Wolf in the Fold

Throughout the centuries, a fascinated abhorrence with serial killers has led to their becoming famous. The following report is nestled among those of civil war and intrigue in Tabari's History under 257 A.H. (870-871 C.E.), and was transated by David Waines for the SUNY edition:

"In the same year, at a place called Birkat Zalzal, a strangler from Baghdad was apprehended. He had murdered a number of women and buried them in the house where he was living. He was brought to al-Mu'tamid, and I learned that he had ordered the prisoner whipped. He was given two thousand lashes and four hundred strokes with a bastinado, yet he continued to live. Only when the executioners beat his testicles with two wooden flogging posts did he finally expire. His body was then returned to Baghdad, where it was strung up in public view; the corpse was later burned."