Hostages run past a police officer (C) near Lindt Cafe, at Martin Place in central Sydney December 16, 2014. Australian security forces on Tuesday stormed the Sydney cafe where several hostages were being held at gunpoint, in what looked like the dramatic
Hostages run past a police officer (C) near Lindt Cafe, at Martin Place in central Sydney December 16, 2014. Australian security forces on Tuesday stormed the Sydney cafe where several hostages were being held at gunpoint, in what looked like the dramatic denouement to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours. REUTERS/Jason Reed (AUSTRALIA - Tags: CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST)
Hostages run past a police officer (C) near Lindt Cafe, at Martin Place in central Sydney December 16, 2014. Australian security forces on Tuesday stormed the Sydney cafe where several hostages were being held at gunpoint, in what looked like the dramatic denouement to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours. REUTERS/Jason Reed (AUSTRALIA - Tags: CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST)

Forty-nine-year-old Sheik Man Haron Monis, the gunman who held hostage customers of Lindt Chocolate Café in Sydney, was more than just an extremist Muslim but had a string of criminal cases behind him, ranging from sexual assault to murder.

YouTube/The Telegraph

By birth, he was an Iranian who went by the name Manteghi Bourjedi, which he changed to Man Haron Monis in 1996 when he left Iran and migrated to Australia where he also appended the title Sheik Haron to his name.

However, Dr Jamal Rifi, community leader of Australia's Muslim community, disputed Monis claim to the sheik title.

His first brush with the law was sending hate mail to families of dead Australian soldiers. Bree Till, the widow of Brett Till who died in 2009 after a roadside bomb blast, received a letter from Monis and his new partner, Amirah Droudis, accusing Brett of being a child murderer, 9News reports..

Monis was convicted in 2013 for sending the letters, but his penalty was only community service.

But it turned out he had a string of other cases. He has almost 50 charges of sexual assault as well as the alleged murder of Noleen Hayson Pal, his ex-wife who is the mother of his two children, for which he is out on bail. Droudis said that Monis stabbed and set Pal on fire in an apartment block in Werrington.

Seven women filed sexual assault charges against Monis in April when he worked as a spiritual leader in Wentworthville. In October, 40 more sexual offences were filed against Monis still related to his work as spiritual healer.

Monis also operated a pro-Islam Web site that had images of murdered children, Facebook and Twitter pages and YouTube channels that served as his propaganda arm. During the siege, Facebook closed his page, according to The Age.

The gunman was supposed to appear in February 2015 in court to face the indecent and sexual assault charges.

Manny Conditsis, his former lawyer, said that Monis's hostage-taking was a lone wolf attack, "not a concerted terrorism event or act."