American Aimee Beatro has been found guilty of attempting to shoot a man in the UK. However, an investigation into the Wisconsin native found that she was “fairly average” and had virtually no “criminal record”. And it is still unclear why she became a potential killer.
One autumn evening six years ago, Betro pointed a 9mm handgun at Sikander Ali on a quiet street in the face of Birmingham and pulled the trigger – as ordered.
But instead of firing, the weapon jammed – and that saved the man’s life.
The story, more like the script of a TV drama, eventually ended years and thousands of kilometres later with Betro’s arrest in Armenia.
It all started a year before the botched 2019 shooting attempt at a clothing shop in Birmingham’s Alam Rock neighbourhood.
Author photo, police handout
In 2018, Mohammed Aslam and his son Mohammed Nabeel Nazir were injured in a fight at a shop owned by Aslat Magumad, the father of Sikander Ali.
According to the Royal Court of Birmingham, the fight sparked a violent conflict between the families that “apparently led to a plot by Nazir and Aslam to kill Aslat Magumad or one of his family members.”
Both men. spa was not known to police “as having a significant criminal record” in the US or elsewhere.
“She was pretty ordinary,” he says. – A seemingly ordinary person [ale] ready to commit a horrific, audacious and thorough murder.(0:1 0)Author photo, police handout
Betro, a child development and graphic design graduate from West Allis in the US, came to the UK in August 2019 to seek revenge on Aslam and Nazir.
The court was told she had previously met Nazir through a dating app and stayed overnight at his Airbnb flat in London’s King’s Cross neighbourhood during a visit to the UK between December 2018 and January 2019, although it is still unclear how she was hired to carry out the shooting.
Prior to the attack, which took place on 7 September, she had stayed in hotels in London, Manchester, Derby and Birmingham and met her accomplices at various times.
Among other things, the incident involved an incident three days before the assassination attempt, when a video was found on Nazir’s phone showing him being seen with a gun in Alam Rock, using a Mercedes under the name Becky Booth.
On the same day, witnesses saw her “travelling in convoy” with Nazir and Aslam, “scouting” Misha Grove, where Magumad lived.
She then waited for her victim in a blind street corner, disguised in a niqab, the jury said.
When Ali pulled up, she got out and pointed a gun at him, shooting him directly, but the weapon didn’t work – causing him to jump back into the car and run away.
According to Detective Orenkas, the distance between the firearm and Ali was such that there was virtually no chance of survival if the gun went off.
‘It was pure luck that it didn’t end up being a murder enquiry,’ he said.
Author photo, West Midlands Police
Initially put Batro on the spot but then returned to the scene. in Manchester and flew to the United States.
Nazir joined her a few days later and, according to Batro, they rented a car and drove to Seattle “just for the ride”, visiting an amusement park, Area 51 in Nevada, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The investigation to find Betro and bring her accomplices to justice took several years and was complicated by the pandemic. It involved the FBI, the National Crime Agency and the UK police.
She was eventually tracked down in an apartment complex on the outskirts of Yerevan in Armenia, where she was detained by police before being extradited to the UK.
West Midlands Police photo
From the chat room, Betro denied involvement and told the court it was “just a terrible coincidence” that she was round the corner from the murder scene six minutes after the event.
She claimed it was actually “another American” who looked like her, used the same phone and wore the same trainers.
After nearly 21 hours of deliberations, the majority of the jury found her guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.
Detective Inspector Orenkas described Betro as someone who was “extremely dangerous and extremely motivated to cause people the worst possible harm”.
Her involvement was not “improvised … madness” but pre-planned with others on different continents, he added.
When asked if he believed Betro received the money or acted out of loyalty to her partner Nazir, 6)Aslam, 56, and Nazir, 31, were jailed for conspiracy to murder in November 2024.
Betrobudet was sentenced on 21 August.