Bikini Killer gets life sentence for murder in Nepal
Sobhraj, a master of disguise and escape whose exploits across Asia have spawned two books and a movie, was arrested while gambling in an upmarket hotel casino in the heart of Kathmandu in September last year.
The 60-year-old French national was initially charged in the same court with using a forged passport while travelling to Nepal. He was later cleared of that charge.
In October he was charged with the murder of a US backpacker and her Canadian boyfriend.
Their bodies were found in a wheat field near Kathmandu.
No verdict was given in the case of the Canadian victim.
Sobhraj, who has been accused by police in several Asian countries of killing more than 20 Western backpackers, denied any involvement in the case and said he had never been to Nepal before.
“He has been sentenced to life in prison,” said Kathmandu District Court Judge Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha.
Nepal has no death penalty and lawyers said a life sentence would mean 20 years in jail.
“I am shocked,” Sobhraj said to reporters as he walked out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
“I have been found guilty without witnesses and evidence. Not a single witness was called.
“We are going to appeal.”
Sobhraj has already spent 20 years in jail in India for a string of crimes, including murder and robbery.
Born to an Indian father and Vietnamese mother, Sobhraj had been living in France since he was released from an Indian jail in 1997.
He is accused of killing more than 20 young Western backpackers across Asia, usually by drugging their food or drink, in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1975, Thailand issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of drugging and killing six women, all wearing bikinis, on a beach at Pattaya.
But he was jailed in India before he could stand trial on those charges.
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