A seemingly unassuming American tourist whose secret double life as an assassin-for-hire was exposed after she botched a contract killing in Birmingham chronicled her whistle-stop trip to Britain in extraordinary detail on social media.
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, a trial in the UK heard.
While in the UK from August to September 2019 she enjoyed what would otherwise appear to be a normal holiday, with almost hourly updates on Instagram showing her dancing at a boat party, visiting the London Eye and going to a music festival.
Betro shares her excitement about visiting her ‘partner in crime‘ in Manchester, soaks up the sun on a busy Brighton beach and sips margarita and mojito cocktails while catching up with friends.
She then documents her visit to Birmingham, where she shares a mocked-up photo showing herself in devil horns. Astonishingly, this photo was posted on September 7 – the day before she disguised herself in a hijab before trying to gun Ali down outside a house in Acocks Green.
Aimee Betro, 44, during a 2019 trip to the UK where a court heard she tried to carry out a contract killing. She’s seen on August 29 – several weeks before the attempted hit
August 21: Betro shares her excitement as she drives to an airport in the US for her trip to the UK
September 7: The hitwoman shares a mocked up photo of herself wearing devil horns a day before the attempted hit
Betro 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?’
The female assassin flew back to the US two days after the failed contract killing, sharing a photo from the plane where she moans about failing to bag a window seat. Today, West Midlands Police said efforts to find her ‘continue’.
Betro, a music fan whose day job saw her work as an administrator for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, studied early childhood education at a local college in Milwaukee.
Her other public activity also gives the impression of seeming normality, with a letter under her name in a local US newspaper in 2003 arguing in favour of free birth control for women.
She was employed by Nazir and Aslam after they developed a grudge against Sikander Ali and his family following a violent dispute at Ali’s 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.
There is no suggestion she has been involved in any other contract killing work.
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.
August 21: ‘To Manchester we go’, Betro writes, as she prepares for her journey to the UK
August 23: The American takes a photo of the London Eye from a boat on the Thames
August 23: A photo of the inside of the boat, where a large party was taking place
August 29: The American visits Brighton Beach, where she enjoys drinking cocktails
September 3: She arrives on a train into Birmingham, where she attempted the hit four days later
September 9: Betro moans about failing to get a window seat four days after the second attempt to kill her target
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
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
Details about her involvement were heard during a court case in the UK
Betro fled to the US two days after firing bullets at the house, a jury heard
Before the failed assassination Betro texted Mr Mahamud to ask about buying a Volkswagen Golf from him
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’.
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.’