'Black widow’, 56, faces multiple death sentences after killing at least 10 of her husbands
A woman dubbed Iran's 'black widow' is set to be executed after allegedly confessing to killing at least 10 men who she was married to.
The multiple murders that Kolthoum Akbari is said to be responsible for came to light in September 2023 after her 82-year-old husband, Gholamreza Babaei, died under suspicious circumstances.
Investigators then realised a pattern emerge in the 56-year-old's dating history; each of the more than a dozen spouses she got hitched to over the years had suddenly passed away.
According to Iranian prosecutors, Akbari sought out older men to become romantically involved with in a bid to acquire their property, dowries, gold, cash and other valuables.
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She is alleged to have convinced them to begin a 'temporary' marriage, which is known as 'sigheh' in Iran. According to the Middle East Institute, this 'allows men to marry a woman for a pre-determined period of time, have intimate relations with her, and then leave her without consequences'.
It is claimed that Akbari would then ply them with a cocktail of drugs - such as blood pressure pills, diabetes medication, sedatives and industrial alcohol - by slipping them into drinks.
When her elderly husbands became weaker, the so-called 'black widow' who was based in the city of Sari would then allegedly suffocate them with towels or pillows.
It is believed she got away with it for more than two decades as the mens deaths were often blamed on natural causes, old age and pre-existing health conditions they had.
Akbari's alleged rampage only came to a stop upon the death of her husband Babaei in 2023, as his son alerted authorities about his suspicions that foul play was involved in his passing.
She was arrested and subsequently interrogated, which is when she is alleged to have admitted that she has lost count of how many husbands she has eliminated since her spree began back in 2000.
'I don't know how many I killed'
The Telegraph previously reported that while being quizzed by cops, Akbari said: "I don’t know how many I killed. Maybe it was 13 or 15 people. I don’t remember exactly."
The exact number of her victims remains unclear, however, authorities have confirmed the identity of some of them.
These include 69-year-old Mirahmad Omrani, who died in 2013, 62-year-old Esmail Bakhshi who passed away in 2016, and 83-year-old Ganjali Hamzei, who perished 43 days after their big day.
Akbari was ultimately charged with 11 counts of premeditated murder and one count of attempted murder. She faced her alleged victims families in the Sari Revolutionary Court last year.
According to Iranian news agency Mehr News, Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir previously announced that the relatives of ten of the men asked for Akbari to face 'retribution'.
This is known as qisas in the country and is an 'eye for an eye' approach, meaning Akbari was slapped with multiple death sentences.
Meanwhile, one of the families involved in the case is said to have agreed to accept blood money, which is known as diya.
As a result of these decisions, Akbari was reportedly slapped with 10 death sentences, as well as prison time for the attempted murder charge.
The Mazandaran Judiciary’s public relations office told Iranian state media last Sunday (9 August) that she will soon face the ultimate punishment for her crimes, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The publication stated that both Akbari and her victims families were given 20 days to appeal this verdict to a higher court.
Akbari's lawyer argued last year that her mental state should be examined, however, a relative of one of her deceased partners said: "The combination of drugs, careful planning, and deception of the victims' families cannot be attributed to someone with a mental disorder."
Topics: True Crime, World News, Sex and Relationships, Drugs
Olivia Burke