'The Serpent' killer Charles Sobhraj has broken his silence on his horrifying crimes during the 60s and 70s.
The 79-year-old - who posed as a gem dealer - was suspected of killing around 20 backpackers in Asia during that period, as he was notorious for evading police and seducing his victims.
He has been convicted of two killings - having admitted to 10 murders - but he later withdrew the confessions.
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He was known for his ability to seduce women to help him commit his crimes, which spanned from 1963 to 1976.
His crimes inspired the eight-part BBC thriller The Serpent which hit screens in 2021, starring Tahar Rahim as Sobhraj and Jenna Coleman as Monique, his girlfriend and accomplice.
After getting in trouble with police in France, Sobhraj and his first wife Chantal Compagnon travelled to Asia, robbing tourists along the 'hippie trail'.
But when Sobhraj was arrested following a botched robbery, Compagnon left him and sent their daughter Usha back to France.
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From 1976 to 1997, he was convicted and jailed in India before returning to France after his release.
After travelling to Nepal in 2003, he was arrested, tried, and given a life sentence.
However, in 2022, the Supreme Court of Nepal came to the conclusion that he was too old for prison, and he was subsequently released and sent back to France.
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New Channel 4 documentary Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer, is set to show us his first interview since being released from prison.
According to an excerpt, Sobhraj said: "I did wrong to some people and those wrongs were immoral but I didn’t go to the length of killing anyone.
"I didn’t kill a single person.
"I’m fed up with all the allegations so I decided I’m going to put forward my facts and (the public) can decide."
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Retired Detective Chief Inspector Jackie interviewed the killer throughout the documentary.
“He’s a very complicated man. He’s highly intelligent, he’s very plausible, he wants to control the narrative," she said.
“If he doesn’t like the question he goes off on a tangent and I found him a little dismissive of those people who died, whether he’s done it or not.”
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Dutch woman Georgina Nunez, who first met Sobhraj when she was a 18-year-old backpacker in Goa in 1972, was a witness to the first suspected murder.
“He was very intense,” she said.
“I had a ring in my nose and he pulled it out and there was blood everywhere. His eyes had no emotion. They were bad eyes. He had a killer stare.”
When their car broke down in Pakistan, Sobhraj returned with a stolen taxi, and the driver was later found dead in the boot.
She alleges Sobhraj told her: “You better not testify against me because I will kill you.”
Also during the documentary, Sobhraj was spotted roaming around the UK talking to tourists.
Three-part series Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer will air on Channel 4 over three nights, starting from Tuesday, 19 March.
Topics: Channel 4, True Crime, Crime, Documentaries, TV and Film
Anish Vij