‘The Serpent’ killer Charles Sobhraj arrives back in France after nearly two decades

Convicted killer Charles Sobhraj has arrived in France after being released from prison in Nepal.

The serial killer known as “The Serpent” who is believed to have killed more than 20 western backpackers on the “hippie trial” through Asia in the 1970s and 1980s has landed in Paris.

After nearly two decades behind bars in a Nepalese prison, the French national landed in Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after 7am on 24 December.

According to author of Moi, le Serpent (Me, the Serpent) Jean-Charles Deniau, Sobhraj was met inside the terminal building by his lawyer after his arrival.

“He is well, he is a free man,” Sobhraj’s lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre said.

When asked what his next steps would be, she said: “He will file a legal complaint against Nepal because the whole case against him was fabricated.”

She described him as resilient and an “optimist”.

The 78-year-old was serving two life sentences in Nepal for the murders of Connie Jo Bronzich and Laurent Carriere in 1975, but is suspected of more murders, including in Thailand where police say six women were found dead on a beach near the resort of Pattaya in the 1970s.

Read more:
The Serpent: The story of the real-life hippie trail killer Charles Sobhraj
French killer Charles Sobhraj freed from jail in Nepal

Citing his advanced age and health, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the release of Sobhraj, also known as the “bikini killer”.

He was driven out of Central Jail in Kathmandu on Friday in a heavily guarded police convoy to the immigration department after serving more than 75% of his sentence.

He told French news agency AFP on the flight out of Nepal that he was not guilty of murdering Bronzich and Carriere
and that the case against him was built on fake documents.

“I have a lot to do. I have to sue a lot of people,” AFP quoted Sobhraj as saying.

Associates have previously described Sobhraj as a con artist, seducer and a murderer.

Justice ministries in France did not respond to questions about whether Sobhraj might face criminal charges in France. The statute of limitations for most serious crimes in France is 20 years.