain unknown. for refusing to provide him with any assistance. His lawyer also announced that Chantal. for intervention with Nepal. Sobraj currently has another case pending against him in the Bhaktapur district court for the murder of Laurent Armand Carriere. Sobhraj's wife in France. that took place in the jail itself. Sobhraj appealed against the conviction claiming that he was sentenced without trial. Sobhraj had appealed against the district court's verdict in 2006. on the occasion of Bada Dashami. in a much famed. news media reported that Sobhraj's lawyer had appealed to the current French president. he claimed that he was never convicted of murder by any court and asked the media not to refer to him as a serial killer.[9] Later.[11] In July 2010.[10] On the following day. They further claimed that it was not a wedding but part of the ongoing Dashain festival. Current status In late 2007. On July 30. when elders put the vermilion mark on the foreheads of those younger to them to signify their blessings. Most of the photocopy evidence used against him in this case was drawn from that painstakingly gathered by Knippenberg (the original then gem dealer) and Interpol. a Nepalese festival. but not publicised wedding. . Nihita expressed that they were dissatisfied with the verdict and Thapa claimed that Sobhraj had been "denied" justice. 2004 for the 1975 murders of Bronzich and Carrière. issuing a press release through his fiancee Nihita. it was claimed that he married his fiancee Nihita Biswas on October 9. the 'bikini killer'. the Supreme Court of Nepal postponed the verdict on an appeal filed by Charles Sobhraj. a Canadian born tourist. calling it unfair and accusing the judges of racism while handing out the sentence. Sobhraj's conviction was confirmed by the Kathmandu Court of Appeals in 2005. against a district court's verdict sentencing him to life imprisonment for the murder of American backpacker Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Kathmandu district court on August 20. 2010 the Nepalese Supreme Court upheld the verdict issued by the district court in Kathmandu of a 20-year life term for the murder of US citizen Connie Jo Bronzich and another year plus a RS 2.[8] On 7 July 2008. Nepal jail authorities dismissed the claim of his marriage. 2003 Sobhraj was unexpectedly spotted in a street of Kathmandu by a journalist. was filing a case before the European Court of Human Rights against the French government. 2008. The seizure of all his properties was also ordered by the court. . ISBN 0-330-27001-X. Harpe Collins India. ISBN 978-0140129373. Thomas Thompson (1979).Bibliography • • • • Julie Clarke & Richard Neville (1980). The Life and Serious Crimes of Charles Sobhraj. Carroll & Graf Publishers. Pan Macmillan. Julie Clarke & Richard Neville (1989). ISBN 0-78670749-6. Serpentine. Farrukh Dhondy (2009). Shadow of the Cobra. Penguin Books Ltd. The Bikini Murders.