Mahin Qadiri

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. While her marriage was stable and she was on good terms with family members, it was known that Qadiri had a costly spending habit and was frequently in debt. This was tolerated to a certain extent, but it eventually became so out of hand that her husband stopped supporting her financially and he refused to let her have the parental inheritance. == Murders ==

Without a source of income to pay off her mounting debts, Qadiri decided that the quickest way to find money was to steal valuable items and then resell them. As victims, she would often choose the elderly, as they were frail and less likely to put up a challenging fight. == Investigation and arrest==

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. Eventually, authorities identified a cream-coloured Renault as the one that had been seen at one of the murder sites. As a result, they tracked it down to Qadiri, who was arrested in the early morning of May 15 at her home in the Minoodar area. While inspecting her home, investigators found newspaper articles detailing her crimes, as well as other articles and writings about other serial killers. She confessed to all six crimes, claiming that she killed only when she was in dire need of money to pay off her debts or to treat her daughter's illness, and that a burden had been lifted off her shoulders when she was finally caught. Later on, Qadiri revealed that she had also done it out of hatred for her mother, who had placed her in this harsh financial situation. == Trial, imprisonment and execution ==

Qadiri was charged and subsequently convicted on six counts of premeditated murder, for which she was given the death sentence. == In the media ==

A documentary titled Mahin, directed by Mohammad Hossein Heidari and produced by the Awj Art Media Organization, was made to document the killer's life. It would subsequently win three awards (Best Film, Best Director and Best Artistic Achievement) at the 7th Shahr International Film Festival, and finished second place for the Best Film award at the Haghighat Film Festival. == See also ==