Ali Asghar Borujerdi

Case record: Ali Asghar Borujerdi

Ali Asghar Borujerdi (Persian: عَلی اَصغَر بروجردی) was known in Iran as اصغر قاتل (Asghar-e Ghatel or Asghar Qatel: Asghar the Murderer) (1893 - June 26, 1934). He was described as the first Iranian serial killer and rapist reported in 20th century.

Timeline

• 1893 — Ali Asghar Borujerdi was born in the Western Iranian town of Borujerd.
• June 26, 1934 — Ali Asghar Borujerdi was executed by hanging in front of an immense crowd in Tehran's Sepah Square.
• 31 December 1933 — The first bodies, heads severed, were found.
• early March 1934 — Police detained Borujerdi again; he confessed.
• 1933 — Ali Asghar Borujerdi escaped back to Iran after killings in Baghdad; he arrived in Tehran and continued killing.
• six years later — After leaving for Iraq at age eight, Ali Asghar Borujerdi moved on to Baghdad.
• six years later (age fourteen) — At fourteen, he moved on to Baghdad and began sexually abusing adolescent boys.

Background

Ali Asghar Borujerdi was born in 1893 in the Western Iranian town of Borujerd. At the age of eight, he left with his mother and siblings for Karbala, Iraq. Six years later, he moved on to Baghdad.

The offence

Ali Asghar Borujerdi assaulted and raped adolescent boys in Baghdad. He learned to kill them in order to get rid of police who were observing him for assaulting and raping young adults.

According to his testimony, he killed 25 people in Iraq before escaping back to Iran. He also confessed to having had sexual intercourse and subsequently killed thirty-three adolescent boys.

In Tehran after his return from Baghdad, he continued his murders. He was arrested once and released for lack of evidence, but after police detained him again, he confessed and was tried and convicted.

Investigation

The first bodies, heads severed, were found on 31 December 1933. In 1933, he was about to be reported to police after he was watched by another boy while he was raping and killing the last Iraqi teenager. He then escaped back to Iran.

Arrest

Borujerdi was arrested once and released for lack of evidence. In early March of 1934, the police detained him again, and this time he confessed.

Trial

After being detained in early March 1934 and confessing, Ali Asghar Borujerdi was tried and convicted. He made an unsuccessful appeal.

Sentencing

After an unsuccessful appeal, Ali Asghar Borujerdi was hung in front of an immense crowd in Tehran's Sepah Square on 26 June.

Outcome

He was convicted for raping and killing 33 young adults, eight in Tehran and the rest in Baghdad.

Other details

After arriving in Tehran in 1933, Ali Asghar Borujerdi worked as a porter and vegetable-seller. He took up residence in Bagh-e Ferdous, a neighborhood in Tehran's poor popular south. He killed eight boys, most of them homeless vagrants. In addition, murders in Iraq involved sexually abusing adolescent boys after he moved to Baghdad at about fourteen.

References included:

• "Serial Murder in Tehran: Crime, Science, and the Formation of Modern State and Society in Interwar Iran", History Comparative Studies in Society and History, 47(4) October 2005, pp 836-862.
• Cyrus Schayegh (2005). Serial Murder in Tehran: Crime, Science, and the Formation of Modern State and Society in Interwar Iran. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 47, pp 836-862. doi:10.1017/S001041750500037X.
• Wikipedia.org Ali Asghar Borujerdi Tehran, 1934.