The Spectre of Varamin: Serial Killer - Hoshang Amini

The Spectre of Varamin: Serial Killer - Hoshang Amini

Between 1954 and 1962, Hoshang Amini murdered sixty-seven people in Varamin and Tehran, becoming Iran's most prolific serial killer. Born in 1936 to poverty and abuse, Amini systematically targeted vulnerable street children, disposing of their bodies in abandoned qanat wells. Despite journalist Hassan Mehrabi documenting disappearances for eight years, police dismissed reports as runaways.

Amini was finally captured in March 1963 after a victim escaped, coinciding with a bicycle theft investigation. He confessed comprehensively, showing no remorse, claiming he was "purifying" society of corruption. His trial was swift-a predetermined performance of justice ending in public execution on December 14, 1963, in Toopkhaneh Square.

His final words-warning of "3,000 people like me in Tehran" and urging authorities to "find the cause"-were censored. The government systematically suppressed documentation, including twenty hours of prison interviews. Violinist Parviz Yahaghi, who befriended Amini, suffered psychological collapse and withdrew from public life.

Mehrabi's decades of documentation proved prophetic: at least five more serial killers emerged by 1975, exploiting identical systemic failures. The lesson remained unlearned-vulnerable children stayed unprotected, and society chose execution over prevention, repeating the cycle of predictable tragedy.