- Charles Sobhraj, 79, is thought to have murdered at least 20 backpackers
A hippy trail killer dubbed The Serpent could be put back behind bars in a probe by British detectives.
Charles Sobhraj, 79, is thought to have murdered at least 20 young Western backpackers in the 1970s but has only been tried and convicted of killing two.
He was freed from jail in Nepal in 2022 and moved back to France.
Now ex-Met Police Commander Gary Copson and DCI Jackie Malton have compiled evidence linking Sobhraj to the death of two young Dutch tourists whose charred bodies were found by a roadside in Thailand in 1975.
They have handed their file to Dutch police and say Holland can try Sobhraj as there is no statute of limitations.
Charles Sobhraj, 79, known as ‘The Serpent’, is thought to have murdered at least 20 young Western backpackers in the 1970s but was only tried and convicted of killing two
Sobhraj inspired one of the BBC’s most watched dramas, The Serpent, in 2021, with Tahar Rahim as the killer and Jenna Coleman as his accomplice.
The probe by Mr Copson and Ms Malton – the inspiration for ITV drama Prime Suspect’s DCI Jane Tennison – will be revealed on Thursday in a Channel 4 documentary, The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer.
Sobhraj, nicknamed The Serpent for his ability to slither from justice, is said to have once confessed to killing the Dutch backpackers, Henricus Bitanja, 29, and fiancée Cornelia Hemker, 25.
Mr Copson will tell viewers: ‘The Dutch can pursue the murder of Dutch citizens anywhere in the world. The murders of Cornelia and Henricus are atrocious so they could get those murders that were committed in Thailand into court. This feels really important to me so I’m not just suggesting we should do this, but we must do this.’
Sobhraj is said to have confessed to their murders, plus eight others, in a 1981 book by Julie Clarke and Richard Neville, but he later recanted.
He would befriend his victims on the hippy trail in Asia and then drug, rob and murder them, even using their names and passports to travel to other countries and commit further crimes.
VICTIMS: Sobhraj is said to have once confessed Dutch backpackers, Henricus Bitanja, 29, and fiancée Cornelia Hemker, 25, whose bodies were found burned
Mr Copson and Ms Malton tracked down tapes recorded by Ms Clarke and Mr Neville of Sobhraj admitting the murders and laughing: ‘I hope that this won’t hang me one day.’
They also uncovered evidence of Cornelia’s belongings in his apartment, including her diary. Sobhraj’s former neighbour Nadine Gires says she saw the Dutch couple in the flat, then later sneaked in and found diarrhoea medication laced with strychnine.
Questioned by Mr Copson and Ms Malton about their findings, Sobhraj threatened to ‘file a defamation case’, adding: ‘We will meet in court.’
He was jailed in India in 1976 for drugging and robbing tourists but freed in 1997 and flew to France.
He travelled to Nepal in 2003 and was arrested, tried and jailed for the 1975 murders of American Connie Jo Bronzich and her Canadian friend Laurent Carriere. He was freed by Nepal in 2022 because of his age.
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