Kolsum Akbari, a 56-year-old woman who is believed to have poisoned 11 husbands to death over a 22 year period, is now facing execution in Iran for the murders.
Akbari is alleged to have married elderly men and then slowly began poisoning them with blood pressure medication, sedatives, diabetes medication, and industrial alcohol, according to The Telegraph. When drugs failed, she allegedly turned to suffocation.
Her motive is thought to be financial, with her inheriting both properties and dowries from the dead husbands.
It is believed the murders went undiscovered as the deaths appeared natural due to the victims’ age and existing health conditions. She also moved across several regions of Iran, preventing authorities from identifying the pattern.
How did authorities learn of the apparent murders?
The murders are alleged to have begun in 2000 and continued until 2023, with the death of 82-year-old Gholamreza Babaei. Babei’s son became suspicious after learning his friend’s father had been married to a woman by the same name who attempted to poison him. The family went on to contact the police.
While Akbari has confessed to the killing, concerns have previously been raised on how Iranian legal authorities solicit confessions through torture, threats against family members and human rights violations. The Jerusalem Post previously reported on a man who confessed to working for Mossad after authorities threatened his niece.
“I don’t know how many I killed. Maybe it was 13 or 15 people. I don’t remember exactly,” she allegedly confessed during interrogations.