Charles Sobhraj, a French serial killer who police say is answerable for a sequence of murders within the Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties, has been launched from jail in Nepal. His associates described him as a con artist, a seducer, a robber and a assassin.

Known as the “Bikini Killer” in Thailand, and likewise “The Serpent” for his capability to evade police and use varied disguises, Sobhraj, 78, is suspected of killing greater than 20 Western backpackers on the “hippie path” by Asia.

Nevertheless, the true variety of his victims is unknown. Here’s a timeline of his life and alleged killing spree:

1944: Born in Vietnam

Sobhraj was born in Saigon on April 6, 1944, to a Vietnamese mom and Indian father. His mom later remarried a Frenchman.

In 1963, he launched into a life as a world lawbreaker, which might take him to Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In 1970, he moved to India, the place he was arrested a 12 months later for a jewelry heist. He fled whereas on bail and went to Greece, the place he was arrested – however managed to flee.

1975: Thailand’s ‘Bikini Killer’

Sobhraj arrived in Bangkok in 1975 along with his Canadian girlfriend and an Indian affiliate.

He would spend time with vacationers, passing himself off as a dealer in valuable stones.

In October, the physique of a younger girl was discovered on a seashore in Pattaya, sporting a bikini. Different victims adopted, overwhelmed, strangled or burned to dying.

Sobhraj, who would change into often known as the “Bikini Killer”, allegedly used his victims’ passports for mysterious journeys linked to commerce in valuable stones and medicines.

Below a cloud of suspicion, he fled to India.

1976: Arrested in India

In July 1976, he was arrested in India after attempting to drug a gaggle of greater than 20 French vacationers in a resort within the nationwide capital, New Delhi.

He was additionally accused of the homicide of one other French vacationer, Luc Salomon, who had been poisoned in a resort in Mumbai.

In Might 1982, an Indian court docket handed him a life sentence for the 1976 homicide of an Israeli vacationer, Alan Jacob.

He was acquitted on enchantment a 12 months later for lack of proof. However he remained in jail for his different crimes.

1980: Thailand calls for extradition

In late 1985, India agreed to Thailand’s request to extradite Sobhraj for the murders of a Turkish vacationer and an American girl, Teresa Knowlton.

He risked the dying penalty there.

He escaped from jail in New Delhi in March 1986 by feeding the jail guards sweets laced with medicine and sleeping capsules.

Police nabbed Sobhraj days later at a restaurant within the western Indian seashore vacation state of Goa. A statue of Sobhraj, in his signature peaked cap, stays on the eatery to today.

However delays within the Indian authorized system meant that the prison-break case didn’t come to trial for a number of years, by which era the Thai authorities had misplaced curiosity in having him extradited.

Accused of not less than 15 murders throughout 10 international locations, by the point he left Indian jails in 1997, his alleged crimes had fallen underneath the statute of limitations in Thailand.

Upon launch, he went to France and lived there quietly till 2003 earlier than returning to Nepal.

2004: Caught once more and served a life sentence

Nicknamed “The Serpent” for his talent in slipping and sliding out of the judicial dragnet, Sobhraj returned to Nepal to arrange a scarf export firm underneath a false identification.

He was rapidly recognised and arrested in Kathmandu for the 1975 murders of two vacationers, Canadian backpacker Laurent Armand Carriere and American Connie Joe Bronzich. He was held in a high-security jail in Nepal from 2003.

He acquired a life sentence in August 2004 and would serve 19 years of a 20-year sentence.

2008: Married whereas behind bars

Sobhraj married Nihita Biswas, a Nepali nationwide and a girl 44 years his junior, in 2008, whereas nonetheless behind bars.

2022: Launch from jail

On December 21, 2022, Nepal’s high court docket ordered the discharge of Sobhraj from jail on well being grounds. He was freed on December 23, and was anticipated to return to France.