Posted on 04/17/2002 1:36:02 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
TEHRAN, April 16 (AFP) - The convicted serial killed of 16 prostitutes in city of Mashhad in 2000 and 2001 was hanged at dawn on Wednesday, IRNA reported.
Saeed Hanai, who confessed to killing women ranging in age from 20 to 50 and all with drugs and prostitution records, is to be executed inside Mashhad prison.
The serial killer strangled his victims with a scarf before abandoning their bodies around the northeastern city.
Prostitution, a thriving industry under the former shah but banned after the 1979 Islamic revolution, has been making a comeback as Iran experiences unemployment and economic woes.
Iranian media regularly report police crackdowns in prostitution networks.
Photograph caption: The suspected murderer of 19 prostitutes Saeed Hanayi (L), known as the 'spider killer,' accompanied by judicial officials, points at the scene of one of the crimes in the holy city of Mashhad 25 July 2001. Hanayi, who has confessed to killing 16 prostitutes, said he wanted to 'clean his neighborhood' and showed no remorse, adding: 'I would have killed 150 if I hadn't been arrested.' An Iranian justice official told state radio 28 July that Hanayi will be tried in public in about ten days. EDS NOTE: Best quality available.
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Same story, different wording, from CNN.COM
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- A convicted serial killer who strangled 16 Iranian women with their headscarves has been executed, state radio reported.
Saeed Hanai confessed to picking up the victims, mostly prostitutes, on the streets of the holy city of Mashhad.
He lured them back to his home while his wife and three children were away, strangling them and dumping their bodies on waste ground.
Under Iran's strict Sharia law, victims' relatives can ask for "blood money" instead of the death penalty.
But only four of the 16 families demanded the payment, state radio said, and Hanai was hanged on Wednesday.
The murders met mixed reactions in Mashhad, Iran's holiest city and a centre for Shiite Muslim pilgrimage.
They struck fear into many residents, but others in the Islamic Republic proclaimed the women got what they deserved.
I'm amazed. I would have expected him to be promoted to Imam.
In truth, we have a death penalty lottery. The chances of a person getting the death penalty is slim and none.
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