US Woman Convicted of Conspiracy to Murder in UK Assassination Plot

Aimee Betro, an American woman from Wisconsin, has been found guilty in a UK court of conspiracy to murder after a failed assassination attempt in Birmingham in 2019. Betro traveled from the US to the UK, disguised in a niqab, to shoot Sikander Ali at point-blank range as part of a revenge plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam and his son Mohammed Nazir, who had a feud with Ali. The gun jammed, allowing Ali to escape unharmed. Betro fled the UK after the failed attempt and spent several years in Armenia before being extradited back to the UK to face trial. Evidence against her included CCTV footage, digital forensics, and mobile phone data, with cooperation from multiple law enforcement agencies across countries. She was convicted of conspiracy to murder, possession of a self-loading pistol, and illegally importing ammunition, and is due to be sentenced in August 2025.