On-the-run American with double life as an assassin-for-hire
These are the first pictures of the unassuming American tourist whose secret double life as an assassin-for-hire was exposed after a jammed gun saw her botch a contract killing in Birmingham.
Aimee Betro, 44, flew over from her native Milwaukee to kill boutique clothing store owner Sikander Ali on the orders of rival Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nazir, 30.
The hitwoman, whose day job saw her work as an administrator for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, disguised herself in a hijab before trying to gun Ali down outside a house in Acocks Green, Birmingham on September 7, 2019.
She fled the scene when her gun jammed, but later returned in a taxi and fired three shots at the property before texting their principal target – Mr Ali’s father Aslat Mahamud: ‘Stop playing hide and seek’ and ‘Where are you hiding?’.
Betro – who studied early childhood education at a local college in Milwaukee – flew back to the US two days after the failed contract killing and today West Midlands Police said efforts to find her ‘continue’.
Aimee Betro, 44, flew over from her native Milwaukee to kill boutique clothing store owner Sikander Ali on the orders of rival Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nazir, 30
The hitwoman, whose day job saw her work as an administrator for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, disguised herself in a hijab for the attempted hit
Betro fled to the US two days after firing bullets at the house
Nazir and Aslam, who were found guilty of conspiracy to murder on Monday, held a grudge against Mr Ali’s family following a violent dispute at his boutique clothing store in Birmingham on July 21, 2018, which saw windows smashed and the interior ‘trashed’.
Police arrived to find Nazir and Aslam had been injured.
In September 2019, the pair flew Betro over from the States to Birmingham in a bid to kill Mr Ali and his family.
During her time in the UK, the hitwoman stayed at hotels in Manchester, Derby, London, Brighton and Birmingham – including a Radisson Blu.
While in Derby, she allegedly made an insurance claim claiming she had suffered a blown-out tyre on a rental car before smashing into two stationary vehicles, one of which was owned by Aslam.
Before the failed assassination Betro texted Mr Mahamud to ask about buying a Volkswagen Golf from him.
She then sent further messages saying ‘who is it your family or you?’ and ‘pick one’ as she told the target to meet her at an Asda.
On September 6, Nazir and Aslam travelled from their home in Derby to Birmingham city centre, with Nazir spending more than two hours in Birmingham’s Rotunda hotel with Betro – who ordered a takeaway from Deliveroo.
Birmingham Crown Court heard how Betro – disguised in a hijab – pulled up in a Mercedes before Mr Ali pulled up in an Audi nearby.
Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting said: ‘As he did the would-be assassin came from the driver’s side of the Mercedes.
‘As she left the Mercedes she left the driver’s door open. She walked quite calmly towards Sikander Ali and was pointing a gun at him at head height.
‘As she got closer to Sikander Ali he saw her and he saw the gun and she pulled the trigger to fire the gun at him. Mercifully and luckily for him the gun jammed.’
Mohammed Aslam (pictured) and his son Mohammed Nazir hired Betro to conduct a revenge killing against the owner of a boutique clothing store and his relatives
Nazir, who was convicted of conspiracy to murder alongside his father on Monday
Mr Hegarty said Mr Ali rapidly reversed his car and drove off, while Betro abandoned her Mercedes nearby – where it was later found by police.
The next morning, she took a taxi to the house and fired three shots at the property before returning to the taxi and going to a McDonald’s in Bordesley Green. No one was hit.
Afterwards, Betro sent Aslat Mahamud a text saying ‘you want to rip me off, you want to be a drugs kingpin go look at your house. I will show you. Watch your back. I will be shedding blood soon’.
She then sent further messages saying ‘who is it your family or you?’ and ‘pick one’ as she told Mr Mahamud to meet her at an Asda.
The father replied: ‘What are you talking about? I’m a family man I have never sold drugs in my life.’
Betro fled to the US two days later.
Police launched an investigation into the shootings, with the trail leading to Aslam and Nazir. Detectives were able to piece together their involvement through their phones, CCTV and financial investigations.
The jury heard Nazir flew out to America a few days after Betro, who he put down as his point of contact on travel documentation, but he was arrested after his return to the UK the following month. Aslam was also arrested.
Nazir was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on Wednesday, June 5.
He was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice and illegally importing firearms over a plot to bring guns into the country and then blame it on another person to frame them.
Guns had been sent by Betro from Illinois, according to a tipoff received by police.
Aslam was found guilty of conspiracy to murder. He was cleared of a firearms offence.
The pair will be sentenced on August 9.
Detective Inspector Matt Marston, from West Midlands Police, said: ‘Aslam and Nazir were determined to take revenge following a fall out where they were injured.
‘The lengths they went to in trying to make sure they weren’t implicated in pulling the trigger are immense.
‘However, thanks to some great police work and support from our Derbyshire colleagues we were able to place them firmly in the middle of the attempted murder plot.’
Measham Grove in Acocks Green, Birmingham, where the attempted hit was carried out
A second general view of Measham Grove – where the attempted murder took place
A spokesman added to MailOnline: ‘Efforts to locate a woman we believe to have been involved in the conspiracy continue.’
Derbyshire Police said: ‘That nobody died as a result of Aslam and Nazir’s actions is through nothing other than sheer good fortune.
‘Their plan was to kill and had it not been for the gun jamming, then there is a good chance this would have been a murder investigation.
‘The importation of firearms is an extremely serious offence, and in this case the purpose was to frame their target in revenge for a previous incident.
‘As a police service, we will do everything we can to target those who aim to bring these weapons into our communities and bring them to justice.’
High-profile female assassins responsible for multiple deaths
Kim Hyun-hui: North Korean agent who killed 115 then defected
Kim Hyun-hui in 2018
The mother-of-two killed 115 as an agent for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong Un.
She was involved in the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 from Baghdad to Seoul on 29 November 1987 – killing everyone on board.
Kim was selected aged 18 to join the North Korea secret service due to her ability to speak several languages. After rigorous training she was given her first assignment aged 25.
She and her co-agent Kim Seung Il travelled to Austria pretending to be a Japanese couple on holiday.
They collected the bomb – a Panasonic radio packed with chemicals – in Vienna and transported it to Baghdad airport.
The plan was almost foiled when security guards assessed the device before their flight.
One took out the batteries which the bomb needed to explode and said Kim couldn’t take them on board.
Kim has now been pardoned and works for South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and is writing her memoirs to warn the world of the threat of North Korea.
Kim was involved in the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 from Baghdad to Seoul on 29 November 1987 – killing everyone on board
Maria Jiminez: Mexican cartel hitwoman who confessed to murdering 20 people
Maria Jimenez, aka La Tosca, was paid $1,700 (£1,300) per month to carry out killings for the Los Zetas drug cartel.
Mexico’s most prolific female assassin confessed to murdering 20 people, including rival drug traffickers and a police officer, and was convicted in 2012.
Maria Jimenez was paid $1,700 (£1,300) per month to carry out killings for the Los Zetas drug cartel
She allegedly led a group of men, women and teenagers as Los Zetas battled their rivals in the Gulf Cartel for control of drug distribution and other criminal rackets.
Her arrest came days after 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or decapitated and dumped along the border city of Nuevo Laredo.
Daria Trepova: Accused of bombing that targeted a pro Putin war blogger
Daria Trepova in court this year
The Russian 26-year-old is accused of knowingly blowing up prominent Vladimir Putin propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, by handing him a bomb hidden in a statuette.
Prosecutors claim she deliberately passed the bomb to Tatarsky – whose real name was Maxim Fomin – in a St Petersburg cafe on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence.
Trepova insists she believed the statuette of Tatarsky contained a listening device, and so is innocent of deliberate murder.
She claims Ukraine believed she, too, would be killed – although, despite being close to the blast, she was unscathed and fled the scene before being detained.
‘I was basically sent to my death with a bomb,’ she said, referring to her Ukrainian handlers.
But state prosecutors reject her version and have applied for one of the longest sentences for a woman in modern Russian legal history.
