Police's five-word description for failed would-be‘niqab assassin' Aimee Betro as US national convicted

Yahoo

4 days ago

West Midlands Police have shed light on the character of a would-be US assassin who was flown in to kill a Birmingham shopkeeper and his son.
US citizen Aimee Betro, 45 wore a niqab disguise as she went to shoot Sikander Ali - only for her gun to jam outside his home in Measham Grove, Yardley shortly after 8pm on September 7, 2019.
Betro was found guilty of conspiracy to murder at Birmingham Crown Court today, August 12, after she was convicted for her part in a 'murderous plot' that saw her attempt to kill Aslat Mahumad and his son Sikander Ali.
READ MORE: Bungling US assassin guilty of failed Birmingham murder plot
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After a trial at Birmingham Crown Court lasting two weeks, Aimee Betro was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and an offence relating to the importation of ammunition into the UK.
She will be sentenced on Thursday August 21.
Betro was part of a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam and his son Mohammed Nazir from Derby, to attack rival Birmingham father and son, Mr Ali and Mr Mahumad.
Mohammed Aslam and Mohammed Nazir have previously been convicted for their involvement and were jailed in 2024.
Prosecutors stated the attempted hit was a 'revenge' attack against Mr Ali's father, Aslat Mahumand.
Betro had maintained it was a case of mistaken identity and that some of the overwhelming evidence against her was just a 'coincidence'.
Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas of West Midlands Police's Major Crime Unit characterised Aimee Betro as having an "uneasy relationship with the truth."
"My opinion is that Betro has an uneasy relationship with the truth, the evidence was layered professionally and utterly overwhelming and I think ultimately the fact that she's been found guilty of this offence shows that she failed to face up to the reality of the situation' Det Ch Insp Orencas told BirminghamLive.
Adding: 'With the level of evidence, the layering of it, the compelling nature of it, her uneasy nature with the truth, we don't normally see that combination leading to a trial of this style.
READ MORE: The pictures that proved Birmingham would-be assassin was gallivanting US tourist Aimee Betro
'The intended victims were deeply shocked and horrified by what was a near-death experience.'
He described Betro as having 'murderous intent with exceptional persistence.'
After the failed hits on September 7 and the early hours of September 8 2019, Betro flew back to the US on September 9 2019, sparking an international hunt by a number of law enforcement agencies.
She was finally tracked down to Armenia, more than 2,000 miles away from Birmingham, last summer.
Describing how she was extradited from Armenia, Det Ch Insp Orencas added: 'We received information as to Betro's whereabouts, liaised closely with the NCA and the Armenian authorities in a fairly short period of time, Betro was in custody in Armenia and then around a month or so later was extradited and charged with the offences here in the UK.
'She claims she had been travelling and settled there and it was a fairly cheap place to settle and she could work from there, I believe she was doing some computer based work which meant it didn't matter where you were in the world, apparently, that would appear to be the nature of her existence in Armenia.'
On his message to those thinking of flying into Birmingham to commit crime, the chief cop said: 'It doesn't matter how hard or how meticulous you think your planning is, it may cross international borders, continents, the reality is there are no borders to our investigation there is nothing that will stop us seeking justice.'