Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Hippie Trail Killer” Charles Sobhraj Pt. 2

Episode Date: October 15, 2020

After spending years in and out of prison, Charles “The Serpent” Sobhraj was determined to make something of himself. To do that, he needed money — only now, he knew better than to leave behind any witnesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In October 1975, 21-year-old Teresa Nolton traveled to Bangkok, looking for enlightenment along the hippie trail. With their bare feet and cut-off jeans, she marveled at the beauty of the Buddhist monasteries throughout the region. On her last night in the vibrant city, Teresa met a motley crew of travelers led by a man who introduced himself as Alain Gautier. Teresa drank and danced into the night, telling her new friends about her sexual adventures and desire to reach nirvana. Eventually, Alon suggested they ventured to Pat Pong, Bangkok's Red Light District.

He wanted to get to know her more intimately and help her on her path to find bliss. Teresa hesitated. She knew better than to run off with a complete stranger, but the more she looked into Allah's eyes, the more she wanted the night to go on. He was strikingly handsome, and his words were intoxicating. Five days later, a farmer rode his bike along the Gulf of Thailand, about 90 miles from Bangkok. As he peddled, he noticed a woman in a flower bikini, floating face down in the rising tide. He got off his bike and jumped. into the water to help her.

But as he approached, he realized he was too late. The woman was dead. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we continue our look into the life and murders of Charles Sobrage, a con artist turned serial killer who terrorized Southeast Asia. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson.

Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other originals from Parcast for free on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Last time, we explored Charles Sabrage's unstable upbringing, and how his prolific ability to con and slither from justice earned him the nickname, The Serpent. Today, we'll follow Charles's transformation from a notorious con man into a cold-blooded serial killer. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us.

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One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. By 1974, 30-year-old Charles Obranche had an international rap sheet that would make any con artist blush. He committed grand theft auto in France, smuggled black market vehicles into Bombay,

owed thousands to Macau's casinos, and robbed a jewelry store in Delhi. Perhaps worst of all, Charles tricked his half-brother Andre into switching places with him, abandoning him to 18 years of hard labor. Charles was a manipulator of the highest order, and he was only just getting started. After his escape from a Turkish prison, Charles made his way back to Southeast Asia. From there, he concocted a scheme to con people out of their money and identities. Charles stationed himself along the Hippie Trail, a tourist-laden road between Thailand and Turkey. Because he was half-Indian and half-Vietnamese, he easily blended in and could pose as a health

local. He often claimed to be a gem dealer or photographer and offered his services to help guide Western tourists. Once he gained their trust, he either robbed them blind or convinced them to smuggle precious gems for him. For over a year, Charles roamed Southeast Asia perfecting his scams. And in May of 1975, he was in northern India, carrying out his usual scheme on some French tourists when he met a young Canadian woman who would change everything.

29-year-old Marie-Andre-Laclare was French-Canadian and had never traveled outside of her country. But when she arrived in India, she was delighted to meet a man who introduced himself as Alon Gautier. Alon was really Charles, who used his fluency in French to charm Marie and convince her he was a famous photographer. Charles pursued Marie suddenly at first.

coming across as a mysterious rogue adventurer. And to Marie, it seemed like he wasn't entirely interested. So, of course, she fell head over heels in love with him. When her vacation eventually came to a close, Charles asked her to stay and travel with him through Thailand. But Marie refused. She had a life back home in Canada. Once in Quebec, however, Marie couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious alone. She wondered if she should have prolonged her travels.

and as she felt the weight of regret, a slew of love letters from her dashing prince made up her mind. Convinced he was the one, Marie flew back to meet Charles in August of 1975. She was completely devoted to him and completely unaware of his criminal past, or his criminal present for that matter. That fall, Charles and Marie were in Thailand,

spending time in the coastal town of Pataya. But when they met a young us, Australian couple, Charles knew it was the perfect opportunity to test Marie's devotion to him. He convinced Marie to help him drug their coconut milk. When the tourists were knocked out, Charles and Marie stole all of their belongings and ran. By the time the Australians awoke, Charles and Marie were long gone. Charles was impressed by Marie's willingness to do exactly as he said, and it made him wonder about recruiting more accomplices. More bodies would mean he'd have help for his next big scheme.

So with money on his mind, Charles set about finding followers. His next convert was a young Frenchman named Dominique Renélo. Charles met Dominique at a cafe, drugged him, and then dragged him back to a hotel room. When Dominique awoke, Charles told the man that he was sick with dysentery. Charles claimed to have saved Dominique's life and promised to nurse him back to health. The Frenchman fell for the story and placed his complete faith in Charles. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. As a note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. Given Dominique's physical and emotional state, it was easier for him to believe in the kindness of a stranger than suspect devious motives. According to psychologist Maria Konnikova, we have all sorts of self-serving biases. Con artists understand what yours are, and then that's what they use in order to sell you their con. And because it's sold as a story, it gets you emotionally engaged. The moment you're emotional, you're no longer logical. Unbearably sick in a foreign country with no companion to turn to, Dominique didn't think rationally. opting to trust a complete stranger's story while he recovered from an agonizing ailment.

Soon after that, Charles stole the money and passports from two former French colonial police officers, Janique and Jacques. Pretending to come to his own victim's aide, Charles offered the men a place to stay until their new passports arrived. While they lived together, Charles befriended the men, luring them into his web. Finally, Charles recruited a young Indian man named A. J. Chowdery, How they met remains something of a mystery, but according to journalist Thomas Thompson in his book Serpentine, by mid-October 1975, Ajae was eating dinner with Charles and the others every night.

Soon after his mysterious arrival, Ajae was Charles's number two. Now surrounded by a loyal band of followers, Charles was ready for bigger and better things. He had plans, you see, but dreams don't come cheap. And as he proved with his brother Andre, nothing was cheaper to Charles than a human life. Around this time, Charles was negotiating the lease of a building that he could convert into a legitimate gem business. But to seal the deal, he needed the equivalent of $25,000 by January 1, 1976. He had less than six months to pony up or the deal would fall through. And though he was desperate for money, Charles was also anxious.

about leaving behind witnesses who could turn him in. He knew there was only one way to tie up those kinds of loose ends. As 30-year-old Charles contemplated his next move, a young woman from Seattle considered her own journey. Like many of her contemporaries, 21-year-old Teresa Nolten came to Southeast Asia seeking spiritual enlightenment. On October 15th, her last night in Bangkok, Teresa met Charles and struck up a conversation.

Feeling adventurous and fueled by a few drinks, Teresa agreed to the handsome stranger's suggestion of a short trip to Pat Pong, the city's Red Light District. But instead of taking the tourists on a sexual romp, Charles and Aj drugged Teresa and shoved her into a car. For some reason, Charles asked the spaced out girl if she was smuggling heroin. Teresa confessed that she was, but only because she needed the money.

Despite his own long criminal history, Charles had a particular dislike for drug smugglers. In his eyes, Teresa's life was forfeit, along with the money she'd made. Disgusted, he turned to Ajae and told him to, quote, take her for a swim. Five days later, the 21-year-old's body was discovered by a farmer, floating near the resort town of Pataya.

She was wearing only her flower bikini. Initially, Thai police concluded that Teresa died from a swimming accident. However, a later autopsy proved that her head was held under the water. But by then, Charles and his team had already moved on to their next victim. At the end of November, Charles met a 20-something from Istanbul named Vitali Hakim. Vitali came to Bangkok to take part in a gem smuggling operation. It was risky business, but he needed money to marry the love of his life, a French woman named Charmaine Carou.

To Vitali, love was worth the gamble. Yet as time passed, Vitali's prospective gem deal went nowhere, and he had even less money than when he started. But when things seemed hopeless, the young man made a new friend he met in his hotel lobby. Charles and A.J. bumped into Vatali and ingrati and ingratiated themselves with the would-be crimp. using Charles' knowledge of gems to gain his trust.

And after introducing Vitale to the rest of his followers, Charles revealed that he knew the perfect place for Vitali to recoup his losses. Charles and Ajay convinced Vitali to join them on a business trip to the Chantaburi province, about 150 miles southeast of Bangkok. They promised him a cut of the jewel purchase they intended to make from the Chantaburi gem mines, eager to make money. Vatali joined them on a six-hour drive out of Bangkok. Charles and Ajay drove Vitaoli to a remote location.

From there, they drugged and beat Vatali for hours, interrogating him about the details of his gem deal. It's possible that Charles hoped to absorb Vitali's connections to help fund his plans for a legitimate business. After Vatali divulged all that he knew, Charles rewarded him by snapping his neck. Then Ajay poured gasoline all over Vatali's body and lit a match. When Charles and Ajay returned from their murderous trip,

the two Frenchmen, Yannique and Jacques, were confused by Vatali's disappearance. Charles claimed that Vatali left the group to stay with some friends he met in Pataya. The others found this answer odd, given that Vitali's bags were still sitting in the apartment, but they shrugged their shoulders, believing Vatali was. just another directionless traveler. So, by December of 1975, Charles had two murders under his belt, but was hardly any closer to the money he needed to pay the lease on his prospective gems to her.

With the January deadline fast approaching, Charles raced to make the rest of the $25,000. In an act of desperation, he used Vitale's passport to fly to Hong Kong and try his hand at the Macau Casinos. stepped onto a casino floor excited to make money, but the dealer recognized him as soon as he approached a table. Charles was banned from the casino years earlier over unpaid debts, and the dealer refused to let him play. As Charles wandered Hong Kong, distraught, and directionless,

he met a young Dutch couple, 29-year-old Hank Batania and his 25-year-old fiancé, Cornelia Hamker. Befriending the tourists, he showed them a good time around town. He was such a good tour guide that when Charles suggested the couple travel to Thailand with him, Hank and Cornelia agreed. The trio flew to Bangkok and continued partying together. But within just days of their arrival, Hank and Cornelia were stricken with a mysterious illness. It was dysentery, Charles told them, and they needed to rest. In the meantime, he graciously offered to take care of them. He even told his new friends

that he'd look after their passports and valuables while they recovered. Little did they know their illness wasn't dysentery, but a result of the poison, Charles had slipped them. It's possible Charles was setting the young couple up to become new members of his group of scammers, but around that time, a loose end Charles never anticipated, came back to haunt him, and it would throw his plans wildly off course.

Coming up, Charles cleans high. House. Hey, Parcasters. Starting October 1st, we're bringing you the scariest, most hair-raising ghost stories ever imagined. Every Thursday, on the all-new original series Haunted Places Ghost Stories, Alastairn summons a new spine-tingling tale of wraiths, phantoms, and chilling apparitions. These stories come from all over the world, including Japan, India, the UK, and even ancient Rome. Don't miss stone-cold classics like The Kitbag,

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By December of 1975, 31-year-old Charles Sobrage had graduated from career conman to killer. As part of a scheme to raise funds for a building lease, he killed two tourists in Thailand, then stole their belongings, but the murders weren't as profitable as he'd hoped. And while he was in the United,

the middle of scamming two more tourists, his most recent murder came back to haunt him. Charmaine Karou, fiancéo Vita Vita Ali Haqq, arrived in Bangkok, looking for answers. Charmaine hadn't heard from Vitale in weeks and suspected something might have gone awry with Vitali's gem business. The staff at Vitali's hotel told her that he'd moved in with a man named Alon Gautier and gave her Charles's address. Panicked, Charmaine raced over to the apartment building. hoping Vitale was still there. But when he heard Charmaine asking questions around the building,

Charles decided it was time to act. He'd turned to murder specifically to avoid drawing this kind of attention, so Charmaine had to go. On December 15, 1975, Charmaine's naked body was found in the water near Pataya. Her autopsy revealed that she was strangled to death. The bones in her neck were completely shattered. The bikini killer. had struck again.

And he was just getting started. Charmaine's sudden arrival worried Charles. Loose ends were too dangerous to be left dangling, and there were two more he needed to take care of. On December 16, he evicted Hank Bintanya and Cornelia Hempker. The pair were still sick, so they offered little resistance when Charles and his accomplice, Ajay Chowdhury, threw them in a car in the middle of the night. Charles drove down to Pataya and stopped on a remote section of the highway.

He and Ajay dragged the couple out of the car and beat Hank and Cornelia, then strangled them. When they stopped breathing, the men doused their victim's bodies with gasoline and set them on fire. When Charles and Ajay returned to the apartment covered in dirt and smelling of gasoline, no one questioned their odd appearance, at least not to their faces. Arrigantly, Charles had assumed he had once again gotten away with murder. However, in private, his three French followers, Dominique, Yonique, and Jacques suspected that Charles

was involved in the deaths of all these tourists. Realizing that Charles was dangerous made their situation only more dire. Dominique was still recovering from the poison Charles had given him, while Yannique and Jacques awaited their new passports. With nowhere else to go, they were. were trapped with a murderer. Their fears only intensified on December 18th when Hank and Cornelia's charred bodies were discovered near Pataya. The papers incorrectly identified the couple as Australians, but the three Frenchmen knew better,

and it signaled to them that it was time to flee. The opportunity to escape arose within days. Just before Christmas, Charles, his girlfriend, 30-year-old Marie and Aja, traveled to Kathmandu Nepal and hit the casinos. Swapping out the photos, Charles and Marie used Hank and Cornelius passports, while Ajay likely used a forged passport of his own. While in Kathmandu, Charles met a pair of backpackers, 26-year-old Canadian Laurent Carrier and 29-year-old American Connie Joe Bronsic.

Connie Joe was thrilled to meet Charles. When he told her he was a gem dealer, she showed him some precious stones she had purchased in Delhi. But Charles proclaimed that she had been swindled, and he was more than happy to go to Delhi and help her right the wrong. Of course, his offer to help was merely a smokescreen. Two days after meeting Charles, the couple's burnt bodies were discovered just outside of Kathmandu. Connie Jo died of multiple stab wounds, and Laurent's throat was slit. Charles was in high spirits when he and his accomplices returned to Bangkok, eager to to sell Connie Jo's gems. But when he got back to his apartment, his home had been picked clean

and his safe tampered with. You see, while Charles was murdering strangers in Nepal, Dominique, Janique, and Jacques broke into the safe and discovered their missing passports. Their suspicions confirmed the three men fled to the airport, fearing for their lives. When they made it to the safety of Paris, they went to Interpol to report everything they did. they knew about Charles Sobrage. Meanwhile, Charles was in a state of panic. He had no idea what the departed Frenchmen knew, where they'd gone, or why they'd left in the first place.

He only knew they had found their passports in his safe. He stued about their disappearance for some time, but there was little he could do. While Ajay remained in Bangkok to deal with the broken safe, Charles and Marie flew back to Kathmandu, hoping to put their troubles behind them. By now, Charles felt untouchable. He'd slithered out of so many sticky situations,

and no one yet suspected him of murder. So he had no qualms about returning to the scene of his most recent slaying. But that was a mistake. The investigation into Laurent and Connie Jo's deaths led Nepalese police to hotels in the area, where witnesses suggested they question Charles and Marie. When they tracked him down, Charles deflected their accusations. He claimed he was Hank Bintana, a European professor on sabbatical.

Marie was his assistant, Cornelia Hemker. And he had their passports to prove it. Both of them denied knowing the two victims. Placaded, the police allowed them to walk free for now, but requested that they remained close in case there were more questions. Charles and Marie left Kathmandu as soon as possible. They reunited with Aj and made for the airport. A New Year's Eve, 1975, the trio left Nepal and landed in Calcutta, India.

Though the building in Thailand he'd saved for was long gone, he was confident that he could find another scheme to build his wealth. In his mind, it didn't matter if the authorities were after him. He was convinced that he could pull off more cons. Such confidence in the face of danger is an embodiment of a narcissistic personality. According to Professor Susan Strauss Whitborn at the University of Massachusetts, a key component of narcissism is a feeling of invincibility. The important link between the two, as Professor Whitburn notes,

is that people high in narcissism cannot see or admit to their own flaws. It's likely that the more he got away with, the more Charles saw himself as invulnerable to the law. This likely explains why he persistently traveled between locales where he was being pursued, and why his behavior grew riskier by the day. During the first three months in Calcutta in 1976, Charles befriended a young Israeli, murdered him, and stole his belongings. From there, he returned to Bangkok, where he could be connected to four murders. But instead of lying low, he proceeded to drug an American tourist

Robert Grainer and stole his passport. In March of 1976, Thai police arrived to question Charles about the bikini murders, as his killings had come to be known. Unfortunately, they came looking for a man named Al-Gaultier, Charles's old alias. Charles flashed Robert Graynor's doctored passport to prove they had the wrong guy and slipped through their clutches. Again, police instructed Charles to stay nearby in case they needed to ask more questions. and though he was reckless, Charles wasn't stupid, so he, Marie, and Ajay fled Bangkok as soon as possible.

Once the police discovered that Charles was gone, they alerted the international law enforcement community. That's how the news caught the attention of Dutch diplomat, Hermann Kinnepenberg. Kinnepenberg was conducting his own investigation into the deaths of Dutch nationals, Hank Bintanya and Cornelia Hempker. He was positive that Alain Gautier was the man responsible, and he pressed local authorities to let him investigate. When Kinnippenberg and his team searched Charles' apartment, they found a mountain of evidence.

Among the incriminating articles were identity papers and a slew of items belonging to Teresa Nolton, Vitali Hakeem and Cornelia Hemker. It was clear to Knieppenberg that they had found their man. Now, all they had to do was catch him. In keeping with his arrogance, Charles didn't run far. He, Marie, and Ajay fled to nearby Malaysia, hiding out in the colonial town of Penang.

While there, Charles sent Ajay on a mission to procure jewels to sell in Geneva. A few days later, sometime in March of 1976, Ajay returned with a packet of gems worth about $40,000, or over $180,000 today. But before they could fly to Switzerland, Charles whisked Ajay off to take care of some business. Charles left Marie behind and told her to meet them at the airport that afternoon. Yet when Charles finally showed up to board the flight, he was alone.

Murray asked where Ajay was, but Charles refused to answer. As she stared into his cold eyes, she felt goosebumps crawl up her arm, and she knew Ajay was dead. Coming up, the serpent gets caught. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming,

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Details at Yamava. Come must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Now, back to the story. After committing a string of murders together in late 1975, 32-year-old Charles Sabrage and his loyal followers, Marie LeClair and Ajae Chowderie were forced to go on the lamb. But wanting to avoid loose ends, Charles took Aja on one final mission, and he returned alone. When Marie asked Charles where Aja was, he stayed. eerily quiet. Marie knew right then that Ajay was dead, and if she wanted to stay alive herself, she had to keep her mouth shut. The two boarded a plane and flew to Geneva, where they sold the

gems Ajay had procured. From there, Charles led the way to Paris, hoping to reconnect with ghosts from his past. But nobody wanted anything to do with him. His ex-wife, Chantal, had moved on with her life and remarried. His half-brother André was rotting in a Turkish prison, and Charles's mother Noy proclaimed, the name Charles Sobrage is not known to me. He is not a member of my family. Marie was the only one who remained by Charles's side, and one partner in crime wasn't enough. To pull all of his cons, Charles needed to build another family, and by the summer of 1976, he had found them. In June of that year, Charles and Marie traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, where they invited an Australian woman, 26-year-old Mary Ellen either, to join the group as a gem courier.

Lured by the possibility of making some quick cash, Mary Ellen agreed to go with Charles and Marie to India. The trio flew to Bombay in search of new opportunities. There they met a young Englishwoman named Barbara Smith and convinced her to join their growing crew. With the new team all set, all Charles needed was the perfect con, and he quickly settled on his mark, or to be more precise, 60 of them. A French tour group of recent graduates seemed like easy pickings to the experienced con man. They just had to follow the group to Delhi to carry out Charles's plan. But the 886-mile journey wasn't cheap, so the group needed another small time score. Their victim was a French tourist named Jean-Luc Solomont.

Apparently, the plan was to poison Jean-Luc and rob him, leaving him alive, but something went wrong. Following the robbery, Jean-Luc spent two days in agony, unable to leave his hotel room. When a hotel maid discovered him, he was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. Police searched Jean-Luc's room, noticing that everything of value was missing, which caused them to suspect foul play. But while an investigation stirred into action, Charles and his gang were on their way to Delhi to lay a trap. At the beginning of July 1976, the French tour group arrived at the Vickram Hotel. After checking in, many were swept into conversation with a man who claimed his sole purpose was to make sure the tourists had a memorable time in India. 32-year-old Charles Sabrage.

For two days, Charles and his female companions ingratiated themselves with the group, drinking, sightseeing, and fornicating. It seemed Charles never met a person he couldn't charm. On the tour group's final night in Delhi, they all gathered for dinner before they flew to Thailand the next day. Charles pulled the tour leader aside and told him about a recent dysentery breakout in Thailand. Fainting concern, Sabrash offered preventative pills. promising they'd keep the infection at bay. About a third of the students took them. The pills kicked in after dinner. Men and women began to keel over in agony, violently throwing up

all over the hotel lobby. It didn't take long for the students to realize that those affected were the ones who took Charles' medication. As all eyes turned towards the friendly local, they saw that he was already running for the door, while his female companions were no nowhere to be seen. A couple of the faster students gave chase and tackled Charles before he could escape. When the police arrived, they found him subdued, tied to a chair. It was only too easy to arrest him. The police took Charles into custody and went about searching for his three female companions.

It only took two days to find and capture Mary Ellen, Barbara and Marie. The authorities quickly sussed out that Mary Ellen and Barbara were the weak links in the group. Just hours after their capture, the two revealed every crime they'd committed since joining Charles. This included various robberies around India, as well as the poisoning of Jean-Luc Solomon. Next, police turned their attention to Marie. After initial resistance, she volunteered a 32-page statement detailing her life with Charles. Though his accomplices had all turned on him, Charles still refused to cooperate. for two weeks he maintained that he was a Parisian merchant.

But no one bought his lies, and it turned out that Charles was not nearly as good at covering his tracks as he thought. By the time of his arrest, law enforcement agencies from across the globe had accumulated mountains of evidence against him and all of his aliases. Interpol wanted him for trying to rob a jewelry store

in the Ashoka Hotel. Thai police wanted him for the bikini murders, The Dutch sought justice for the murders of Hank Bintanya and Cornelia Henker, and Nepal was interested in discussing the murders of Laurent Carrier and Connie Joe Bronsich. Even faced with indisputable evidence of his guilt, Charles never confessed to any of his other murders. Instead, he blamed them all on the missing Aja Chaudhary, whose body was never found.

Still, Indian authorities pushed forward with our charges against Charles and his accomplices for the murder of Frenchmen, Jean-Luc Solomon. Charles and the three women were taken to the notorious Indian prison of Teharr to await trial. Despite the prison's bleak conditions, Charles put his charm to use, befriending guards and inmates. Even behind bars, he managed to work his magic, talking his way into extra food and three contraband radios for his cell. He also used bribery to get what he wanted. It isn't clear how, but Charles smuggled rubies and sapphires into the prison, likely by swallowing them before he got there.

By his own estimation, he was able to bring in 68 carrots' worth, which he used to pay off prison officials. In 1977, in the weeks leading up to his trial, Charles allegedly sent Mary Ellen and Barbara threatening letters. Though we don't know specifically what Charles said, the two women felt compelled to attempt suicide. It's possible that Charles manipulated the women by weaponizing empathy. According to Dr. Christian Kaisus, criminals with psychopathic tendencies see empathy as a voluntary activity.

If they want to, they can empathize, and that explains how they can be so charming and maybe so manipulative. Once they have seduced you into doing what serves their purpose, the effortful empathy would probably disappear again. Whether this is what actually happened, we don't know. Either way, both women survived their suicide attempts and took the stand to testify against Charles in July of 1977. Though Barbara testified to the more gruesome details of the crimes she witnessed Charles commit, it was Mary Ellen who stunned the court. She recanted her statements on the stand, hindering the prosecution's case.

But it made little impact. In August of 1978, Charles was found guilty on three lesser counts in the death of Jean-Luc Solomon. The ruling essentially amounted to manslaughter, and Charles was sentenced to only 12 years behind bars, instead of the death penalty as the prosecution hoped for. Meanwhile, Marie was found not guilty. Though Charles escaped the death penalty, his punishment was far from over. Soon after the murder trial, both Charles and Marie were convicted of poisoning the French tourists, Sondeli. It tacked another five years onto Charles' sentence in Tair. It's unclear how long Marie's

final sentence was, but she was released from Taira prison in the early 1980s after a cancer diagnosis. She returned to her homeland of Canada, where she died in April of 1984. It was said that to her dying day, she was still in love with Charles. Meanwhile, 12 years in Tihar, wasn't so bad for Charles, he bribed his way to a relative life of luxury behind bars. But that didn't mean he wasn't thinking ahead. There was still a warrant out for his arrest in Thailand, and it was valid for 20 years. He knew that upon his release from Tehar prison, India would likely extradite him to Thailand to face murder charges, and like India, the Thai government would seek the death penalty.

So in March of 1986, the 10th year of his incarceration, Charles threw himself a party in jail, inviting both inmates and prison guards. In a twist, everyone should have seen coming. He spiked the punch, poisoning all of his guests. When everyone passed out, 41-year-old Charles simply walked out the front door of the prison. But Charles never intended to leave India. Quite the opposite. A few months after his escape, he willingly got himself caught.

He was convicted for the drugging and the prison escape, which added more time to his remaining sentence. It stretched his incarceration enough that if and when he was released, the Thai arrest warrant would be expired. In February of 1997, 52-year-old Charles left Tihar prison a free man. By then, most warrants for his arrest were expired, and evidence from other cases was lost to time. But people still remembered the crimes of Charles Sobrage and were determined to see him pay. In September 2003, 59-year-old Charles was arrested in Kathmandu for the 1975 murder of Connie Jo Bronsic. Less than a year later, he was sentenced to life in prison. In 2014, he was also convicted for the murder of Laurent Carrier, which extended his sentence.

In February of 2019, Charles filed a writ requesting clemency. It seems unlikely it will be granted, though. No one wants to see the serpent at large again. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. We'll be back next week for a new episode and a new killer. For more information on Charles Obrose, amongst the many sources we used, we found Serpentine by Thomas Thompson, extremely helpful to our research. You can find more episodes of Serial Killers and all other originals from Parcast for free on Spotify.

We'll see you next time. Have a Killer Week. Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler and is a Parcast Studios original. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Mike Ramos, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Freddie Beckley. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Joe Guerra, with writing assistance by Joel Callan and stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson. If you're ready to get into the spooky spirit of the season,

remember to follow Haunted Places Ghost Stories. Every Thursday, Alistair Merton brings a new surprising, chilling, spine-tingling story to life. Follow Haunted Places Ghost Stories free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up, getting ready for bed, is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,

and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.