Charles Sobhraj — The Bikini Killer 
Fast Facts:
- Born in 1944 in Vietnam
- He murdered at least 20 people over 4 years
- He tried to poison a group of French tourists in India but because he miscalculated the doses police arrived to help
- He was charged with murder in a number of countries, but not all were able to put him to trial
- He was found guilty of murder in India and Nepal and served jail time in both countries
Charles Sobhraj was born in Vietnam, the son of a Vietnamese mother and Indian father. As a child he spent time on the streets of Saigon, but later lived between Indochina and France after his mother married a Frenchman. He ended up in a French boarding school and attempted to run away multiple times.
Sobhraj was arrested twice in Paris for auto theft before marrying a French woman. He attempted to reform but ended up moving around Europe and committing robbery and smuggling offences. He took a mistress who also became his accomplice. Over the years Sobhraj took different identities and his crime more serious, with estimates that he killed more than 20 people over 4 years.
He travelled around Asia and Europe and managed to escape custody in some countries. A skilled con artist he preyed on backpackers. While in India he tried to poison a group of French tourists but miscalculated the dosage and police were called to attend.
Thailand wanted to extradite him on murder charges but India decided to charge him with the murder of an Israeli tourist. He was convicted on a lesser charge and sentenced to 7 years of hard labour with additional time for the poisoning. Thailand planned to wait until his release and then try him on their charges.
Sobhraj drugged the guards at the jail and escaped, before being recaptured a month later. It is believed he did this deliberately as the extra time added to his sentence for the escape meant he passed the 20 year statute of limitations in Thailand where he would have faced the death penalty.
After he was released he moved to France, then was again arrested, this time in Nepal. He was charged and convicted of the murder of an American. He went to jail with a life sentence and again tried to escape. As recently as 2014 Sobhraj was convicted in Nepal of a 1975 murder of a Canadian tourist.
His nickname “the bikini killer” came after one of his victims was found wearing one and later he was known as “the serpent” because of his many prison escapes.
April 21, 2018 at 7:44 pm
Dear me, countries fighting over who got to put him away! I guess that’s one way of avoiding the worst punishment. He sounds like a nasty piece of work.
S Is For Seven Little Australians
https://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-s-is-for.html
April 23, 2018 at 11:18 am
It’s sad they didn’t work together and decide how he would have the greater punishment.
April 21, 2018 at 11:43 pm
This guy appears ‘normal’ in his photo. I’ve decided I much prefer the serial killers who look like serial killers. Does that make me shallow?One of those awful people who judges others by their appearance? I promise I only do so with the serial killer crowd.
Enjoy your weekend, AJ.
April 23, 2018 at 11:19 am
I think we don’t want serial killers to look like the “man next door” because if they do…they might be!
Thanks, Karen. Had a lovely weekend (hope you are finishing off yours with a smile).
April 21, 2018 at 11:51 pm
The “bikini killer” and the “serpent”. That’s a strange set of nicknames.
Dena
https://denapawling.blogspot.com/
April 23, 2018 at 11:20 am
Maybe it’s a European thing?
April 22, 2018 at 1:47 am
I hope the jails were nasty nasty!
April 23, 2018 at 11:20 am
I can’t imagine any asian jail being a very pleasant place.
April 23, 2018 at 3:11 am
Yet another reason why I won’t ever go backpacking on my own!
Set Fire to the Rain by Adele
April 23, 2018 at 11:22 am
I backpacked around the US on my own decades ago – but I have to confess I had a lot of tours and meet ups with American friends, so there really wasn’t all that much time spent on my own (although when I was in one part of San Fransisco I had a local come up to me and tell me to turn around, leave the area and stop acting like a tourist!).
April 25, 2018 at 1:36 am
A con artist and a killer…charming fellow! Maybe he was charming, come to think of it, since his mistress became his accomplice.
April 29, 2018 at 9:47 am
I wonder how much coercion the mistress needed?