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3 months ago
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An international manhunt is underway for an American female assassin who was hired by a British father and son to settle a feud but botched the hit when her gun jammed.
Aimee Betro, 44, who has links to Illinois, was hired by Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nazir, 30, to conduct a revenge killing against the owner of a boutique clothing store and his relatives.
The hitwoman disguised herself in a hijab as she tried to gun down Sikander Ali outside a house in Acocks Green, Birmingham on Sept 7, 2019, but the weapon jammed.
She later returned in a taxi and fired three shots at the property before texting their principal target - Mr Ali's father Aslat Mahamud: 'Stop playing hide and seek' and 'Where are you hiding?'.
Betro flew back to Chicago two days after the failed contract killing and today West Midlands Police said efforts to find her 'continue'.
Mohammed Aslam (pictured) and his son Mohammed Nazir hired Aimee Betro, 44, to conduct a revenge killing against the owner of a boutique clothing store and his relatives
Nazir, who was convicted of conspiracy to murder alongside his father on Monday
Nazir and Aslam, who were found guilty of conspiracy to murder on Monday, held a grudge against Mr Ali's family following a violent dispute at his boutique clothing store in Birmingham on July 21, 2018, which saw windows trashed and the interior 'trashed'.
Police arrived to find Nazir and Aslam had been injured.
In September 2019, the pair flew Betro over from the States to Birmingham in a bid to kill Mr Ali and his family.
During her time in the UK, the hitwoman stayed at hotels in Manchester, Derby, London, Brighton and Birmingham - including a Radisson Blu.
While in Derby, she allegedly made an insurance claim claiming she had suffered a blown-out tyre on a rental car before smashing into two stationary vehicles, one of which was owned by Aslam.
On September 6, Nazir and Aslam travelled from their home in Derby to Birmingham city centre, with Nazir spending more than two hours in a hotel with Betro - who ordered a takeaway from Deliveroo.
Betro had arranged to meet Mr Ali the next day on the pretence of buying a car.
Birmingham Crown Court heard how Betro - disguised in a hijab - pulled up in a Mercedes before Mr Ali pulled up in an Audi nearby.
Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting said: 'As he did the would-be assassin came from the driver's side of the Mercedes.
'As she left the Mercedes she left the driver's door open. 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.'
Mr Hegarty said Mr Ali rapidly reversed his car and drove off, while Betro abandoned her Mercedes nearby - where it was later found by police.
Measham Grove in Acocks Green, Birmingham, where the attempted hit was carried out
The next morning, she took a taxi to the house and fired three shots at the property before returning to the taxi. No one was hit.
She then sent menacing text messages to the head of the family, Aslat Mahamud, before fleeing to the US two days later.
Police launched an investigation into the shootings, with the trail leading to Aslam and Nazir. Detectives were able to piece together their involvement through their phones, CCTV and financial investigations.
The jury heard Nazir flew out to America a few days after Betro, who he put down as his point of contact on travel documentation, but he was arrested after his return to the UK the following month. Aslam was also arrested.
Nazir was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on Wednesday, June 5.
He was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice and illegally importing firearms over a plot to bring guns into the country and then blame it on another person to frame them.
Guns had been sent by Betro from Illinois, according to a tipoff received by police.
Aslam was found guilty of conspiracy to murder. He was cleared of a firearms offence.
The pair will be sentenced on August 9.
Detective Inspector Matt Marston, from West Midlands Police, said: 'Aslam and Nazir were determined to take revenge following a fall out where they were injured.
'The lengths they went to in trying to make sure they weren't implicated in pulling the trigger are immense.
'However, thanks to some great police work and support from our Derbyshire colleagues we were able to place them firmly in the middle of the attempted murder plot.'
A second general view of Measham Grove - where the attempted murder took place
A spokesman added to MailOnline: 'Efforts to locate a woman we believe to have been involved in the conspiracy continue.'
Derbyshire Police said: 'That nobody died as a result of Aslam and Nazir's actions is through nothing other than sheer good fortune.
'Their plan was to kill and had it not been for the gun jamming, then there is a good chance this would have been a murder investigation.
'The importation of firearms is an extremely serious offence, and in this case the purpose was to frame their target in revenge for a previous incident.
'As a police service, we will do everything we can to target those who aim to bring these weapons into our communities and bring them to justice.'
High-profile female assassins responsible for multiple deaths
Kim Hyun-hui: North Korean agent who killed 115 then defected
The mother-of-two killed 115 as an agent for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong Un.
She was involved in the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 from Baghdad to Seoul on 29 November 1987 - killing everyone on board.
Kim was selected aged 18 to join the North Korea secret service due to her ability to speak several languages. After rigorous training she was given her first assignment aged 25.
She and her co-agent Kim Seung Il travelled to Austria pretending to be a Japanese couple on holiday.
They collected the bomb - a Panasonic radio packed with chemicals - in Vienna and transported it to Baghdad airport.
The plan was almost foiled when security guards assessed the device before their flight.
One took out the batteries which the bomb needed to explode and said Kim couldn't take them on board.
Kim has now been pardoned and works for South Korea's National Intelligence Service and is writing her memoirs to warn the world of the threat of North Korea.
Kim was involved in the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 from Baghdad to Seoul on 29 November 1987 - killing everyone on board
Maria Jiminez: Mexican cartel hitwoman who confessed to murdering 20 people
Maria Jimenez, aka La Tosca, was paid $1,700 (£1,300) per month to carry out killings for the Los Zetas drug cartel.
Mexico's most prolific female assassin confessed to murdering 20 people, including rival drug traffickers and a police officer, and was convicted in 2012.
Maria Jimenez was paid $1,700 (£1,300) per month to carry out killings for the Los Zetas drug cartel
She allegedly led a group of men, women and teenagers as Los Zetas battled their rivals in the Gulf Cartel for control of drug distribution and other criminal rackets.
Her arrest came days after 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or decapitated and dumped along the border city of Nuevo Laredo.
Daria Trepova: Accused of bombing that targeted Putin critic
Daria Trepova in court this year
The Russian 26-year-old is accused of knowingly blowing up prominent Vladimir Putin propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, by handing him a bomb hidden in a statuette.
Prosecutors claim she deliberately passed the bomb to Tatarsky - whose real name was Maxim Fomin - in a St Petersburg cafe on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence.
Trepova insists she believed the statuette of Tatarsky contained a listening device, and so is innocent of deliberate murder.
She claims Ukraine believed she, too, would be killed - although, despite being close to the blast, she was unscathed and fled the scene before being detained.
'I was basically sent to my death with a bomb,' she said, referring to her Ukrainian handlers.
But state prosecutors reject her version and have applied for one of the longest sentences for a woman in modern Russian legal history.
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