Serial killer 'the Serpent' held for more murders
A serial killer known as the Serpent, who for decades evaded charges of drugging, robbing and murdering more than a dozen tourists, was today being questioned about killings almost 30 years ago in Nepal.
Frenchman Charles Sobhraj, 59, was arrested in a casino in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu and is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Police said they had been searching for him since a newspaper published photographs of a man in baseball hat and blue jeans they alleged was Sobhraj getting on a motorcycle in Kathmandu.
They are to question him about the unsolved 1975 murders of two backpackers - Canadian Laddie du Parr and American Annabella Tremont – whose charred bodies were found on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
After serving 21 years in prison in India for theft, Sobhraj was deported in 1997 to France, where he was investigated for allegedly trying to poison a group of French tourists in India.
He was born in Vietnam during French rule.
Sobhraj – who earned his nickname the Serpent for his talent at disguise, escape and media manipulation – is suspected of killing at least 20 people in India, Thailand, Afghanistan, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong between 1972 and 1982.
Sobhraj confessed to killing young backpackers from Europe and the United States, but when he was released from the Indian prison, claimed he regretted aspects of his past.
Already the subject of three books, he signed a movie and book deal with French actor-producer Yves Renier.
