Mahin Qadiri

Mahin Qadiri (Persian: مهین قدیری) (1977 – December 20, 2010) was an Iranian serial killer who was convicted of robbing and killing six elderly people (one man in 2006, and five women between February and May 2009) in Qazvin. She was subsequently convicted, sentenced to death and promptly hanged in 2010.

After failing to appeal her sentence, Qadiri was hanged at the Qazvin Central Prison on December 20, 2010.

For the next three years, she is not known to have committed any violent crimes, before embarking on a killing spree lasting from February 6 to May 6, 2009. Qadiri's modus operandi consisted of driving her yellow Renault around various imamzadehs in Qazvin and singling out elderly women who wore any golden ornaments or similar jewellery. After picking a suitable victim, she would offer to give them a ride home, often complimenting about how kind they were or how much they reminded her of her mother, before offering a juice box laced with an anesthetic. Once the victim was paralyzed or otherwise unable to properly fight back, Qadiri would proceed to strangle them using her headscarf or her bare hands. Her first murder victim fell out of the car since she was placed in the front seat, and so, for the four that followed, would have them seat in the back, where it was also less visible by any potential passers-by.

On May 11, 2009, Qadiri gave a ride to a 60-year-old woman to whom she offered one of her poisoned drinks. However, the woman vehemently refused, and asked to be dropped off when she noticed that her benefactor was driving in the wrong direction. After hearing that a serial killer had been killing elderly women in a similar fashion, the woman notified police, describing her would-be assailant's car as a Renault. After obtaining this information, the police inspected more than 27,000 cars inside the country, as they considered the possibility that the perpetrator might not be from Qazvin.

Qadiri's first murder was committed in 2006, when she strangled and robbed an elderly man in Qazvin, for which she was immediately arrested and charged with murder. However, the court had insufficient evidence to prove that she was the culprit beyond a reasonable doubt, and she was acquitted.

Mahin Qadiri was born in Qazvin in 1977, the third in a family of eight children. Little is known of her early life, but she is known to have studied until the third grade, was married by the age of 14 and had two daughters. Despite her lack of proper education, Qadiri was noted for her intelligence, complex personality and unconditional love for her family. This was especially directed towards her disabled daughter Fatemeh, who suffered from fevers since she was very little.