Plymouth man, 61, pleads not guilty to murdering woman last year
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
US woman to be sentenced over failed assassination plot in Birmingham
A would-be assassin who flew to the UK only for her gun to jam during an assassination attempt while she was disguised in a niqab will be sentenced on Thursday. Aimee Betro, 45, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol and fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition after a three-week trial which ended last week. The graphic design and childhood education graduate tried to shoot Sikander Ali at point-blank range outside his home in Measham Grove, Yardley, Birmingham, shortly after 8pm on September 7 2019. Judge Simon Drew KC will sentence Betro, who is originally from West Allis in Wisconsin but lived in Armenia until earlier this year, at Birmingham Crown Court. Jurors at her trial heard she took part in a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, who were sentenced for their part last year, following a feud with Mr Ali's father, Aslat Mahumad. Nazir was jailed for 32 years in November 2024 for offences including conspiracy to murder while Aslam was sentenced to 10 years. Prosecution counsel Tom Walkling KC said 'revenge was the motive' after Nazir and Aslam were injured during disorder at Mr Mahumad's clothing boutique in Birmingham in July 2018, which led them to conspire to have someone kill him or a member of his family. Mr Walkling told Betro's trial that she met Nazir, who lived in Derby, on a dating app in late 2018 and then communicated with him via Snapchat before flying to the UK on Christmas Day of the same year. She told the court she slept with Nazir at an Airbnb in London before returning to the US in January 2019. Records show Betro landed at Manchester Airport on a flight from Atlanta on August 22 2019, two weeks before the attempted killing of Mr Ali. Betro was caught on CCTV at and near the scene of the failed attempt to shoot Mr Ali, who fled in his car after the gun jammed. Security camera footage also captured her return to the scene hours later, when she aimed three shots through the front windows of Mr Ali's family home. Betro told the court she flew into the UK to celebrate her 40th birthday and knew nothing of any shooting or murder plot by the time she returned to the US. She also attempted to explain away evidence against her by claiming the woman caught on CCTV wielding a gun and recorded booking taxis was 'another American woman' known to Nazir who had a similar voice and footwear.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Human remains found in search for missing pregnant teenager... as boyfriend charged with murder
Human remains have been found in the search for a missing pregnant teenager, leading authorities to charge her boyfriend with murder. Kylee Monteiro, 18, who her family says was 11 weeks pregnant, was reported missing on August 7 after visiting her boyfriend, 22-year-old Gregory Groom, at his home in Rehoboth, Massachusetts the night before. It was Groom, the father of Monteiro's child, who had initially reported her missing after her family became concerned that they had not heard from her. He had claimed that Monteiro arrived at his house looking for a place to stay on August 6 and the two had got into an argument, at which point she left his property, prosecutors said in court on Wednesday, according to NBC Boston. But as police continued their investigation, they spoke with one of Monteiro's sisters, who said she was texting Monteiro that night - and Monteiro told her Groom had become physically aggressive. 'He threw me on the ground and pulled my hair and strangled me,' the sister said Monteiro texted her. 'My phone is at four percent and if I die, it was Greg.' The sister said she later received a text message from Monteiro saying she was going to spend the night at Groom's. Groom was charged Wednesday with murder, as well as aggravated assault and battery on a pregnant person, domestic assault and battery and intimidation of a witness Still, family members were left worried, with her sister Faith telling how Monteiro sounded frantic in a phone call that night - her tone conveying an urgent, unspoken plea for help. 'She was desperate for help,' Faith told ABC News. 'She was calling out to friends, family, anyone she could, telling them that she was in danger. The whole situation is very scary.' Faith immediately offered to pick her up, but Kylee declined. Still, Faith said her sister wasn't the type to ask a stranger for a ride and 'doesn't know how to survive on her own.' As reports of the fight and other domestic issues swirled, prosecutors said Groom returned to the Rehoboth Police Department on Tuesday and admitted that he had pushed Monteiro, causing her to fall backwards and hit her head. He reportedly also acknowledged that when Monteiro tried to contact someone, he knocked the phone out of her hand. When police then informed Groom that they had applied for and were granted a search warrant, and were set to search his home with cadaver dogs and an excavator, he drew a rudimentary map. It showed that he and his girlfriend had gotten into an argument behind a shed on his property, where he was known to stay. During that altercation, Groom said he stabbed Monteiro twice in the neck and once in the chest - with the blade breaking off in her chest, killing her, prosecutors have claimed. Prosecutors say the suspect (pictured) told cops how he spent several hours digging a grave They said the suspect also told cops how he spent several hours digging a hole in the woods 20 yards from where he had killed her, and when police returned to the scene Tuesday evening, they found a large pile of brush next to the shed. Blood and other physical evidence was then recovered from underneath the pile, prosecutors said. Police also found another pile of brush about 20 yards away, underneath which they found a five-foot deep hole containing what they believe to be Monteiro's remains, though authorities are waiting for confirmation of an identity from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Groom was then charged Wednesday with murder, after previously being charged with aggravated assault and battery on a pregnant person, domestic assault and battery and intimidation of a witness in connection with the altercation. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Taunton District Court, and was ordered held without bail. He is now due back in court for a probable cause hearing on September 10.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Southport killer 'wins back television and DVD player perks in prison' after hurling boiling water at a guard as bosses 'bribe him to behave'
Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana has won back privileges, including a TV and an enhanced weekly spending budget, amid claims guards are 'bribing' him to behave. It is understood the 19-year-old has been raised from 'basic' to 'standard' treatment just weeks after he allegedly threw boiling water at a guard at HMP Belmarsh in south east London. The incident, which is still under investigation by Met Police, is said to have involved Rudakubana boiling a kettle in his cell and throwing the scalding water through a hatch in May. Staff were alerted by the guard's screams and he was treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich. He was discharged after being treated for minor injuries. But now it appears Rudakubana has had some of his privileges returned, The Sun reported. Being elevated to 'standard' means the murderer can have more time out of his cell, as well as increased access to workshops, the library and the gym at the high security prison. He will have access to Freeview TV, a DVD player and will also see his weekly allowance rise from £5.50 a week to around £20. A source said the move was 'outrageous', adding: 'They are basically bribing him to behave — by saying we'll give you a telly and you can keep it if you don't attack anyone.' The 19-year-old triple murderer reportedly hurled boiling water at a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh (pictured) in Thamesmead, east London, where he is serving a life sentence Reform MP Richard Tice said: 'I'm appalled. It feels like he is being rewarded for bad behaviour.' Rudakubana is serving 52 years for killing Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, at a dance class in July last year. The incident at Belmarsh came as serious assaults on prison officers increased 19 per cent in a year according to Home Office figures.
