American 'assassin' Aimee Betro travelled to UK to carry out shooting, court hears
An alleged female 'assassin' travelled from the US to carry out a shooting outside a family home in Birmingham as part of a "vendetta", a court heard.
The plot failed after Aimee Betro's gun jammed when she pulled the trigger metres away from the intended victim, it is claimed. The 45-year-old was disguised in a niqab when she carried out the attempted hit in September 2019, jurors were told. She allegedly returned to the house, in a quiet cul-de-sac, hours later and fired shots into two bedroom windows. Betro was in a three-way conspiracy with Mohammed Nazir and his dad Mohammed Aslam, prosecutors said.
Birmingham crown court heard the two men wanted to murder clothing store owner Aslat Mahamud after a dispute. They were involved in a 'vendetta' and decided to carry out a killing as 'revenge' for an earlier incident, it is claimed.
Prosecutor Tom Walkling KC said Betro flew from the US to Manchester two weeks before the attempted assassination. She allegedly bought a 'dirty' burner phone from Tesco two days before the hit in South Yardley.
The following day she rang Mr Mahamud saying she was interested in buying a car he was selling, it is claimed. 'She was calling him as a pretext to set up a chance to kill him,' said Mr Walkling.
Jurors were told she sat waiting for 45 minutes in a Mercedes outside Mr Mahamud's home dressed in a niqab and burkha Betro then tried to shoot his son Sikander Ali when he arrived at the property, the court heard.
'The assassin was a woman who disguised her appearance by wearing a niqab, a face covering, and what looked like a burkha,' said Mr Walkling.
'She had waited for someone to go into that house. When they did she pulled out a gun, a pistol, and pulled the trigger. She was only metres away from the intended victim. But the gun jammed, it failed to fire.'
Mr Walkling said Mr Ali jumped back into his car and sped away from the scene after surviving the hit. Betro later allegedly texted his dad asking 'where are you hiding?' and saying 'stop playing hide and seek, you're lucky it jammed'.
She then went back to the family's home and opened fire, Mr Walkling said. 'The gunwoman wasn't deterred. She returned to the same address on the same cul-de-sac a few hours later,' he added. 'She used the now-working gun to shoot three bullets through the bedroom windows of the victim's home.'
A black glove with the American's DNA on it was later found inside the abandoned Mercedes, jurors were told. Betro left the UK two days after the botched hit, it is claimed.
Nazir, 30, and his 56-year-old dad, both from Derby, have already been convicted of conspiracy to murder. Nazir has also been found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, the court heard.
Betro, from Wisconsin, denies conspiracy to murder and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. She also denies sending bullets from the US to the UK.
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