Charles Sobhraj — The Bikini Killer

Charles Sobhraj, a French-Vietnamese serial killer, murdered at least 12 young Western tourists along the "Hippie Trail" in Southeast Asia during the 1970s. He used charm, multilingual charisma, and drugging to control victims before strangling or drowning them, earning the nickname "the Bikini Killer" for the attire of some beach victims. He was arrested in India in 1976 for drugging a French tour group, then deliberately prolonged his sentence to evade charges in Thailand. Sobhraj was arrested in Nepal in 2003 and convicted of two murders; he was released on health grounds in 2022 and deported to France at age 78.