An Iranian woman accused of systematically marrying, poisoning, and burying her husbands over a span of two decades now faces multiple death sentences after authorities say they uncovered the remains of at least 10 men linked to her. The case has gripped Iran and drawn international attention for its sheer scale and the cold calculation prosecutors allege was behind every killing.

Kolthoum Akbari, 45, was arrested in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas after police discovered the body of her most recent husband buried in the yard of her home, the New York Post reported. That discovery triggered a broader investigation that, according to Iranian judicial authorities, eventually led to the recovery of additional remains and confessions tying Akbari to at least 10 deaths.

Iranian media have labeled her "the black widow," a nickname that stuck as investigators peeled back layer after layer of alleged serial murder. Prosecutors say Akbari followed a grim pattern: she would marry men, gain access to their finances, poison them, and then dispose of their bodies on or near her properties.

A pattern prosecutors call calculated and predatory

The investigation began in 2024 when neighbors reported a foul smell emanating from Akbari's property in Bandar Abbas. Police obtained a warrant and discovered human remains buried in the yard. Akbari was taken into custody, and under interrogation she allegedly confessed to killing her most recent husband.

But investigators suspected the case ran deeper. Authorities began examining Akbari's marital history and discovered she had been married numerous times over roughly 20 years. Former neighbors and acquaintances told police that her husbands had a habit of vanishing without explanation.

As the probe widened, forensic teams exhumed remains from multiple locations connected to Akbari. Iranian judicial officials have stated that at least 10 sets of remains were recovered. Toxicology results on several of the recovered bodies indicated poisoning as the cause of death, according to Iranian state media reports cited by the Post.

The alleged method was consistent across victims. Prosecutors say Akbari used a pesticide-based poison, administering it in food or drink. The bodies were then buried in yards or remote plots of land she owned or had access to. Investigators described the burial sites as rudimentary but deliberate, with some remains found under concrete or heavy debris.

Multiple death sentences handed down

An Iranian criminal court has sentenced Akbari to death multiple times over, with each sentence corresponding to a separate murder conviction. Under Iranian law, the families of murder victims can demand qisas, a form of retributive justice that permits execution as punishment. Multiple families have reportedly invoked that right.

The court found Akbari guilty of premeditated murder in connection with the deaths. Iranian judicial spokesman Asghar Jahangir confirmed the sentences, stating that the evidence, including confessions, forensic findings, and witness testimony, left no reasonable doubt of her guilt. Cases involving premeditated killings and their legal outcomes always draw public scrutiny, but the volume of victims here is staggering even by the grim standards of serial murder prosecutions.

Akbari's legal team has reportedly filed appeals, though the grounds for those appeals have not been made public. Under Iranian appellate procedure, death sentences are automatically reviewed by the country's Supreme Court before execution can be carried out.

Financial motive alleged at the core

Prosecutors painted a picture of a woman driven by greed. They allege Akbari targeted men with property, savings, or steady income. After marrying them, she would gain access to their assets. Once she had secured what she wanted, the killings followed.

Iranian investigators said Akbari accumulated significant property holdings over the years, including multiple homes and plots of land. Some of those properties were the very sites where remains were later discovered. Authorities have moved to seize her assets as part of the criminal proceedings.

The financial motive, prosecutors argued, explained why Akbari remarried so frequently and why her victims shared a common profile: men who were relatively isolated, often older, and without large or attentive families who might raise alarms quickly. That predatory targeting of vulnerable individuals echoes patterns seen in other cases where killers deliberately sought out victims unlikely to be missed.

How did this go undetected for 20 years?

That question has dominated Iranian public discourse since the case broke. Critics have pointed to gaps in Iran's civil registration system, which they say made it possible for Akbari to marry and discard husbands without triggering institutional red flags.

In Iran, marriages and divorces are recorded through a combination of religious and civil registries. But enforcement and cross-referencing between jurisdictions can be inconsistent, particularly in smaller cities and rural areas. Akbari allegedly exploited this by marrying men in different provinces, making it harder for any single registry office to notice the pattern.

Some of the missing men were reported to local police by concerned relatives over the years. But those reports were treated as individual missing-person cases, not connected to one another. It was only after the 2024 discovery in Bandar Abbas that investigators began linking the disappearances. The challenge of identifying serial patterns across disconnected jurisdictions is not unique to Iran; investigators worldwide have struggled with similar cases where multiple victims surface before a pattern emerges.

Iranian law enforcement officials have acknowledged the systemic failures but have not announced specific reforms in response. Judicial spokesman Jahangir said the case would be studied for lessons on inter-jurisdictional communication.

A case that has shaken public confidence

The Akbari case has generated intense media coverage inside Iran, where serial murder cases are rare in public discourse. Street-level reaction has been a mixture of horror and anger, with many Iranians questioning how a single individual could allegedly kill at least 10 people over two decades without detection.

Women's rights advocates in Iran have noted an uncomfortable irony: in a legal system where women face severe restrictions on autonomy, Akbari allegedly weaponized the institution of marriage itself. That framing has complicated public discussion, with some commentators warning against using the case to further restrict women's rights in marriage and divorce proceedings.

The scale of the alleged murders places Akbari among the most prolific serial killers in Iranian history. Intimate partner violence resulting in death is a grim reality across the globe, as underscored by recent domestic murder convictions in the United States, but the serial and calculated nature of the allegations here sets the case apart.

What comes next

Akbari remains in custody as her appeals proceed. Iranian legal experts say the automatic Supreme Court review of death sentences could take months. If the sentences are upheld and victim families do not grant clemency, execution would follow.

Investigators have not publicly stated whether they believe additional victims may exist. Given the 20-year timeframe and Akbari's alleged pattern of moving between provinces, authorities face the task of determining whether the confirmed count of 10 represents the full scope of the crimes.

Forensic identification of all recovered remains is ongoing. Some of the bodies were in advanced states of decomposition, complicating the process. DNA matching with families of missing men from across multiple Iranian provinces continues.

When a system fails to connect obvious dots for two decades, the question is never just about one killer. It is about every institution that looked the other way, or never bothered to look at all.