A Botched Hit in Birmingham: Niqab-Clad American Now Faces Life for 2019 Contract Killing Attempt
The One Shot That Never Fired
On an otherwise quiet September morning in 2019, the sleepy residential streets of Acocks Green, Birmingham became the unlikely backdrop for a scene straight out of a crime thriller.
A woman whose face was concealed beneath a traditional niqab stepped out of an idling car, raised a pistol to Sikander Ali’s head, and squeezed the trigger—only to hear a metallic click. The gun refused to fire, giving Ali precious seconds to dive into his own vehicle and speed away unharmed.
Key moments of the attack
How a Quiet Mid-westerner Became a Trigger-Woman
A Stranger in the Feud
Aimee Betro’s name meant nothing to either the feuding families or British detectives in 2019. A graduate in childhood development and graphic design from West Allis, Wisconsin, she appeared, on paper, to be an ordinary, law-abiding citizen.
- No prior convictions in the United States.
- No known links to organised crime.
- Bank statements and social profiles betrayed no hint of nefarious activity.
Prosecution barrister Hannah Sidaway told Birmingham Crown Court that this invisibility made Betro an ideal surrogate assassin: “She was untraceable, unrecognised, and therefore expendable.”
Recruited from 4,000 miles away
Investigators pieced together Betro’s breadcrumb trail:
Betro spent her final days of freedom surveilling Sikander Ali’s daily routine, purchasing a niqab, and acquiring a converted self-loading pistol through a dark-web middleman operating out of Eastern Europe.
Cross-Border Manhunt
When the attempt misfired, Betro slipped out of the UK—first to Spain, then to Armenia where she melted into Yerevan’s expatriate community under an assumed name.
Milestones in the pursuit
“This wasn’t glamorous spycraft—it was relentless, methodical grind,” Detective Chief Superintendent Alastair Orencas told reporters outside the court.
Courtroom Drama & Verdict
The Defendant’s Last Stand
Betro stared straight ahead as the jury forewoman announced three unanimous guilty verdicts:
She maintained her innocence, insisting she had merely “delivered a parcel” for an acquaintance. CCTV, mobile-phone data, and ballistics evidence told a different story.
Puppeteers already jailed
Her co-architects had been sentenced in 2024:
Judge Sarah Buckingham warned Betro to expect a “lengthy custodial term” when sentencing takes place next month.
Aftermath & Questions Left Unanswered
While Ali now lives under armed guard, detectives remain puzzled over Betro’s motive. Was she in debt, ideologically driven—or simply seduced by the promise of easy money?
For West Midlands Police, the conviction marks the end of a five-year, three-continent investigation. For Birmingham, it is yet another sordid chapter in a feud whose original cause—a scuffle in a family-run clothing store—has now claimed decades in prison time and nearly one life.
The city moves on, but the memory of how an unsuspecting American tourist became a would-be killer on its streets will linger.
Mystery Shopper from Arkansas Now Stands Alone: A Timeline of the Botched U.K. Hit
The quiet aisles of a Birmingham boutique became the unlikely backdrop for a trans-Atlantic manhunt when Aimee Betro—captured on CCTV moments after a hail of bullets missed their mark—was brought back to British soil earlier this year following her arrest in Armenia.
Here is how the puzzle pieces finally clicked into place.
The Shadow Gunwoman Prosecutors Could Never Locate
- Betro insisted a second American woman—one who “sounded exactly like me on the phone” and owned the same brand of flashy trainers—was the true triggerman.
- Jurors heard the accused describe the convergence of matching phones, shoes and accents as nothing more than “a hideous coincidence.”
- Despite weeks of investigation on two continents, detectives never traced a record—call, email, bank slip, or plane ticket—showing Betro had been paid for the botched job.
Sentencing Beckons
On August 21, the court will weigh whether the failed assassination was the act of a willing operator or, as Betro claims, the result of being in the wrong place at the wrong moment.
