'Unexceptional' Wis. Hitwoman Traveled Abroad to Exact Revenge for Man She Met on Dating App, Then Spent Years in Hiding By Ben Brachfeld

A Wisconsin woman traveled halfway around the world, disguised herself and attempted to assassinate a man on behalf of someone she had met on a dating app.

Aimee Betro, 44, was convicted Tuesday, Aug. 12, in Birmingham Crown Court in the U.K. of conspiracy to murder and two firearms charges, the Crown Prosecution Service announced.

Betro, whom police described as an otherwise “unexceptional” woman from West Allis, Wis. with a minimal criminal “footprint,” traveled to the U.K. in 2019, donned a niqab to disguise herself and headed to the Birmingham cul-de-sac home of the victim, Sikander Ali, where she lay in wait for about 45 minutes.

Once Ali arrived home, Betro could be seen on CCTV footage approaching him with a gun “clearly visible in her hand,” but the gun jammed when she fired at point-blank range, allowing Ali to get back into his car and escape, per the CPS.

The following day, she took a taxi back to the Ali home and opened fire on the house, this time dispatching three bullets which caused “extensive damage” to the home.

As she left the scene in the taxi, texts sent from her burner phone to the victim’s father sought to taunt him, including “stop playing hide ‘n’ seek you’re lucky it jammed.” She quickly fled the U.K. afterwards, the CPS said.

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Betro reportedly entered the world of international assassination at the behest of her lover, Mohammed Nazir of Derbyshire, whom she met on a dating app and visited in the U.K. between Dec. 2018 and Jan. 2019, jurors heard in court, according to The Guardian.

The jury heard that a year before the attempt on Ali’s life, Nazir and his dad, Mohammed Aslam, were injured in a fight at a clothing shop owned by Ali’s father — after which Nazir recruited his lover to commit murder as the two families bitterly feuded, the BBC reported.

Nazir and Aslam were each convicted last year on conspiracy to murder charges. Nazir was sentenced to 32 years while Aslam got 10 years.

As Nazir and Aslam were tried, Betro was hiding out in Armenia, and had evaded capture for 5 years until a reporter for the Daily Mail tracked her down last year and tipped off police, the outlet reported. She was extradited to the U.K. to face charges.

Betro is set to be sentenced on Aug. 21.