Iranian widow who poisoned multiple husbands
Some investigations suggest she had 19 husbands

A woman named Kulsoom Akbari is known in Iran as the ‘Black Widow’.

Kulsoom Akbari was arrested in September 2023 after her last husband, Azizollah Babaei, died under suspicious circumstances. Prosecutors alleged that Kulsoom had been plotting to kill adult, elderly husbands with poisons and seize their property for more than 20 years (i.e. from 2000 or 2001 to 2023).

In court papers, the woman admitted to killing 11 husbands and attempting to kill one.

However, some investigations suggest she had 19 husbands and many of the men were found dead. Some sources have put the number of possible victims of the woman at more than 20.

Kulsoom gave her husbands poisonous drugs after marriage and in some cases, gave them large doses after taking them to the hospital. In many cases, the deaths were treated as natural deaths due to old age or illness so that they would not become suspects.

Most of the crimes took place in the cities of Sari, Nika, Mahmudabad, Babil and Qaim Shahr in northern Iran.

The woman is charged with 11 murders and one attempted murder, according to documents, and more than 45 victims have filed complaints of crimes. Four of the victims’ families have demanded the death penalty, while the woman’s lawyer requested a psychiatric examination, which the victims’ families rejected.