No evidence Aimee Betro was paid for her role in assassination plot
Standing at just 5ft 5ins, Betro's appearance was so unassuming that a taxi driver unwittingly ferried her away from the scene of a shooting, despite hearing three gunshots shortly after she got out of his cab and walked into a nearby cul-de-sac.
During her evidence to jurors, the 45-year-old mostly stuck with short answers, and passed herself off as someone who had obeyed instructions from her lover to buy a 'burner' phone without having any knowledge of a plot to kill.
Addressing the court in the same accent and monotone pattern of speech as she used in two calls to taxi firms which police recovered as evidence, Betro claimed she was of medium build and the would-be assassin caught on CCTV was of slim appearance.
Almost laughably, she also claimed that 'another American woman', who had a similar voice and footwear, knew Nazir, and had booked taxis to her hotel using a phone she had bought, was the female wearing a niqab whose gun jammed in Measham Grove, Yardley, Birmingham, on September 7 2019.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court deliberated for almost 21 hours over five days before finding Betro guilty of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol and a charge of fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition.
The childhood development and graphic design graduate, who denied all the charges, flew into Britain to take part in a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, and Mohammed Aslam, 56, to shoot dead Aslat Mahumad following an altercation in a shop.
Betro, from West Allis in Wisconsin, was caught on CCTV at the scene of a failed attempt to shoot Mr Aslam's son, Sikander Ali, and during a return visit to the same street at which she fired three aimed shots through two front windows.
Evidence also showed that Betro contacted Mr Mahumad on September 6 after he advertised a car for sale, but he declined to meet her and offered to have someone else show her the vehicle.
Father and son Aslam and Nazir, both from Derby, were jailed last year for their part in the failed assassination plot.
Recounting how she had feelings for and was in love with Nazir, who she said she had slept with at an Airbnb in London during one of two previous trips to the UK, Betro claimed she had flown into Manchester from Atlanta on August 22 2019 to celebrate her birthday.
But she instead found time to hire a car to take part in a £12,000 'crash-for-cash' scam involving Nazir before the attempted murder of Mr Ali.
After trying to kill Mr Ali on September 7, Betro returned to the US on September 9, with Nazir following on a Manchester-Atlanta-Chicago flight on September 13, giving immigration officials Betro's Wisconsin address as his point of contact.
'He was going to stay at hotels but he used my address,' Betro told her trial. 'I was excited about seeing him.'
According to Betro's account, the pair rented a car and drove to Seattle 'just for a road trip' with stops at an amusement park, Area 51 in Nevada and in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Betro told jurors she did not even know there had been a shooting in Measham Grove and Nazir had not mentioned it during his time in the States, which ended in mid-October when he flew with Norwegian Air back to Gatwick and was arrested.
Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas, of West Midlands Police, commenting on the inquiry, said the vehicle-related insurance scam showed 'the pure depth of criminality and lack of respect for the normal rules of society' of Betro and her co-conspirators.
Asked if he believed Betro was paid or had acted out of loyalty to her partner Nazir, the officer said: 'We've not seen evidence of payments.
'They met on a dating site, whether this is a partner doing something for another partner, again, there's no clear evidence of that. I see it as a criminal association and a murderous plot.'
There was no evidence that Betro had any previous experience with firearms from either the US or Armenian authorities, although she did hit the windows upstairs and downstairs during her return to Measham Grove.
The weapon she used is likely to have been a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, which experts say are not particularly difficult to use.
Mr Orencas said of Betro: 'I would describe her as a criminal with murderous intent, with an absolute disregard for the safety of people.
'She clearly attempted to murder on the sixth. That didn't work out because of the lack of the meeting. She tried to do it again on the seventh.
'She goaded (the intended victim through text messages) after that. She then went and discharged (the pistol) into a house where people may well have been hit while sleeping.
'She's a criminal, with murderous intent, as are the other people that have been convicted in this.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Tourist 'taking selfie' plunges from church in Athens after being 'swept by winds'
The man is believed to have been taking a selfie at the Agios Georgios church on Lycabettus Hil, Athens' highest point, when he was knocked over by 'strong winds' A tourist has been rushed to hospital after he plunged from a church at the top of Athens' highest point after being 'swept by winds' while taking a selfie. The incident unfolded at the Agios Georgios church on Lycabettus Hill yesterday morning. The man, reportedly aged between 25 and 30, was said to be taking a photograph when he fell from the edge of the church courtyard onto rocks and stone-paved steps below. Police, a motorcycle unit and ambulance crews attended the scene and the man was taken to hospital, where he remains in a stable condition. Agios Georgios - a popular landmark in the Greek capital - was closed to visitors yesterday in the aftermath of the incident. It comes after a mum a left 16-month-old home alone to die when she went on holiday. One eyewitness told Newsbomb : 'A tourist woman came and told us that a man had fallen onto the landing and asked us to call EKAB. We stayed with him until the rescuers arrived. They took him away conscious and transferred him to the hospital.' Another said 'He was sitting on the ledge outside the church, and people saw him fall. I wasn't there at the moment—it was a tourist who told me. I went and saw him lying there, bleeding. It was a bit hard to watch.' The man was said to be "conscious" and "blinking his eyes" when the ambulance arrived, according to witnesses. It is only the latest injury said to be linked to selfie-taking. In May, an American tourist was left seriously injured after impaling himself on a metal fence whilst taking a selfie at Rome's Colosseum. The man, a US citizen living in Taiwan, had climbed up one of the railings between the Colosseum's seven-metre long arches but slipped and fell onto a sharp metal spike, which pierced his spine - leaving him dangling from the fence screaming until he fell unconscious.
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Trump places $5m bounty on brutal warlord ‘Barbecue' who burned 70 people to death
Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier has been indicted on charges of conspiring to transfer funds from the United States to fund gang activities in Haiti and now has a $5 million bounty on his head Donald Trump has placed a $5 million price on the head of Haitian warlord Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier. The US Justice Department has accused the gang boss of funnelling cash from the US to bankroll his bloody criminal empire in Port-au-Prince. Officials announced the bounty - worth £3.7 million - offering the reward for information that leads to the capture of the 48-year-old former police officer. He is wanted in America for allegedly violating US sanctions. Cherizier, along with alleged accomplice Bazile Richardson, has been indicted on charges of conspiring to transfer funds from the US to support gang activities in Haiti. Richardson, a naturalised US citizen, was arrested in Texas last month. 'There's a good reason that there's a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier's arrest,' US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said. 'He's a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti.' Cherizier, who leads the G9 Family and Allies alliance of heavily armed gangs, is accused of running a reign of terror across the Haitian capital. His street name is said to stem from his alleged penchant for setting fire to rivals' homes while the occupants are still inside. He maintains it comes from his mother's grilled chicken stand. In one of the most notorious incidents linked to his rule, 70 people were killed in 2018 when he allegedly torched 400 houses in La Saline, a densely populated neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince. The US Treasury Department placed him under sanctions in 2020, with the United Nations following suit in 2022. The gangs under his command are accused of murder, robbery, extortion, rape, targeted assassinations, drug trafficking, and kidnappings. According to US prosecutors, Cherizier and Richardson raised funds from Haitians living in America, funnelling the money through intermediaries in Haiti to pay gang members' wages and buy firearms. The G9 alliance played a key role in an organised assault last year that ultimately forced Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry from office, prompting the creation of a transitional council to take his place. 'Cherizier and (Richardson) sought to raise funds in the United States to bankroll Cherizier's violent criminal enterprise, which is driving a security crisis in Haiti,' said Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg. 'The National Security Division does not tolerate criminal gang fundraising in the United States, and will continue to pursue those who enable Haiti's violence and instability.' Haiti remains the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. The United Nations estimates that at least 3,141 people were killed in the first half of this year alone, despite the arrival of a Kenyan-led multinational security force to support the country's police. Much of the capital remains under the control of armed gangs, leaving ordinary Haitians trapped in a cycle of violence, fear, and lawlessness.
Rhyl Journal
19 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
No evidence Aimee Betro was paid for her role in assassination plot
Standing at just 5ft 5ins, Betro's appearance was so unassuming that a taxi driver unwittingly ferried her away from the scene of a shooting, despite hearing three gunshots shortly after she got out of his cab and walked into a nearby cul-de-sac. During her evidence to jurors, the 45-year-old mostly stuck with short answers, and passed herself off as someone who had obeyed instructions from her lover to buy a 'burner' phone without having any knowledge of a plot to kill. Addressing the court in the same accent and monotone pattern of speech as she used in two calls to taxi firms which police recovered as evidence, Betro claimed she was of medium build and the would-be assassin caught on CCTV was of slim appearance. Almost laughably, she also claimed that 'another American woman', who had a similar voice and footwear, knew Nazir, and had booked taxis to her hotel using a phone she had bought, was the female wearing a niqab whose gun jammed in Measham Grove, Yardley, Birmingham, on September 7 2019. Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court deliberated for almost 21 hours over five days before finding Betro guilty of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol and a charge of fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition. The childhood development and graphic design graduate, who denied all the charges, flew into Britain to take part in a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, and Mohammed Aslam, 56, to shoot dead Aslat Mahumad following an altercation in a shop. Betro, from West Allis in Wisconsin, was caught on CCTV at the scene of a failed attempt to shoot Mr Aslam's son, Sikander Ali, and during a return visit to the same street at which she fired three aimed shots through two front windows. Evidence also showed that Betro contacted Mr Mahumad on September 6 after he advertised a car for sale, but he declined to meet her and offered to have someone else show her the vehicle. Father and son Aslam and Nazir, both from Derby, were jailed last year for their part in the failed assassination plot. Recounting how she had feelings for and was in love with Nazir, who she said she had slept with at an Airbnb in London during one of two previous trips to the UK, Betro claimed she had flown into Manchester from Atlanta on August 22 2019 to celebrate her birthday. But she instead found time to hire a car to take part in a £12,000 'crash-for-cash' scam involving Nazir before the attempted murder of Mr Ali. After trying to kill Mr Ali on September 7, Betro returned to the US on September 9, with Nazir following on a Manchester-Atlanta-Chicago flight on September 13, giving immigration officials Betro's Wisconsin address as his point of contact. 'He was going to stay at hotels but he used my address,' Betro told her trial. 'I was excited about seeing him.' According to Betro's account, the pair rented a car and drove to Seattle 'just for a road trip' with stops at an amusement park, Area 51 in Nevada and in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Betro told jurors she did not even know there had been a shooting in Measham Grove and Nazir had not mentioned it during his time in the States, which ended in mid-October when he flew with Norwegian Air back to Gatwick and was arrested. Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas, of West Midlands Police, commenting on the inquiry, said the vehicle-related insurance scam showed 'the pure depth of criminality and lack of respect for the normal rules of society' of Betro and her co-conspirators. Asked if he believed Betro was paid or had acted out of loyalty to her partner Nazir, the officer said: 'We've not seen evidence of payments. 'They met on a dating site, whether this is a partner doing something for another partner, again, there's no clear evidence of that. I see it as a criminal association and a murderous plot.' There was no evidence that Betro had any previous experience with firearms from either the US or Armenian authorities, although she did hit the windows upstairs and downstairs during her return to Measham Grove. The weapon she used is likely to have been a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, which experts say are not particularly difficult to use. Mr Orencas said of Betro: 'I would describe her as a criminal with murderous intent, with an absolute disregard for the safety of people. 'She clearly attempted to murder on the sixth. That didn't work out because of the lack of the meeting. She tried to do it again on the seventh. 'She goaded (the intended victim through text messages) after that. She then went and discharged (the pistol) into a house where people may well have been hit while sleeping. 'She's a criminal, with murderous intent, as are the other people that have been convicted in this.'
