Public opinion in Iran has been shaken by one of the country’s most serious serial murder cases.
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Kolshoum Akbari, whom Iranian media have dubbed the “Black Widow,” has been found guilty of the intentional murders of 11 elderly men, as well as one attempted murder. She has been sentenced to death.
Investigations indicate that her alleged criminal activity spanned more than 20 years, from the early 2000s until her arrest in 2023.
Akbari’s targets were primarily elderly men. Many of them were widowers or lived alone, without close family members nearby. She is suspected of initially establishing a trusting relationship with them, then marrying them and poisoning them a short time later.
Akbari has admitted to at least 11 murders, but during questioning she reportedly suggested that the number of victims may have been even higher.
“I don’t know how many people I killed. Maybe there were 13 or 15 people. I don’t remember exactly,” she is quoted as saying.
Iranian authorities say she used a mixture of different substances for the poisonings, including sedatives, diabetes medication, industrial alcohol and other preparations.
The victims are suspected to have received these substances directly from her or through food and drinks into which she had added them, including soup and tea.
After consuming the mixtures, the men suffered severe symptoms such as nausea, difficulty breathing and loss of consciousness.
Because of their advanced age and the health problems many of the victims already had, the deterioration of their condition was often attributed to existing illnesses or old age.
Some of them were hospitalized and treated for diabetes or heart problems. When they died, both doctors and family members believed that the deaths had resulted from natural causes.
Akbari is suspected of having remained outside the authorities’ focus for a long time partly because the men who died lived in different cities.
The first serious suspicions arose in 2023, following the death of her last husband, who was 82 years old.
Before he died, the 82-year-old told his children that Akbari forced him to take medication for high blood pressure and heart problems. According to him, he repeatedly lost consciousness after taking them.
The family requested police intervention and the opening of an investigation immediately after his death.
In September 2023, Akbari was arrested. During further checks, investigators found that she had also married several other men and that, in many cases, the husbands had died after the marriages.
The authorities also included deaths recorded years earlier in the investigation. Exhumations and new toxicological analyses were carried out, while doctors who had initially classified the deaths as natural also testified in court.
At the center of the case is the use of “sigheh,” a type of temporary marriage recognized under Iran’s Shiite legislation.
According to investigators, Akbari allegedly used this institution to gain access to the elderly men’s homes, private lives and financial assets.
She is suspected of persuading some of the men to transfer vehicles or property to her while they were still alive. At the same time, she secured the ability to use their pensions and savings.
At least some of the marriages were permanent, which guaranteed Akbari greater legal rights over the assets.
The authorities state that, before the death of her last husband, she had received from him a dowry worth five billion rials, or approximately 102,000 euros.
At the conclusion of the trial, the court found her guilty on 11 charges of intentional murder and one additional charge of attempted murder.
In cases of this nature, Iran’s legal system gives considerable weight to the decisions of the victims’ families, in accordance with the principle known as “qisas.”
Akbari’s execution was requested by ten families, while the other family accepted financial compensation, known as “diyya” or “blood money.”
As a result, the court handed down ten death sentences. For the attempted murder, Akbari also received a ten-year prison sentence.
The panel of judges also ordered the confiscation of her assets. Her legal defense had requested that Akbari undergo a psychiatric examination, questioning her mental state.
The court rejected this claim. In its assessment, the methodical and long-term nature of the acts, the efforts to conceal the deaths and the financial motive showed that the crimes had been deliberately planned.
Before the ruling becomes final, it may be appealed.
The case has triggered strong reactions in Iran because of the number of victims and the long period over which the crimes are suspected to have been committed. Attention has also been drawn to the fact that Akbari represents one of the rare cases in which a woman has been accused of serial murder.
The case has also reopened discussion about temporary marriages, financial abuse of the elderly and the vulnerability of people who live alone or far from their relatives.
As Iran’s population ages, experts and authorities are expressing growing concern about the need to protect the elderly from fraud, abuse and financial exploitation.
