Aimee Betro: How a second bungled plot was hitwoman's downfall

BBC News

a day ago

Aimee Betro failed at her mission to assassinate her long-distance lover's rival - but in the days after her bungled attack, she still believed she could cover her tracks and evade police. The US woman, who had been on the run for five years, was this week found guilty of conspiracy to murder after trying to shoot dead a Birmingham businessman in 2019 as part of a revenge plot.But it was a second failed plot, alongside her co-conspirator, to frame an innocent English man for Betro's failed shootings that eventually led to her downfall.From a post office in Illinois, Betro sent packages of ammunition and gun parts to that innocent party in Derby - and police in England did initially arrest him, suspecting him of being responsible.A series of mistakes, though, left a plethora of DNA and other evidence that gave the police and prosecutors a strong case against Betro - leaving her facing a lengthy jail term when she returns to court for sentencing next week.
Betro, 45, had travelled to England from her home in West Allis, Wisconsin, to carry out a planned assassination that was conceived by co-conspirator Mohammed Nazir, whom she had met on a dating app.He and his father Mohammed Aslam launched a vendetta after they were injured during disorder at bridal shop Seher Boutique on Alum Rock Road in July 2018, which was owned by businessman Aslat Mahumad.The pair were so angered by the fight - reportedly over the price of a wedding suit - they set out for revenge against Mr Mahumad, recruiting Betro to help.Even though she had no obvious criminal background, she agreed - flying to the UK to kill a man she didn't know.
On the night of the attack, Betro disguised herself in a niqab and laid in wait outside the Mahumad family home in Yardley, Birmingham. When Mr Mahumad's son Sikander Ali arrived at the property, she stepped out and attempted to shoot at point blank range. Her gun jammed or malfunctioned, and Mr Ali fled the scene unharmed.In the early hours of the following day, she returned to the scene and fired three times at the empty property.The day after that, Betro left the UK and the second plan came into effect, with Nazir joining her back in the US as the pair hatched a plot to target another man.
CCTV footage captured Betro at a post office in Palatine, Illinois, where she shipped off the illegal goods, using the false name M Chandler. As part of the scheme, Nazir also tipped off the police about the packages in order to frame the man in England to whom it was addressed.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said DNA evidence had played a "crucial part" in proving Betro's guilt and linked her to both the attempted attack in Birmingham and the ammunition offences.Her DNA was found inside all three packages sent to frame the innocent Derby man, as well as on a black glove inside a Mercedes she had used as a getaway vehicle, following the attempted assassination.DNA from both crime scenes were also compared and shown to be from the same person, the CPS confirmed.
In separate proceedings to Betro, both Nazir, 31, and Aslam, 59, each from Derby, were jailed last year for conspiracy to murder.Betro faced trial this summer, ending up in a British court after a globetrotting trek.An international warrant for her arrest was issued by the UK in June 2024 and when law enforcement finally caught up with her, she had spent five years on the run. She was eventually tracked down in Armenia, where she was in hiding, and extradited to the UK.Last week Betro was convicted of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent and being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of ammunition.Sikander Ali, on whom she had pulled the gun and tried to fire, was last year jailed for drugs and firearm offences unrelated to the incident in Birmingham.
Det Ch Insp Alastair Orencas, from West Midlands Police, said an "incredible amount of work" had gone into building a picture of Betro's activities while she was in the UK.He explained how the Wisconsin native had posted pictures and videos of famous landmarks, in efforts to pass herself off as a tourist, when her real purpose was to commit murder."We worked really closely with partners such as the Armenian Government, NCA, FBI, Crown Prosecution Service and Derbyshire Constabulary to bring Betro back to the UK to face justice," he said.The BBC has contacted the FBI for comment.
John Sheehan, head of the CPS Extradition unit, said it was a "complex" investigation and extradition process which required bringing together multiple agencies."We worked together to make sure we had a watertight prima facie case in order to lawfully arrest Aimee Betro in a foreign country without her becoming aware and potentially fleeing again," he explained.She is due to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on 21 August.
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