The world has been showing interest in the notorious American serial killer, kidnapper, rapist, burglar, and necrophile Ted Bundy through the Netflix documentary series, which offers some insight on the gruesome reality of human evil.
Unfortunately, villainy is not bound to a specific place nor region. For one, the Arab world is no stranger to serial killers who have taken lives in the most horrifying methods.
While the public knows of the infamous Egyptian serial killers Raya and Skeena, there are several other murderers who have terrorized the region. Therefore, we have compiled a list of some of the Arab world's most dangerous serial killers.
Disclaimer: This is not for the faint-hearted.
One of the first recorded serial killers in history lived in 5th century Yemen
Zu Shenatir, who lived in the Himyarite Kingdom (modern-day Yemen), is known as one of the first recorded serial killers.
Reported to have been a wealthy man, he lured young boys into his house by offering them food and money, after which he raped and killed them.
His body count is unknown, but he reportedly carried out his crimes until he was stabbed to death by a would-be victim.
Morocco's Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi robbed, murdered, and mutilated women
Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi was a cobbler and public letter writer who reportedly killed at least 36 women.
With the help of a 70-year-old female accomplice, Mesfewi would invite young women to dinner, sedate them, and stab them to death in their sleep. He would then steal their valuables before burying them under his shop or in a land he owned.
Mesfewi faced daily whippings and was publicly immured on June 11, 1906. He died two days later.
"The Sana'a Ripper" killed beautiful women ... to send them to heaven
Mohammed Adam Omar, a Sudanese mortuary assistant, reportedly confessed to killing 51 women in Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, and Yemen during the period spanning from 1975 to 2000.
However, due to inconsistencies that flawed the prosecution's case, Omar was only convicted of raping, killing, and dismembering two female medical students at the Sana'a University in Yemen.
"When I see women, and especially beautiful ones, something happens inside me and I can't resist something pushes me to kill and I even enjoy it," he was quoted as saying, according to The Guardian.
"My motive in killing them was to send them to heaven," he said.
Omar, who was 49-years-old at the time, was executed in 2001.
A Jordanian couple conned their way into their victims' homes
Between 1994 and 1998, Bilal Musa and his wife, Susan Ibrahim, impersonated salespeople and journalists to deceive people into welcoming them into their homes. After entering their houses, the couple killed and robbed the residents.
According to AP News, Musa was convicted of murdering 12 people and was subsequently hanged in Swaqa Prison.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim was convicted of being an accomplice to the murders and robberies. While she was initially sentenced to death, an appeals court commuted the sentence to life in prison.
Iraq's "Doctor Death" turned his patients into victims
Dr. Louay Omar Mohammed al-Taei pretended to treat injured Iraqi policemen, soldiers, and officials, while he secretly administered lethal injections.
According to The Guardian, al-Taei said he had been recruited into Ansar Al-Sunna, a lethal Islamist group that fought against U.S. Troops and their local allies.
At the time, the 26-year-old killed 43 victims over an eight to nine-month period that began in October 2005, before being arrested.
Egypt's "Al-Tourbini" targeted young boys
With the help of his gang members, gang-leader Ramadan Abdel Rehim Mansour (1980 – 2010), also known as "Al-Tourbini," raped and murdered at least 32 children over the course of seven years.
All of his victims were 10 to 14-year-olds, most of whom were boys. Some of his victims were reportedly buried alive or thrown into the Nile river.
Mansour was arrested in 2006, after which he claimed he had been "possessed by a female jinn who commanded him to commit the crimes," according to reports.
He was sentenced to death and executed in 2010.
Oddly, Mansour's nickname was commercialized in the country after his crimes were brought to light. Owners of supermarkets and communication centers renamed their businesses "Al-Tourbini," restaurants launched an "Al-Tourbini Sandwich," and tuk-tuk drivers named their vehicles after the notorious murderer.
Lebanon's serial killer brothers had it out for taxi drivers
Known as the "Taxi Driver Killers," brothers George and Michel Tanielian reportedly killed at least 10 people, mostly taxi drivers, in Lebanon's Metn district back in 2011 .
According to media reports, the duo would get into a cab after midnight, shoot the driver in the head, rob the victim, and then set the car on fire.
The Tanielians were charged before a military court and sentenced to death.