‘Assassin,’ wanted over botched contract killing of a British businessman, is arrested in Armenia
A fugitive suspected hitwoman-for-hire was arrested in a dramatic dawn raid this morning after MailOnline tracked her down to a rented one-bed flat on the outskirts of Armenia‘s capital.
American citizen Aimee Betro, 44, had been internationally-wanted since an attempted hit in September 2019, which allegedly saw her weapon jam as she tried to gun down clothing store owner Sikander Ali outside a house in Birmingham on the orders of rival Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nazir, 30.
In a trial that saw Aslam and Nazir convicted of conspiracy to murder for their role in orchestrating the plot, Birmingham Crown Court heard how Betro – who had allegedly disguised herself in a hijab for the attack – flew back to her native Wisconsin two days later and had not been seen since.
Despite successfully evading a five-year international manhunt involving police on both sides of the Atlantic, Betro’s reclusive new life in Eastern Europe was turned upside-down after MailOnline tracked her down after just two days of searching.
A combination of background details in her Instagram selfies and sunset photos taken from the living room window were enough to trace her to a gated housing complex on the northern outskirts of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital city.
MailOnline informed West Midlands Police of her whereabouts after a reporter was able to conclusively prove that she still lived in the $600-a-month flat by obtaining CCTV of her running errands and a copy of her passport.
Officers – who admitted they had no idea where she was hiding before the tip off – asked for a news blackout until she had been arrested.
High level sources in the UK today confirmed that she had been arrested at her home and was due to be extradited back to the UK – where she faces being formally arrested by West Midlands police when her plane touches down.
It is thought that Armenian officers arrested her after acting on an extradition request submitted through Home Office channels by West Midlands Police.
Armenia has an extradition agreement with the UK, and it is believed that she will now be held in custody in the former Soviet republic until a flight is arranged to bring her back to British soil.
The landlord of Betro’s comfortably but sparsely furnished flat, where she was often heard shouting at her cat, confirmed on June 15 that he had been renting it to her for $600 a month.
The secluded flat where she allegedly hid from justice while enjoying views of the snow-capped Caucasus mountains is more than 2,400 miles away from Birmingham where she allegedly tried to gun down a businessman while wearing a hijab as a disguise.
Betro is believed to have been leading a quiet life working in an online job from her flat, rarely venturing outside apart from for shopping trips, and shunning invitations to socialize with those living around her.
Her neighbors in the Kardashian ancestral homeland of Armenia rarely saw her, and were only reminded of her presence when they heard her shouting at her cat inside her flat.
Local residents who spoke to MailOnline had no idea of her alleged shady background and were horrified to learn that she was a suspected hitwoman with an international arrest warrant hanging over her.
Betro stayed hiding in her flat after she deleted her social media accounts when news broke in the UK last month that she was wanted for the attempted contract killing of Sikander Ali in 2019.
She allegedly travelled from the United States to carry out the alleged ‘hit’, and aimed a handgun at Mr Ali’s head after arriving in a hired Mercedes outside his father’s home in Acocks Green, Birmingham.
Birmingham Crown Court heard last month how the gun jammed, and clothing shop boss Mr Ali miraculously escaped with his life.
Betro was said to have returned to the house hours later in a taxi and fired three shots through the windows, but nobody was hurt.
She fled back to the United States the next day, but West Midlands Police later allegedly linked her to Mohammed Nazir, 30, and his father Mohammed Aslam, 56, who are said to have used her as a gun-for-hire.
The two men allegedly developed a grudge against Mr Ali and his father Aslat Mahamud following a violent dispute at Mr Ali’s boutique clothing store in Birmingham on July 21, 2018.
It was revealed that Betro was on the run and being hunted after Nazir and Aslam from Derby were convicted of attempted murder last month. The pair now face long jail sentences in the UK.
Betro is thought to have arrived in Armenia at least three-years-ago while on the run, apparently telling her family that she had got a job as a DJ on an Armenian radio station, although MailOnline was unable to confirm this.
Analysis of her social media suggests she initially lived in a flat in southern Yerevan where she posted pictures of a distant Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey, although neighbors told MailOnline that they could not remember her.
Sources told MailOnline that she seemed more willing to go out and about in public when she first arrived in the city, often attending so-called Africa nights organized by a promoter at local nightclubs.
Her social media suggested that she also used local venues which are popular with ex-pats known as digital nomads working in online jobs. They included the Art Space Café set in a city center courtyard and the vegan Future Diner bistro as well as a restaurant called Burgery.
But in the early part of last year, she moved to her new flat in a gated community with its own security guard, and she led a much more private lifestyle suggesting she did not want to draw attention to herself.
The reasonably well-appointed complex she moved to has a mixture of two and three story houses around a private cobbled road. Most are occupied by local families or ex-pats, with some divided into flats.
The homes are built from traditional stone or have rendered walls and surround a tree-lined orchard, as well as a communal swimming pool with a border wall lined with red and white roses in full bloom.
Despite being beside a busy road and areas of dusty wasteland, the well-kept development has a pleasant ambience with an abundance of cabbage white butterflies fluttering among shrubs, and swallows darting through the air.
Betro’s flat is one of the most secluded in the development as it is on the second floor at the rear of a house, accessed by an exterior staircase, overlooked only by neighboring industrial premises.
The landlord of Betro’s home who asked not to be identified, said she had responded to an advertisement for the flat that he placed on the online Armenian sales platform list.am.
He said: ‘She was the first person to respond, and when I opened the door of the apartment to show her round, she immediately said, ‘Yes, I will have it’. I thought it was unusual because most people would want to look at the bedroom and bathroom.’
Speaking to MailOnline more than two weeks ago, the landlord confirmed that she spent most of her time indoors, often with curtains closed, and having only the cat she bought with her for company.
He added: ‘Sometimes she yells at her cat very loudly and you can hear it through the walls.
‘She told me she works online at home. I don’t know what sort of job. I see her when I get my rent and I see here when she goes out very rarely.
‘She pays me $600 rent in cash every month. She is a good tenant and pays on time. We just know her as Aimee. Her rental agreement is unofficial because it is just an agreement between two people.
‘She stays most of the time at home. She mostly only goes out for shopping. She often comes and goes by taxi.
‘Every time I talked to her, she would say, ‘Oh, I’m working right now’. Sometimes our electricity goes out, but we have generators. She would say, ‘When is the electricity coming back because I am working?’
‘She would say she was working from home. She was getting money from somewhere.’
The landlord acknowledged that Betro seemed ‘pleasant’, but said: ‘I haven’t really talked to her a lot, so I don’t know how she really is. We just say hi and goodbye mostly.’
When told of her background and the international police hunt for her, he praised MailOnline’s efforts in tracking her down and said: ‘I didn’t know anything about this. Wow, it is just crazy.’
The landlord’s wife who also declined to be identified added: ‘She hardly ever goes out, and if she does, she takes a taxi. We have been letting to her for over a year and I have perhaps only seen her about two or three times.
‘Once she was paying rent, the other time she was going for a taxi. It’s very strange because in Armenia you see people going out and about.
‘But last summer, she was using the pool. She was with black people. It is unusual to see black people in Armenia, and they caught my eye because of that. I think they were Nigerian.
‘One time it was maybe two or three black men, and there may have been other girls with them.
‘She did not tell us why she was in Armenia. She is not a communicative person. I would describe her as passive. She would just be smiling, when we saw her go upstairs.
‘We never really got involved talking closely to her. When she came in, I said to her that if she was free, she could pop down for coffee with us, but she never did. I just thought she was someone private who didn’t talk that much.
‘But she had friends and sometimes she did have parties when there were a lot of people upstairs. I think there were maybe three parties. There would be music playing until 11pm or midnight. It would just be normal English music.
‘There would be maybe ten or 12 people, or a few more. We would see people going upstairs.’
When shown Betro’s social media pictures, she added: ‘I think she has gained weight. She is definitely much bigger than in her pictures.’
Describing her surprise on learning about the police hunt for her, she said: ‘We didn’t know something like this could happen.’
Another resident who is in charge of the outdoor swimming pool at the development said Betro had paid 25,000 dram a month in local currency ($51) to use the pool in the sweltering hot months of June, July and August last year.
She confirmed that Betro had taken guests to the pool last summer, and had to be reminded that it was only for the use of residents. But the resident said that Betro had not returned to the pool this summer.
Another resident praised MailOnline’s decision to alert police in the UK to Betro’s presence in Armenia, saying: ‘This is the right thing to do.’
He added: ‘She appears to be a very secluded lady who does not mingle much with people around here
‘I know you can’t tell people from how they appear, but I saw her once or twice in the walkway, and she didn’t look like someone who was a DJ.’
Images of Betro’s flat were revealed in online property particulars when her landlord recently put it on the market for $60,000, although he has now decided not to sell it.
The images show her living simply with few personal possessions, and no pictures or personal photographs on display.
Betro, who has not been charged with any offence, has an unlikely background for a would-be international hitwoman.
She was born in Wisconsin, according to her passport, and trained in childcare before spending five years selling tickets for the state’s main baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers.
One childhood friend remembered her as ‘a good person’, saying: ‘She had herself together, she went to school, she went to college. She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.’
Her account on X also revealed that she travelled on her own to the UK at least three times in the 12 months before the alleged attempted murder of Mr Ali, despite having financial problems.
She claimed to have attended music festivals and raves in the UK and posted messages revealing a liking for drugs, saying in one post: ‘If you can’t score in London then you can’t score anywhere.’
It is unclear how she allegedly met Aslam and Nazir, but she was allegedly in contact with them ahead of her trip when the supposed bungled contract killing was carried out
The trial of the father and son heard how guns had been sent by Betro from Illinois, according to a tip-off received by police.
Shortly before flying to England in August 2019, she allegedly used the bank details of a customer who bought baseball tickets from her to pay $330 into her own account. Two further attempts to defraud a further $1,000 were allegedly blocked.
She also left debts running into thousands as well as almost all her possessions in her rented flat, suggesting a hurried departure.
Before the failed assassination, Mr Mahamud said he received a call from a woman with an American accent asking about buying a Volkswagen Golf he had for sale.
Nazir and Aslam travelled from Derby to Birmingham on September 6, 2019, and Nazir spent more than two hours in the city center’s Rotunda hotel with Betro who ordered a Deliveroo takeaway.
Betro posted a selfie on Instagram the next day, showing her with devil horns, shortly before she drove to Acocks Green in her rented Mercedes.
While she waited there, CCTV captured Nazir and Aslam travelling up and down a nearby road in their car.
Before long, Mr Ali pulled up at his father’s home in the suburb. He recalled noticing the Mercedes because it was parked in a ‘stupid’ place and described someone in a hijab getting out and aiming a gun at him.
In a statement read to the court, Mr Ali said: ‘As I turned and looked I saw the driver’s door was already open and the person was moving towards me.
‘I could see this person had a gun in her hand. I felt scared. The person moved her arm towards me and pointed directly at me. I panicked at this point. I immediately got back into the car and slammed the door shut.’
Unknown to him, the gun had jammed. Betro abandoned her Mercedes, calling a taxi just before 9pm. She then texted Mr Mahamud saying, ‘Where are you hiding?’ and ‘Stop playing hide and seek, you are lucky it jammed’.
She demanded Mr Mahamud meet her, writing: ‘Who is it your family or you, pick one’.
In the early hours she took a taxi back to the address, firing three shots at the house, but it was empty, and no one was hurt. She then went to a McDonald’s.
Mr Mahamud said he received a final message that read: ‘You want to rip me off, you want to be a drugs kingpin go look at your house. I will show you. Watch your back. I will shed blood soon.’
He replied: ‘What are you talking about? I’m a family man. I have never sold drugs in my life.’
Betro fled to the U.S. the next day, and the jury heard how Nazir flew to America a few days later, after putting her name down as his point of contact on travel documents.
A post by Betro on X suggests he may have stayed with her. Nazir returned to the UK the following month and was later arrested, along with his father.
Betro’s online posts suggest she was no longer in the U.S. by April 2020, but she is said to have remained in regular contact with friends from Wisconsin, while posting photos from Armenia on social media, despite the police hunt for her.
One friend showed MailOnline an exchange he had with her on Facebook Messenger last week after news of the international police hunt for her emerged.
The friend sent her a link to the Mail’s report about the police search for her, saying: ‘Lol what are you up to?’
She replied: ‘Dude I saw, like wtf I don’t even know where to start with all the misinformation that’s said about me… It’s a f***ing sh** show.’
When the friend asked if he could help, she replied: ‘Idk dude. I don’t think there’s anything you can help with but I really appreciate you reaching out.’
The friend said, that Betro had admitted to basic facts of the case in exchanges with other friends.
He said: ‘Aimee doesn’t say she had no part of this. She acknowledges she was involved and all that. She just says some of the details aren’t right.’
Betro’s mother Jeanne Johnson, a former trucking despatcher who lives in a trailer park, had no idea about the hunt for her daughter until the Mail showed her reports of the case last week.
She said: ‘I’ve been waiting for this day either trouble or dead… what the hell was she thinking?’
Ms Johnson is divorced from Betro’s father Steven who is serving a seven-year jail sentence for possessing and trafficking methamphetamine, a powerful, highly addictive illegal drug.
Her last contact with her daughter was on May 12 when Betro sent a text wishing her a happy Mother’s Day.
She called on Betro to hand herself in, saying: ‘I ‘d love her to do that because she is going to run out of places to hide. She has nowhere else to go and now that it’s an international hunt, she’s not going to be able to fly anywhere.
‘If she comes here, I’m not letting her in. I will call the police. She’s got to stop running. She’s got to pay the price now.’
A spokesperson for West Midlands police said after Nazir and Aslam’s trial: ‘A warrant for the arrest of a woman has been issued and enquiries to locate her continue. Active lines of enquiry are being pursued and appropriate authorities engaged with.’
The pair were found guilty of conspiracy to murder for their role in the attempted killing.
Nazir was also found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, 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. Aslam was cleared of a firearms offence.
Detectives pieced together their involvement through their phones, CCTV and financial investigations.
