On a quiet September evening in 2019, the streets of South Yardley, Birmingham, became the unlikely stage for a transatlantic assassination plot that would take years and a global manhunt to unravel. At the center of it all: Aimee Betro, a 45-year-old woman from Wisconsin, whose failed attempt to murder shop owner Sikander Ali has now landed her a 30-year prison sentence, as reported by Sky News, BBC, and The Independent.
Betro’s journey from West Allis, Wisconsin, to a Birmingham cul-de-sac was anything but ordinary. According to court records cited by BBC and The Independent, she met Mohammed Nabil Nazir, a Derby man, through a dating app in late 2018. Their online friendship—fueled by text messages and video calls—quickly escalated into in-person visits. Betro flew to the UK three times: first on Christmas Day 2018, then again in May 2019, and finally in August 2019, just weeks before the attempted killing.
But why would an American woman become entangled in a British family feud? As Sky News and other outlets detail, Nazir and his father, Mohammed Aslam, had been injured during a violent dispute at Aslat Mahumad’s clothing boutique in July 2018. Seeking revenge, the pair conspired to kill Mahumad or a member of his family. Nazir, it seems, recruited Betro—who had by then fallen in love with him—to carry out the attack.
The plan was chilling in its detail. On September 7, 2019, Betro arrived at Measham Grove, Birmingham, having purchased a second-hand Mercedes under a false name and disguised herself in a niqab. She waited for 45 minutes outside Sikander Ali’s home, hoping to catch him off guard. When Ali finally arrived, Betro approached him from behind and attempted to fire her gun at point-blank range. In a twist of fate, the firearm jammed. Ali, realizing the danger, jumped back into his car and sped off.
Undeterred, Betro returned to the scene hours later, this time in a taxi, and fired three shots through the windows of the family home. Fortunately, no one was inside. She then fled the country, flying from Manchester Airport back to the US the very next day.
The aftermath was a testament to both the persistence of law enforcement and the complexity of international justice. Betro spent nearly five years on the run, eventually fleeing to Armenia. Her whereabouts remained a mystery until summer 2024, when UK authorities, working closely with the Armenian government, the FBI, the National Crime Agency, and other partners, tracked her down. She was extradited to the UK in early 2025 to face justice, as BBC and Sky News confirmed.
The trial that followed at Birmingham Crown Court left little doubt about Betro’s role. Jurors were presented with a mountain of evidence: CCTV footage, digital forensics, mobile phone data, and damning text messages sent to Aslat Mahumad. In one chilling message, Betro wrote, “Stop playing hide n seek. You’re lucky it jammed. Who is it? Your family or you? Pick one.” According to The Independent, Betro’s DNA was also found on a black glove recovered from the abandoned Mercedes used in the plot.
Despite the evidence, Betro maintained her innocence throughout the proceedings. She claimed the woman captured on CCTV and booking taxis was “another American woman” who sounded and looked like her. She insisted her presence in the UK was merely to celebrate her 40th birthday and attend a boat party, and that she had no knowledge of the plot or the intended victims. The jury, however, was unconvinced.
On August 21, 2025, Judge Simon Drew KC handed down a 30-year sentence for conspiracy to murder, with concurrent sentences of six years for possessing a firearm and two years for importing ammunition. Nazir and Aslam, her co-conspirators, had already been sentenced in November 2024 to 32 and 10 years respectively.
Judge Drew did not mince words in his sentencing remarks, stating, “You went beyond simply reaching an agreement to kill and, in reality, you did intend to kill Mr Ali. It is only a matter of chance that Mr Ali wasn’t killed. You were engaged in a complex, well-planned conspiracy to murder. You were prepared to pull the trigger and did so on two separate occasions.” He further noted that Betro was “acting out of infatuation or love,” a sentiment echoed by the prosecution and police alike.
Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas, speaking to BBC, called it “a unique case which has involved a huge amount of work tracing the movements of Betro from her arrival into the UK, her subsequent failed attempt to shoot a man dead, and her departure from the UK. It’s by luck that her attempt to kill her target failed, thanks to the jamming of her gun.” Orencas praised the “tenacity of the investigation team,” highlighting the international cooperation that ultimately brought Betro to justice.
The case also drew comment from the Crown Prosecution Service. Specialist Prosecutor Hannah Sidaway described the prosecution as “a culmination of years of hard work doggedly pursuing Aimee Betro across countries and borders while she remained relentless in her bid to escape justice. Betro tried to kill a man in a Birmingham street at point-blank range. It is sheer luck that he managed to get away unscathed.”
Throughout the trial, Betro’s defense counsel, Paul Lewis KC, emphasized the difficulties she would face serving a long sentence far from home, noting her lack of family or friends in the UK and her exemplary behavior on remand in Armenia. Nonetheless, the gravity of her actions and the evidence against her left little room for leniency.
As the dust settles, the story of Aimee Betro stands as a stark reminder of the unpredictable consequences of online relationships, the reach of international law enforcement, and the thin line between chance and tragedy. The would-be assassin’s fate was sealed not just by the law, but by a jammed gun and a relentless pursuit for justice that spanned continents.
