The Fate of the convicted ‘New Cairo serial killer’ will be decided as soon as next September as a Cairo criminal court has requested the opinion of Egypt’s grand mufti on a preliminary death sentence handed down to the man who murdered three women earlier this year.
According to the legal charges, Karim Salim, 37, is accused of murdering three women, being involved in sexual actions with them both before and after their deaths, filming these acts, possessing drugs, and people trafficking.
The once-American high school English teacher, who used to create educational materials for videos on TikTok, murdered three female sex workers in November 2023, in April and May of 2024, and got rid of their bodies in Cairo and Port Said governorates.
During the trial, which began in June and had courthouse drama moments that included his initial lawyer’s declaration that he would withdraw from representing him, Salim denied the allegations and admissions he made to the prosecution upon his detention, according to Ahram Online.
Despite Salim’s claims in the court, the prosecution presented incriminating tapes showing him engaging in necrophilic practices on the victims’ dead bodies after murdering them at his own home in an upmarket compound in New Cairo. It also showed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of him on his trip to and from the body disposal site.
The prosecutor general’s office published earlier in the year a statement that an Egyptian suspect, who also happens to be a US citizen, acknowledged during questioning that he killed several women besides the three whose remains were found earlier this month, according to local press.
Karim is dubbed the “New Cairo serial killer” by local news agencies because he lived in an opulent gated neighborhood on the outskirts of Cairo, where he slaughtered his victims.
During interrogation, the prosecution said the suspect admitted to regularly meeting women, taking them to his residence for drugs and unusual sexual activities. He also reportedly confessed to killing them and filming the acts with his mobile phones. After examining the phones, the prosecution said they found videos of the suspect engaging in sexual acts with the victim’s body as well as with other women’s bodies.
