He is believed to be responsible of 12 to 24 murders during the 1970s. Killer, swindler, gem merchant, master manipulator… His aura is as dark as bewitching. In December 2022, after 19 years of imprisonment in Nepal, his life sentence has been cut short: Charles Sobhraj was released.

His main victims: Western tourists traveling through southeast Asia's "Hippie trail". He drugged them, killed them, robbed them and stole their identities before disappearing, in search of his next victims. His swindles and spectacular escapes are countless. In all, "the Serpent" spent almost half a century behind bars.

Through hours of unedited phone conversations recorded from his cell, a series of uncompromising testimonies – from relatives, victims, police, judges and lawyers –, Sobhraj's personal archives and an exclusive interview upon his release, Jean-Charles Deniau delivers an unprecedented portrait of Asia's most notorious killer.