Saeed Hanaei or Said Hanai (سعید حنایی, died April 8, 2002) was an Iranian serial killer.
Contents |
Hanaei targeted female prostitutes in the eastern city of Mashhad. He often targeted drug addicts, because he felt that he was helping rid the city of moral corruption.
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. Hanaei killed 16 women before he was apprehended by the police.
He was found guilty and hanged at dawn on April 8, 2002 in Mashhad Prison.
The incident was the subject of the 2002 documentary And Along Came a Spider.
Shock rocker Alice Cooper's 2008 album, Along Came A Spider, is a concept album, following Hanaei's crimes.