US assassin wearing a disguise failed with 'revenge' murder plot

TEARS IN COURT AS WOMAN, 45, IS FOUND GUILTY OF BEING GUN-FOR-HIRE IN RIVALRY

- CARL JACKSON Court Reporter

A US woman burst into tears after she was found guilty of acting as an assassin who bungled a murder plot in Birmingham amid a rivalry between two families.

CCTV footage captured Aimee Betro, wearing a burka and niqab disguise, aiming a gun at Sikander Ali outside his home in Measham Grove, Yardley on September 7, 2019.

But the victim managed to escape in his SUV when the weapon apparently jammed.

Betro returned to the address within hours and shot bullets into the empty property before flying back to America the following day.

Prosecutors stated the attempted hit was a 'revenge' attack against Mr Ali's father, Aslat Mahumand.

Rival father and son Mohammed Aslam and Mohammed Nazir, from Derby, have previously been convicted for their involvement and were jailed in 2024.

Betro, aged 45, and from Wisconsin, was accused of being their gun-for-hire and was tried separately at Birmingham Crown Court following her belated arrest in Armenia.

She claimed it was a case of mistaken identity and that some of the overwhelming evidence against her was just a 'coincidence'.

Yesterday, after nearly 21 hours of deliberation, a jury found her guilty of conspiracy to murder and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence by a majority of 11 to one.

They also unanimously found her guilty of an offence related to the importation of ammunition from the USA to the UK, as part of another plot by Nazir to frame another rival.