Authorities are hunting an American hitwoman, who disguised herself in a hijab as part of a bungled murder plot in Birmingham.
Aimee Betro, 44, was hired to travel from the States to the West Midlands to kill boutique clothing store owner Sikander Ali.
But the plot, orchestrated by two business rivals, failed when the would-be assassin’s gun jammed.
Police have launched an international hunt to find Betro, after the two men who hired her were convicted of conspiracy to murder.
Birmingham Crown Court heard how Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nazir, 30, had held a grudge against Ali and his family.
West Midlands Police said their efforts to track down Aimee Betro continue.
During their trial, prosecutors said that Nazir and Aslam’s grudge against Sikander Ali’s family run business escalated to a violent clash at Mr Ali’s clothing boutique on 21 July, 2018, in which the two defendants were injured.
Just over a year later, the pair hired Aimee Betro and flew her from the US to the West Midlands to kill Mr Ali and his father Aslat Mahamud.
On 7 September 2019, Betro disguised herself by wearing a hijab, and drove a Mercedes she bought to an address in Acocks Green in Birmingham, and waited for Sikander Ali to pull up in his Audi.
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During the trial, Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting counsel said: “As he did, the would-be assassin came from the driver’s side of the Mercedes.
“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.”
The court heard that Mr Ali rapidly reversed his car and fled the scene at high speed.Betro abandoned the Mercedes nearby.
The trial heard how the next again day, she hired a taxi to take her back to the property, where she fired three shots at the house. No one was injured.
Betro travelled over from the US to carry out the plot
Betro later sent threatening text messages to Sikander Ali’s father Aslat Mahamud.
One read: “You want to rip me off, you want to be a drug kingpin, go look at you house. I will show you. Watch your back. I will be shedding blood soon.”
Two days after the failed murder, Betro returned to the United States.
The 44-year-old hitwoman is originally from Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
According to reports, she had worked as an administrator at the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team.
Urgent efforts to trace the seemingly unassuming American tourist, who spent almost three weeks in the UK, are continuing on both sides of the Atlantic.
Source Agencies
