Prostitution murders in Iran

In 2000 and 2001 serial killer Saeed Hanaei murdered sixteen prostituted, mostly drug addicted women. The killings were referred to as the „spider killings“ by the Iranian press because Hanaei lured the women to his home and strangled them and dumped their bodies. His motives were primarily focused on the ideal that he was helping cleanse the city of moral corruption. He claimed in court that he began killing the prostitutes after his wife was mistaken for one. ¹⁾