Tehran, Iran
In a terrifying series of killings, the woman who is now known throughout Iran as the “black widow” allegedly confessed, “I married old men, gave them pills and alcohol, and watched them die slowly while collecting their money and property.”
Kolsum Akbari, 56, was scheduled to be executed on August 14, 2025, according to a Jerusalem Post story, after being charged with poisoning at least 11 elderly husbands nationwide during a 22-year period.
Akbari seemed to have financial motivations. Authorities said she would receive dowries and property from her deceased husbands. She allegedly targeted males with chronic illnesses over the years, making their deaths seem natural. Official investigations stated that Akbari used sedatives, diabetes medications, blood pressure medications, and industrial alcohol to kill her victims in silence. She allegedly tried suffocation when these techniques didn’t work.
According to reports, the murders started in 2000 and continued until 2023, when 82-year-old Gholamreza Babaei passed away. Because Akbari regularly moved between locations, making it difficult for authorities to link the fatalities, and because the men she married were already elderly and fragile, the pattern of deaths went unnoticed for decades. When Babaei’s son became suspicious, she was overthrown. He learnt that a woman with Akbari’s name had almost poisoned a friend’s father. Following the police notice, a more thorough investigation showed how many offences Akbari had committed. Akbari allegedly confessed during questioning, stating, “I don’t know how many I killed.
“Thirteen or fifteen individuals, perhaps. I can’t recall precisely.”
Human rights organisations, however, raised concerns about the means by which Iranian officials might have forced her to make the confession through torture, threats against family members or even coercion. As Akbari awaited death last week, her case provoked anger and morbid fascination throughout Iran, drawing attention to concerns about elder care, justice, and the weaknesses taken advantage of by those who want to commit murder for financial gain.
