Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OF EVIL HIPPY TRAIL MURDERER
taining companion.”nepal’s Supreme Court ordered Sobhraj’s release in December 2022, due to his age and failing health. He was convicted of the 1975 death of US tourist Connie Jo Bronzich, 29, and her Canadian friend Laurent Carriere, 26.
Sobhraj had already served a 20-year prison sentence in India for the poisoning of French tourist Jean-luc Solomon.
But he was linked to more than 20 killings between 1972 and 1982.
Sobhraj was also dubbed ‘the Bikini Killer’, due to his tendency to target women in swimsuits.
When asked about his crimes by forensic psychologist Paul Britton, Sobhraj admits stealing from his victims and adds: “I was obliged to use the passport. It was immoral and I may apologise to my victims.”
After spending hours with Sobhraj, Mr Britton tells him his personality has the dark triad traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. He says: “Everything you have done, your life, shows those three dark characteristics.” Sobhraj goes on to proudly describe how he poisoned 60 French students with a meal at a Delhi hotel.
He says: “The scene was like a horror movie, all the staff began panicking… they didn’t know what was happening.” Following his arrest, detectives quickly realised they had unwittingly caught a man wanted for a string of
SATURDAY 16.03.2024 murders around the world. A smiling Sobhraj says: “I was the second most wanted man in the world.”
But he weeps as he apologises for his treatment of Marie-andree, who died in Canada in 1984, aged 38.
He says: “I will regret it all my life. I am really, really sorry and I mean that.”
But ex-detective Ms Malton rejects what she calls crocodile tears, saying he is a “horrible man” who controlled
Marie-andree. And Michel Jacomet, 75, who survived being drugged by Sobhraj in 1976, has previously said: “He’s a monster with the features of a human being who, even at his age, is still capable of anything.”
Since his release from jail, Sobhraj has travelled around the world using the money he earns from selling his story. Mr Copson said: “He goes where he likes in Europe, which some people might find a concern.”
But he added a file of evidence collected by the film-makers has been handed to authorities.
He said: “I think there is a very strong, overwhelming moral imperative to try to get these cases in Thailand tried somewhere. I am working on it.”
The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer starts on Tuesday on Channel 4 at 9pm.