Abdelaâli Hadi

Abdelaâli Hadi (Arabic: عبد العالي الحاضي, Berber languages: ⵄⴱⴷ ⴰⵍⵄⴰⵍⵉ ⵄⵃⴰⴷⵉ, 1962 – May 6, 2022), known as The Butcher of Taroudant, was a Moroccan serial killer responsible for killing nine children, aged 11–16, between 2000 and 2004. He was later sentenced to death for his crimes.

On December 11, 2005, after a year-long trial, during which Hadi revealed that he had a 9th victim, the Agadir Court of Appeals issued him a death sentence and a fine of 195,000 dirham. He told the court that he felt pleasure from the murder of children, and reportedly had an orgasm while choking his victims. Hadi seemed to have expressed remorse. When asked by the judge if he regretted his acts, he claimed that it was "between me and God". He explained that the poem written on the paper was a message to police to look for a Hadi that wore Adidas shoes, he later clarified that "55" represented handcuffs on both hands as "5" is a slang for handcuffs in Morocco. He died on May 6, 2022 while on death row at Moul El Berki central prison.

Abdelaâli Hadi was born in 1962 from a modest family in Taroudant, he dropped out of school at age 11. After his mother's death, he moved to Bensergaou, near Agadir. He was the victim of gang-rape by a group of street thugs at age 14. He moved back to Taroudant at age 16. On August 20, 2004, locals discovered human skeletons and eight skulls scattered across the Taroudant valley, and quickly contacted police about the matter. The news spread with lightning speed around the country, due to the heavy coverage by the national press and TV networks. Autopsist Saïd Louahlia concluded on a report commissioned by the Agadir Court of Appeals that the victims were aged 13-16 years old and died at least 6 months before the discovery, Louahlia also concluded that the bodies were exhumed and later put on the Taroudant valley. As for the investigators, they concluded that the bodies were moved to the Taroudant Valley on the night of August 19th. The investigators worked intensely to hunt down the perpetrator, searching for any and all clues that could lead to the killer. Using DNA collected from soil samples, a match was made with the parents of three of the murdered children, identifying them. Each of the parents informed said that their child had worked at a road station in Taroudant, leading to police started heavily surveilling the area around the station in order to catch the killer.

While reviewing their evidence, investigators came across a piece of paper next to the skulls with a poem saying "12 October, Week 41, Adidas 55, Hadi 2303, Adidas 5" (Arabic: 12 أكتوبر، الأسبوع 41، أديداس 55، الحاضي 2303، أديداس 5). The piece of paper was sent to a police laboratory in Casablanca, to no avail. Abandoning the surveillance of the road station, they examined all possible leads concerning 'Hadi', which led them to searching the name on a police database, they found Najib Hadi, an employee at the road station. When questioned if he was the only one in the family who worked nearby and had the same surname, Najib revealed that he had a brother, Abdelaâli, who also worked at the job and lived in Mahatta neighborhood of Taroudant. Accompanied by Najib, police officers went to Abdelaâli Hadi's house and knocked on the door on August 7, 2004. Much to their surprise, Hadi opened the door and greeted them by saying: "I have been waiting for you to save me from my torture. I have been suffering day and night. I want to sleep and heal." When asked if he was the child murderer, he simply said yes and was taken into custody. During his police interrogation, he admitted to every crime and told the police the name of every victim. He also revealed that he had a 9th victim. Police concluded that his motive was to seek vengeance towards society following his gang-rape, as well as pedophilia.