Abdelaâli Hadi

In August 2004, some locals came across human skeletons and skulls in the Taroudant valley, and quickly contacted police about the matter. Through the initial investigation, officers concluded that the total number of victims was 8 based on the located skulls, and due to the small bone size, all were determined to be small children. The news spread with lightning speed around the country, due to the heavy coverage by the national media. As for the investigators, they worked intensely to hunt down the perpetrator, searching for any and all clues that could lead to the killer. Using DNA collected from soil samples, a match was made with the parents of three of the murdered children. Each of the parents informed that their child had worked at the road station in Taroudant, and now armed with this knowledge, police started heavily monitoring the area around the station in order to catch the killer.[1]

While reviewing their evidence, investigators come across a piece of paper next to the skulls with the name 'Hadi' written on it. Abandoning the surveillance of the road station, they examined all possible leads concerning this 'Hadi', which led them to Naguib Hadi, an employee at the road station. When questioned if he was the only one in the family who worked nearby and had the same surname, Naguib revealed that he had a brother, Abdelaâli, who also worked at the job and lived in Mahatta neighborhood of Taroudant. Accompanied by Naguib, police officers went to Abdelaâli's house and knocked on the door. Much to their surprise, he opened the door and met them with the following statement: "I have been waiting for you to save me from my torture."[2][3]

On December 11, 2005, after a year-long trial, during which Hadi revealed that he had a 9th victim, the Agadir Court of Appeals issued him a death sentence. He remains on death row.

• List of serial killers by country