Kriti Mehrotra
With both Netflix’s ‘The Serpent‘ and Peacock’s ‘World’s Most Notorious Killers: The Serpent’ delving deep into the tale of Charles Sobhraj, we get a true insight into all his heinous offenses. That’s because these originals shine a light upon not only the way he preyed on young backpackers on the “hippie trail” through Asia in the 1970s but also his coercions, disguises, and manipulations. It thus comes as no surprise they also focus on Marie-Andrée Leclerc, his primary accomplice, his most devout follower, and arguably possibly one of his first victims in the worst of ways.
Marie-Andrée Leclerc Caught Charles Sobhraj’s Eyes in India
Although a proud native of Quebec, Canada, with a career as a medical secretary, Marie-Andrée Leclerc reportedly always hoped to lead an adventurous, spontaneous life alongside a charming and loving partner. Therefore, after she got engaged, she and her fiancé decided to take a long trip to India, unaware they would come across a guide by the name of Charles Sobhraj and fall into his allure. The truth is she really liked his quiet confidence as well as the fact he was a French national of Indian and Vietnamese origin, just like he was attracted to her beauty, grace, and intellect.
Little did Marie’s fiancé know she and Charles began drugging him to get together as the days went on, just for her to fall in love and for him to make her promise she would return to Asia for him. In fact, once the couple returned to Quebec, the secretary apparently received many letters from her lover urging her to join him in his new home in Bangkok before he directly sent her a plane ticket. So, mere months after first meeting him, she left everything she knew behind to be with the fraudster and eventual serial killer in July 1975 — the body of his first known victim was found in October.
However, according to the Peacock original documentary, everything changed the second Marie and Charles reunited as he took her passport and decided she would go by a name of his liking. That’s when she became Monique, only for her to then purportedly gradually begin losing her identity and sense of self as she turned a blind eye to his actions as well as ties with other local women. On the other hand, she was also his partner in crime in every sense of the term, as she allegedly helped him carry out his scams and never questioned when sick tourists disappeared from their home.
Marie-Andrée Leclerc Apparently Didn’t Know Charles Was a Killer
While Marie was involved in carrying out Charles’ fraudulent ideas before traveling the world with him on stolen passports and cashed-out travelers’ cheques, she reportedly had no idea of any murders. Even after they were arrested in India in July 1976 for drugging a group of French tourists, after Interpol had already issued an international arrest warrant charging Charles with four different murders in Thailand, she vehemently maintained she had no hand in any of this. Later on, a survivor did ostensibly argue, “She had to know about it. Anyone with eyes and ears could see what was going on in this apartment,” yet that was not what she asserted to the police.
Having been accused of being Charles’ accomplice in the murders of Jean-Luc Salomon and Avoni Jacob in New Delhi, Marie actually cooperated with officials but denied culpability for both of them. She purportedly told them all that she knew about her partner’s scams before claiming she had wanted to leave for a while but couldn’t since he had possession of all her belongings and her passport. Nevertheless, in the end, while she was acquitted of any charge in Jean-Luc’s murder in 1978, she was found guilty of murder in connection to Avoni’s death in 1980, and Charles was convicted in both.
Marie-Andrée Leclerc Passed Away in Her Homeland in 1984
Marie did appeal her 12-year conviction almost as soon as it was declared, only for the appeals court to side with her, overturn the ruling, and order her release with the stipulation she remains in India. She seemed okay with this, that is, until she was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer in July 1983, so she requested permission to return to her homeland of Canada to be around loved ones. She was authorized to do so as long as she reported to the Indian High Commission in Ottawa every three months, which she did while also writing her memoir ‘Je Reviens’ (translation: I will be back).
But alas, despite Marie’s reiterated claims that she had no involvement in any murder and had stopped loving Charles long ago in her 1983 published book, many dispute her alleged truth. However, nothing can ever be done about this because she sadly lost her battle with cancer at the age of 38 on April 20, 1984, while she was living at Hôtel-Dieu in Lévis, Quebec.
Read More: Ajay Chowdhury: What Happened to Charles Sobhraj’s Right-Hand Man?
