Sep 1, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min · 17 segments
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal, has been in prison for 32 years in France. He was captured in Sudan on August 14, 1994. In his book titled "The Jackal," Washington Post…
Joby WarrickGuest
Brian LambHost
kind of publicity came out of that event? There is, again, a great speculation and curiosity in the British press in particular, and of course among investigators, who is this man? Who did this deed? And there's all kinds of – at the time, this is early 70s, so it's not that long after the attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Now it's happened in central London against a victim who was – minding his own business in his own house.
The thing is about Carlos that you see throughout his career, and particularly in the early stages, he had this sense of himself that he could carry himself like he knew what he was doing, dress like somebody who was important or had some money, and police tended to just run right by him.
And he could get away with his crimes again and again because no one seemed to be looking for him.
What was his height? He was a little bit over 5'10", so he wasn't a big guy, but he was a decent size.
The physical characteristic that is remarkable at the time is he's a little bit pudgy and sometimes more than others, and he was very sensitive about his weight.
And whenever he tried to chase women, which he did throughout his life, some were a little bit turned off because he was a little bit on the heavy side.
He was not dashingly handsome, but had a swagger about him that made him appealing to women throughout his life.
But, you know, you would pass him on the street in a European capital and not think twice because you look very Western, would not stand out in the crowd as somebody who would be a typical suspect for anything.
So we're talking like a 24, 25 year old when he's really starting to become, you know, someone important as a terrorist figure.
And he began his career even earlier because at just age 21, being a college washout.
He essentially dropped out of school and moved himself to the Middle East, a place where he'd never been.
He had no association with any of the groups there, but wanted to volunteer to serve in one of the Palestinians' military training camps at the time, not because he cared about the cause so much, but he just wanted to learn how to do things.
kind of publicity came out of that event? There is, again, a great speculation and curiosity in the British press in particular, and of course among investigators, who is this man? Who did this deed? And there's all kinds of – at the time, this is early 70s, so it's not that long after the attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Now it's happened in central London against a victim who was – minding his own business in his own house.
The thing is about Carlos that you see throughout his career, and particularly in the early stages, he had this sense of himself that he could carry himself like he knew what he was doing, dress like somebody who was important or had some money, and police tended to just run right by him.
And he could get away with his crimes again and again because no one seemed to be looking for him.
What was his height? He was a little bit over 5'10", so he wasn't a big guy, but he was a decent size.
The physical characteristic that is remarkable at the time is he's a little bit pudgy and sometimes more than others, and he was very sensitive about his weight.
And whenever he tried to chase women, which he did throughout his life, some were a little bit turned off because he was a little bit on the heavy side.
He was not dashingly handsome, but had a swagger about him that made him appealing to women throughout his life.
But, you know, you would pass him on the street in a European capital and not think twice because you look very Western, would not stand out in the crowd as somebody who would be a typical suspect for anything.
So we're talking like a 24, 25 year old when he's really starting to become, you know, someone important as a terrorist figure.
And he began his career even earlier because at just age 21, being a college washout.
He essentially dropped out of school and moved himself to the Middle East, a place where he'd never been.
He had no association with any of the groups there, but wanted to volunteer to serve in one of the Palestinians' military training camps at the time, not because he cared about the cause so much, but he just wanted to learn how to do things.
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