A US woman who flew to Britain to carry out a planned assassination in Birmingham has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder after her firearm jammed at point-blank range.
Aimee Betro, 44, from West Allis, Wisconsin, was hired to target a local businessman’s family in 2019 as part of a simmering vendetta. Instead, her botched attack sparked a years-long manhunt that ended in her arrest overseas.
Birmingham Crown Court heard Betro was recruited by Mohammed Nazir and his father, Mohammed Aslam, both from Derby, after tensions erupted with businessman Aslat Mahumad.
The feud began in July 2018 following violence at Mahumad’s clothing boutique that left Nazir and Aslam injured. Prosecutors told the court that revenge was their motive and Betro was their chosen hitwoman.
On the evening of the shooting, Betro lay in wait in a car she had bought only hours earlier. CCTV footage showed her, face covered by a niqab, approach Sikander Ali Mahumad’s son as he arrived at the family’s Yardley home. She aimed the gun directly at him and pulled the trigger.
It jammed. Ali, acting quickly, reversed his SUV and fled. Hours later, Betro returned to the property in a taxi, firing three bullets through the windows of the now-empty house.
Jurors were also told she had sent taunting messages to Mahumad, including: “Where are you hiding?” and “Stop playing hide and seek, you are lucky it jammed.”
Detectives said Betro’s attempt to hide her identity using a niqab was undermined by her unchanged shoes, phone, and other clues picked up by CCTV.
Only a gun malfunction or “rogue” bullet, investigators said, had saved Ali’s life.
After the failed hit, Betro vanished. She spent years in Armenia before being tracked down by the Daily Mail, who tipped off the police. She was extradited to the UK to face trial.
Jurors deliberated for nearly 21 hours before convicting Betro by an 11–1 majority on the conspiracy to murder and firearm charges, and unanimously on the ammunition offence.
Nazir, 31, and Aslam, 59, had already been jailed last year for their roles in the plot. Betro showed no visible emotion as the verdicts were read.
Det Ch Insp Alastair Orencas thanked the Daily Mail for its assistance in locating her, saying: “There were parallel inquiries going on but, without a doubt, the Daily Mail were of great assistance. And I’ll say thank you on record to the Mail with regard to that.”
Hannah Sidaway, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said it was “sheer luck” that Sikander Ali escaped unharmed.
Betro’s motive remains unclear, with Sidaway noting: “Only Betro” knew what drove her “or what she sought to gain from becoming embroiled in a crime that meant she travelled hundreds of miles from Wisconsin to Birmingham.”
Defence barrister Paul Lewis KC told the court he was not requesting pre-sentence reports, as they would not assist the court. Betro is due to be sentenced on 21 August.
