AN AMERICAN woman has been found guilty by a UK court of taking part in a 2019 plot to kill a British man involved in a family feud.
Aimee Betro, 45, was extradited from Armenia earlier this year to face trial in Birmingham, central England, after a years-long police search.
Prosecutors said Betro wore a niqab to cover her face when she got out of a car in September 2019 and tried to shoot Sikander Ali at close range. The gun jammed, and Ali drove away in his parked car outside his home.
According to prosecutors, Betro conspired with Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31. Betro met Nazir on an online dating site and told the jury she was in love with him.
Both men were jailed last year for their roles in the feud, which began after they were injured in a fight at Ali’s father’s clothing store in July 2018.
“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,” prosecutor Hannah Sidaway told the court. She said the case came to trial after “years of hard work doggedly pursuing Aimee Betro across countries and borders.”
Betro, a graphic design graduate from Wisconsin, denied three charges, including conspiracy to murder and possession of a self-loading pistol, claiming she did not know about the plot. She said it was “just a terrible coincidence” that she was near the scene and alleged the real shooter was “another American woman” who sounded like her and had the same phone and brand of trainers.
Police said there was no evidence Betro was paid for her role in the attempt. She will be sentenced on August 21.
(Agencies)
