It’s thought that for every one-hundred
people, at least one of them will be a psychopath. That doesn’t mean one percent of people
walking among us have a penchant for committing evil deeds, but it does mean we’ve probably
all met someone that displays some unusual traits. Psychopaths are said to be endowed with “a
constellation of traits”, but that doesn’t always mean they are psychotic, far from it. You can get a better idea of what it means
to be psychopathic by looking at the “Hare Psychopathy Checklist” or by reading the
fascinating book by Jon Ronson called “The Psychopath Test”. What’s agreed about psychopaths is that
they can be cunning, selfish, impulsive, charming, and deceitful, and they’re generally devoid
of empathy. It’s also said they might secure great pleasure
from committing crimes. Today we’ll look at just such a person,
in this episode of the Infographics Show, The Complete Psychopathic Killer: Charles
Sobhraj. First of all, we should say that this man
has been the subject of many books and documentaries. The press at times has called him the most
evil man in the world, but perhaps that’s an exaggeration. He does, however, merit the public’s attention. There really has been no one in modern times
as conniving and convincing as this career criminal. Much of the information we will provide you
with in this show is taken from a 1979 book called, “Serpentine”, written by American
journalist and author Thomas Thompson. He interviewed hundreds of people for the
book, including Sobhraj himself, and for over 600 pages, the reader is left dizzy, gob-smacked,
appalled, amazed, and in spite of the wicked deeds, even with a sense of admiration for
what this man got away with. Not for what he did, of course. We’ll tell you the abridged story, and you
can tell us what you think of Charles Sobhraj at the end. He was born on April 6 1944, to a young Vietnamese
mother and an Indian father in the city of Saigon, Vietnam. His full name was Hatchand Bhaonani Gurumukh
Charles Sobhraj. You could say he got a bad start in life,
as his parents were not married and Sobhraj was therefore stateless, meaning officially
he didn’t exist. His parents had a torrid relationship and
soon his father, a man struggling with a small tailoring business, left the mother and child. It’s said the young Sobhraj would routinely
scream for his father, often running away to find him. The father didn’t want him, and so he would
be delivered back. This was the start of a life of running away. His mother even had to tie him up at times,
and later in life, she did that just to keep him out of trouble. She didn’t much want this difficult child,
either, and you could say this sense of abandonment was the chrysalis of a criminal and killer
to be. His mother eventually met a French Army lieutenant
and over some time they had 4 children of their own, shoving the naughty first child
to the back of the line. The family moved around the world, with Charles,
still a young boy, at times showing the utmost bravery and stowing away on ships so he could
get back to Vietnam and try and reconcile a relationship with a father who verily didn’t
want him. In fact, the father said the child had a darkness
in his veins and would never be right. The mother couldn’t really disagree. In school he was exceptionally intelligent,
but his bad behavior obscured his talents. Eventually the family would move back to France
and Charles at last would have a passport and an identity. At just 19, he was jailed for petty crimes
in Paris, including burglary. He had already started mixing with some sketchy
figures from the Paris underworld. While in prison, Charles began what would
turn into a lifetime of manipulation. He could play the victim, he could feign illness,
he could take advantage of prison system rules as he had read about them; he could get his
way with guards, something he would do for years to come. Yes, the young Charles read avidly, studying
Classics, History, Philosophy, Psychology, and of course Law – the discipline any budding
criminal should study. He was also a big fan of German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche and also Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. The more he knew about the mind, the more
he could manipulate it. He believed in the Nietzschean maxim of “will
to power”, meaning that he could get anything he wanted with enough effort. As for people’s minds, he would become an
expert in gems, being able to spot the tiniest flaws, and it’s said he could also do this
with the human mind, and then he could exploit those flaws for his own gain. He did this with a wealthy young man named
Felix d'Escogne who had come to visit the young Sobhraj in prison. Sobhraj played up to d'Escogne’s kind nature
– he was only in prison to help inmates out who needed help – and he helped Charles
get a quick release. d'Escogne’s flaw was of course kindness...humanitarianism. On the outside he moved in with d'Escogne,
and this handsome young man could charm anyone he came into contact with, especially when
he started to attend high-society parties. Only as he waxed philosophy and literature
and politics, he was sizing his interlocutors up, and he would start a campaign of burglaries
at the houses of the Parisian wealthy. We can’t go into all the details, but we
will tell you Charles met a young Parisian woman who fell madly in love with him, and
who would suffer greatly as his lover for her devotion. In fact, on the night he proposed to her,
Sobhraj was arrested for stealing a car and sent to prison again. Because of his high-profile crimes of robbing
the rich, he was given a psychological evaluation in prison. These are some of the actual things said about
him in that report: “A fascinating case” a man of “paradoxical
qualities” an “Intuitive intelligence” a “tormented nature”, “exploits one
hundred percent the weakness of those around him”, “hungry for money and success”,
a “small conscience”, “possess the sentimentality and sexuality of Don Juan”, “impulsive
and aggressive”, a “brilliant actor”, a “poseur extraordinaire”. Once Charles was out of prison he quickly
stole d'Escogne’s MG Sports Car and took his now pregnant wife through Europe, the
Middle East, and into Asia, where the most damage could be done because corruption was
rife, and systems of law were still archaic. Hell followed them both, especially his poor,
beautiful lover. The two used fake documents all the way, and
it’s known Charles used confidence scams to rob people. He would find his prey, whether in the beach
towns of Greece or on the hippy trail of Afghanistan, by listening to them from a distance. If you were a travelling academic, he would
study your field; if you were prospecting oil, he’d read up on that; and later, he
would find you and strike up a conversation about your field and gain your trust. Only you’d wake up two days later with all
your money, traveler’s checks, and valuables gone. He sold stolen cars and drugs, and he dealt
in precious stones; the number of scams are too many to recount, however. Most of the time he left his lover at home
as he traveled through countries on fake passports, scamming and gambling. At times, he would prey on young travelers
who had run out of money and put them in his employment by telling them to look out for
victims; or if they were pretty girls, to flirt with possible victims. It’s said Sobhraj, having studied Jung’s
books, broke people down into personality types, so he almost always knew how to manipulate
the people he stole from or wanted working for him. It seems he was universally liked by those
people he met, who he would later drug and steal from. All the time he was amassing passports from
his many victims, many of which he would use himself for travel under a false identity. By this time, his child was born. Only Charles would be jailed at times, sometimes
leaving his lover and child with no money on the streets of a strange town. It almost always happened, however, that a
stranger in Charles’ employ would turn up and hand the girl jewels that would provide
room and shelter as he thought of ways to escape prison. And that he did, almost better than the famed
prisoner Papillon. He would dig holes with spoons and penetrate
the walls, or even feign illness and escape via the hospital. He drugged guards, and for some reason, he
always had drugs, or plans of prisons, on the inside. This young man had learned that money can
buy anything in certain parts of the world. It’s said he escaped from supposedly impenetrable
prisons in India, Afghanistan, and Greece. We must point out here that he hadn’t used
his real name in years, and when jailed, it was always under one of his false identities. It is for this reason that all these crimes
committed throughout many countries in Europe and Asia were not recognized as being the
same man’s work. The pieces would be put together at some point,
and he would become the most wanted man in the world, but this would take many years. His lover had enough of being left on the
streets and being part of Charles’ underworld. We must remember that she was from a well-to-do
conservative family, and Charles had led her into a life of crime. She managed to borrow enough money from her
family and fly back to France, leaving the life behind forever. Charles then got in touch with his younger
brother, Andre, who had always looked up to him. Convinced to come to Istanbul, Charles told
Andre how he’d been making money from drugging and robbing and dealing in gems. Andre soon joined Charles, but both were arrested
when working in Athens. As they looked alike, on the way to the jail,
Charles told Andre to pretend to be him, and that the authorities wouldn’t know the difference. Charles eventually escaped by setting fire
to a prison van he’d planned to be inside and fleeing in the melee, leaving his young
brother behind to serve an 18-year sentence. The plan, apparently, was when authorities
found out Andre wasn’t Charles, they’d let him go. They didn’t. Charles went off to Turkey, even though one
of his identities was wanted there for a robbery at the Istanbul Hilton hotel. He then moved to Thailand, where he would
meet his unwitting accomplice Marie-Andrée Leclerc, a French-Canadian girl who Charles
would seduce, among many other women in Thailand he would have working for him in some way. There Charles would manipulate backpackers
somewhat lost in the mystical East, encouraging them to stay with him. Back in those days, only very adventurous
people traveled to such places, so someone speaking English, or French, or even not perfect
Dutch, was a relief to meet. Only he would drug them and have them think
they were suffering from dysentery due to the exotic food. He was actually giving them strychnine. He did this to many young travelers and had
them stay with him. What he intended to do with them isn’t clear,
but their valuables and passports were in Charles’ safe. They weren’t all naïve young folks, either;
two of his victims were French policemen who had decided to travel the East. At the same time Charles and an Indian accomplice
named Ajay Chowdhury had graduated to murdering tourists. These were mainly young, impressionable backpackers
who were later found strangled, stabbed, and sometimes burned. One couple it’s said was burned alive. Their passports and valuables were always
taken. But some of those people sitting ill in Charles
house had begun to smell a rat. They’d stopped taking the pills Charles
was giving them for their stomach problems and miraculously they got better. At one point, some of the victims at the house
had even seen passports of the missing people, further arousing their suspicions that their
landlord might be a serial killer. It’s said one of the girls at the house
even went to the British embassy to complain, but the hippy girl was ignored. This would later be an embarrassment for the
British. The victims then left the house while Charles
was on criminal business away, which would be a surprise to him when he returned. They all knew they had likely escaped being
murdered. He continued stealing and killing, even killing
an Israeli scholar just for his passport when he was in India. Some reports suggest money wasn’t always
the objective, with one media report stating, “Sobhraj had begun to think of himself as
a Nietzschean character, a criminal Superman who soared above everyone else's moral code.” He did it, because he could. Charles took a business trip to Malaysia with
Ajay Chowdhury around this point. Chowdhury was never seen again. It seems Charles had had enough of his right-hand
man. He had outlived his usefulness. At the same time Dutch embassy diplomat Herman
Knippenberg was investigating the case of the two Dutch tourists that were brutally
murdered, and it led him to Sobhraj – only not that name, but an identity Sobhraj was
working under - Alain Gautier. “It was all so easy for him. The murders, the deception, everything. He had got away with so much for so long that
he believed he was invincible,” Knippenberg later told the press. The official put Thai police onto Sobhraj
and told them to go to his apartment and check the safe, there they would find passports
of murdered tourists. Only it seems Thai police just let Sobhraj
go after capturing him. What happened remains a mystery; some say
they let him go so as not to scare future tourists away from Thailand, others say Sobhraj
handed a Thai police chief $15,000. This was the reason Sobhraj liked to work
in such countries, of course, because officials were always open to a bribe. To this day not much has changed in Thailand. The Dutchman was livid, learning that Sobhraj
had just walked out of the police station and off he went under a different name. One month later Knippenberg received permission
to check the safe and there he found strong drugs that could send a person to sleep, and
indeed, passports of murdered travelers as well as many others. Knippenberg later said the former owners of
the other passports could also have been murdered. Finally, Thailand said it was on the case,
this was now a matter of saving the country’s face. A little too late, one thinks. Back in India Sobhraj built a new family,
consisting of two young attractive girls, British and American, called Barbara Smith
and Mary Ellen Eather. His devoted French-Canadian girl was still
at his side, too. We should say here that it’s thought none
of this gang knew about the full extent of Sobhraj’s crimes. They would help him drug and rob tourists,
though. Except this all came undone when one drugging
went too far and a French man died. Soon after, Sobhraj’s temerity hit a high
note when he decided he was going to drug and rob a whole busload of French students
he had befriended, only the drugs started taking effect too quickly and they started
dropping like flies in the Vikram Hotel in Delhi. They knew it was Sobhraj who had spiked their
food and he was wrestled to the ground. Police soon arrived. India’s best police investigator was put
on the case and the investigation was a long one. He said Sobhaj was impervious to questioning,
never mind how long it went on for. He was eventually charged in 1977 of culpable
homicide not amounting to murder and charges of drugging and robbing. He was to serve 12 years. It’s said inside he lived a life of luxury,
bribing guards to receive 5-star treatment. It’s said officials and convicts treated
with him respect and fear. He gave interviews with journalists around
the world and was paid large amounts of money for it. In India he had become known as a kind of
boogeyman, a guy that had almost superpowers. He had many female admirers in jail, who would
do their work for him on the outside. In fact, throughout his time in many prisons,
women all over the world would fall for him. Only after serving ten years in Delhi, and
soon to be released, his 20-year Thai arrest warrant still meant he could be tried for
murder and executed in Thailand. So, on Sunday March 16 1986 he threw a huge
party in the prison with lots of tasty food he had ordered in. Only it was laced with 820 sleeping pills. When Sobhraj walked out of the jail, it’s
said the guards were sleeping against their rifles. He was soon recaptured in India and his sentence
was extended for 10 years, which was exactly what he had hoped for. Thailand was a death sentence. He was released in 1997 and he returned to
France a celebrity. The statute of limitations meant he was no
longer wanted in Thailand. In France, he was offered $15 million for
his story so it might be turned into a movie. He was a rich man, even though an incorrigible
thief and serial killer. His luck came to an end, though, when he visited
Nepal in 2003. The authorities arrested him, and he was later
charged with the murder of two backpackers in the 70s. He denied this and said the evidence was flimsy,
but he was sentenced anyway. He told journalist Tom Vater while in the
Nepali jail, “I have never been to Nepal before. This is a huge miscarriage of justice. I am unlucky to have been arrested in a country
where the law is as archaic as the prison I am held in.” It didn’t matter. He was convicted of another murder as well
in 2014. He married in jail and it’s thought still
lived well, but it looks like he is staying there. “What makes a man a murderer?' he once pondered
after being asked that question. “Either they have too much feeling and cannot
control themselves, or they have no feelings. It is one of the two,” he replied. Perhaps he was the latter. He also said, “I can justify the murders
to myself. I never killed good people.” In another interview he said, “If I have
ever killed, or have ordered killings, then it was purely for reasons of business, just
a job, like a general in the army.” In yet another interview he told a writer,
“I have already taken from the past what is best for me, what helps me live in the
present and prepare for the future. If I play back a murder, it will be to see
what I have learned from the method. I won't even notice the body.” In a 1983 interview with journalist Richard
S Ehrlich, Sobhraj’s former French-Canadian lover Ms. Leclerc, then months away from dying
of cancer, said, “I stayed with Sobhraj because I had no passport, no money, and did
not speak English then. I consider Sobhraj a man who is sick.” During our research for this show, we spoke
to Ehrlich online. He told us when he interviewed Sobhraj during
his incarceration in Delhi's Tihar jail, he found the man to be, “strangely likeable
but totally terrifying.” He added, “Sobhraj also gave me copies of
his letters to then-prime minister Indira Gandhi, and his signature is a strangled,
tightly coiled whirlpool.” It’s generally thought Charles killed between
12 and 20 people, but who knows how many mysterious deaths he could have been behind during his
decades long crime spree across the world. There’s another side of him, too. It’s said in jail he would trick heavy-handed
guards and somehow get them fired. It’s also said prisoners and wardens obeyed
him. On the other hand, some media reports said
he gives money to the children of poor inmates and even guards that are underpaid. To this day he’s not allowed any unsupervised
visits and under no circumstances can he be sent to the prison hospital – doctors must
go to his cell. Authorities still believe that even as an
ageing man he has almost magical ways about him, and so they risk nothing. It’s a pity there hasn’t been a Hollywood
movie about Sobhraj, but perhaps him being half-Indian Half-Vietnamese and fluent in
seven languages – that he needed to perform his scams – as well as pretty much committing
crimes all over Southern Asia, the Middle east and Europe, might pose some problems
for filmmakers. So, tell us what you think about Charles Sobhraj? Is there anything that impresses you, given
his numerous prison breaks, and how he deceived people for decades, his devotion to study
and understanding the human mind? Or is he just another cold-blooded, calculated
murderer like most of the rest of those serial killers? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our full playlist
about Serial Killers. Thanks for watching, and as always, don't
forget to like, share and subscribe. See you next time!
There needs to be a r/hapasBestOf for gold like this.
o_o
I want this to be the next Marvel superhero.