{"id":48224,"date":"2024-03-21T18:28:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T17:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1019537"},"modified":"2024-03-21T18:46:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T17:46:29","slug":"the-real-serpent-investigating-a-serial-killer-true-story-behind-channel-4-series","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-real-serpent-investigating-a-serial-killer-true-story-behind-channel-4-series\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer \u2013 True story behind Channel 4 series"},"content":{"rendered":"

What were the real-life events behind the gripping documentary? <\/p>

By Molly Moss\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 21 March 2024 at 17:25 PM<\/p>

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The man who inspired BBC drama The Serpent<\/a> back in 2021 faces a real-life interrogation in new Channel 4 documentary, The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The documentary sees Charles Sobhraj<\/a> confronted by two former Met Police detectives about murders he was linked to but never tried for, with Sobhraj strongly denying that he killed anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

A forensic psychologist also conducts \u201chours of interviews with the serial killer to make an assessment about whether he is a psychopath and still presents a danger to the public\u201d.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know about the real-life events behind the new documentary.<\/p>\n

The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer true story<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Charles\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Charles Sobrahj<\/span><\/figcaption> Atish Patel\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Widely considered a psychopath, real-life French killer and conman Charles Sobhraj (nicknamed \u201cThe Serpent\u201d and \u201cThe Bikini Killer\u201d) was the chief suspect in at least a dozen murders of Western travellers that took place in South Asia in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

Sobrahj previously confessed to ten murders while being interviewed and recorded by authors Richard Neville and Julie Clarke for their 1979 book, but retracted his statement and has since said he never killed anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

In one apparent \u2018confession\u2019, which features in the new Channel 4 documentary and which Sobrahj has now retracted, he recalled: \u201cShe said, \u2018Did you give me something? Because I feel very funny\u2019. I said, \u2018Teresa, I\u2019m sorry to say to you but I think I have to do something bad to you\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In another tape, he seemingly confessed to the murder of Turkish man Vitali Hakim, whose burned body was discovered at the beach resort of Pattaya a few weeks later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the now retracted confession, he says: \u201cI took one of his clothes, I put it on his face, I poured gasoline on it. I started running to the car because there would be a big flame and then woosh.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

How was Charles Sobrahj caught?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For a time, Sobhraj was Interpol\u2019s most-wanted man, but his capture was thanks in part to the determination of a 30-something junior Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg.<\/p>\n

In February 1976, Knippenberg began looking into the case of two missing Dutch travellers while he was working in Bangkok at the Dutch embassy: Henk Bintanja and Cornelia \u2018Cocky\u2019 Hemker.<\/p>\n

Knippenberg recalled an article he had read two months earlier about two murdered Australian backpackers, and after some investigatory work he soon realised that the burnt bodies had been misidentified \u2013 they were, in fact, the Dutch couple he sought, Bintanja and Hemker.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n