Kulthum Akbari

Kulthum Akbari (born 1967) is an Iran suspected serial killer. After she was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of being involved in the death of her 82-year-old husband, she confessed to killing 10 other people in 20 years. The arrest and identification of the accused happened by the special homicide investigator of the Mahmudabad Prosecutor's Office. When she was arrested, she introduced herself to the camera and she resided in Sari.

However, investigations show that Akbari had 18 concubine husbands and 19 official marriages in these years, all of whom died, and the number of her victims is likely to be more than 11. In total, it has been suggested that she killed more than 20 men. If convicted, she could be considered the second Iranian serial killer after Mahin Qadiri.

Modus operandi
Akbari used to talk about her life and that she wants to marry an elderly man who lives alone. In this way, she met people who were looking for a companion for their elderly and lonely father. After making sure that the intended subject has a lot of wealth, Kulthum would marry him on the condition of receiving a dowry in the form of cash or property, and in less than 3 months, she would kill the person by means of drugs and suffocation. She would dissolve sugar or blood pressure pills in various drinks and give them to the victim. At first, when the victim's condition worsened, Akbari took him to the hospital and apparently saved him. But in the later stages, by increasing the dose of the drug, she made them unconscious and killed them, and because they had a previous history, no one suspected how they died.

Akbari committed her murders in the cities of Sari, Neka, Mahmudabad, Babol and Qaem Shahr. She used to choose her victims from different cities so as not to leave a trace of herself.