A court in Nepal sentenced confessed serial killer Charles Sobhraj to life in prison Thursday on charges of murdering two Western backpackers in Nepal decades ago. Sobhraj, known as "the serpent" because of his talent for disguise and escape, is thought to have killed at least 20 people in India, Thailand, Afghanistan, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong. He was held for two decades in New Delhi's maximum-security Tihar prison, but deported without charge to his home country of France in 1997. Sobhraj resurfaced in Nepal's capital, Katmandu, last September and was arrested at a posh casino. Katmandu District Court judge Bisowmbar Shrestha said, after a trial that lasted several months, Sobhraj was found guilty of murdering two Western backpackers in Nepal. Their charred bodies were found on the outskirts of Katmandu in 1975.