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Omaima Nelson

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Omaima Aree Nelson
أميمة عارف
Born
Omaima Aref

1968
Cairo, Egypt
NationalityEgyptian[2]
Other namesOmayma Aref Stainbrook[1]
Occupation(s)Former model, nanny
Criminal statusImprisoned
SpouseRoger Stainbrook (divorced) William Nelson (1991)
ConvictionSecond-degree murder
Criminal penalty27 years to life in prison
Imprisoned atCalifornia Institution for Women

Omaima Aree Nelson (Template:Lang-ar; born 1968) is an Egyptian convicted murderer who was convicted of the 1991 murder of her husband Bill Nelson. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 and has since been serving her sentence at California Institution for Women. Her case made international headlines due to allegations of bondage sex, decapitation, castration and cannibalism.

Background

Early life

Omaima Aree Nelson was born and raised as one of 16 children in Cairo, Egypt. At age six, she underwent customary female circumcision at the wish of her Muslim father. She and two sisters would live with her mother in an impoverished part of the city near the local necropolis.[3][4]

Life in the U.S.

In 1986, she immigrated to the United States following her marriage to an American citizen, Roger Stainbrook, whom she subsequently divorced. She lived primarily in California, working as a nanny and later also getting a job as a model at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.[4]

She got a driver's license in 1989 and was noted for 12 traffic violations, including the theft of a car belonging to a boyfriend in Chino.[5] In November 1990, Robert Hanson, a resident of Huntington Beach, accused her of attempted robbery for pointing a gun at him while he was tied up during a consensual bondage session but no official charges were filed to the Orange County Sheriff's Department until her arrest in December 1991.[6][7][8]

In early October 1991, at age 23, she met William E. "Bill" Nelson while playing pool at a bar in Huntington Beach. Nelson, originally from Laredo, Texas, was 56-year-old at the time, worked as a pilot and lived in Costa Mesa, having been released the same year after serving four years in prison for attempting to smuggle 100 tons of marijuana from Mexico through his job.[3]

According to John Fitzgibbon, who met the couple in Bill Nelson's hometown, on November 3, they had married in an Egyptian ceremony in Las Vegas "a few weeks earlier".[3][9] Acquaintances and co-workers of Bill Nelson described the couple as affectionate, but some voiced suspicions that Omaima had married her husband for his money. Bill Nelson's ex-wife, Kathy Nelson, said that the divorce proceedings had not yet been complete at the time and called the validity of their marriage claim into question.[9]

Murder

Omaima claimed that on November 28 1991, Bill had sexually assaulted her in their apartment on Elden Street after she had been tied to a bed during bondage play. Omaima said she broke free of her restraints and hit Bill with a lamp before stabbing him with scissors and beating him with a clothes iron.[10] He was determined to have died of several stab wounds. After killing him, she began dismembering his body, and cooked his head and boiled his hands to remove his fingerprints. She then mixed up his body parts with leftover turkey and disposed of him in a garbage disposal. Neighbors claim they heard the disposal unit running for hours after the time of Bill's death.[11]

She reportedly castrated him in revenge for his alleged sexual assaults. She told her psychiatrist, David Sheffner, that she had cooked her husband's ribs in barbeque sauce and eaten them, but later denied this. Sheffner later claimed that her behavior was a result of a psychotic episode.[10] In the morning hours of December 2, she drove through Orange County in Nelson's corvette, hoping to convince acquaintances to help in the disposal of Nelson's body. She first attempted to enlist the help of Anaheim resident Richard Gray, but he refused to listen to her story and told her to leave. She then drove back to Costa Mesa and went to the Monte Vista Avenue house of an acquainance, Jose Esquivel, and told her that her husband had sexually assaulted her, showing him cuts on her chest, thighs, and feet, as well as ligature markings on her wrists as proof. She then asked him to dispose of his remains, which she had brought to his doorstep in garbage bags in exchange for several appliances and the false promise of $75,000 from a safe that really only contained $100. Esquivel told her he accepted and excused himself to get his truck, but instead called the police.[12]

Trial and aftermath

Omaima was arrested on a suspicion of murder charge on December 2, 1991, and her trial began almost exactly one year later on December 1, 1992.[7]

During the trial, her attorney Thomas Mooney claimed self-defense and said that she had undergone female genital mutilation as a child and sex was traumatic and painful for her, only increased by the assaults she allegedly sustained during her marriage.[11] She was convicted of second-degree murder on January 12, 1993.[10] She was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison.[13][14]

Omaima first became eligible for parole in 2006, but was denied when "commissioners found her unpredictable and a serious threat to public safety." She became eligible again in 2011, but was denied by the parole board again, citing that she had not taken responsibility for the murder, and would not be a productive citizen if she were freed. She will not be able to seek parole again until 2026.[15]

References

  1. ^ Dizon, Lily (February 22, 1992). "Woman Pleads Not Guilty in Dismemberment Case : Courts: Defendant's preliminary hearing is set for April 10. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ Cekola, Anna (April 11, 1892). "Nelson must stand trial tor murder". The Newsport Beach Pilot. p. 1.
  3. ^ a b c Basheda, Lori Ann (December 7, 1991). "Victim, suspect 'lovey dovey' before murder". Newport Beach Pilot. pp. A1 – A12.
  4. ^ a b "Was Woman Abuse Victim or Vicious Killer?". Santa Ana Orange County Register. December 1, 1992. p. 27.
  5. ^ "Omaima Aree Nelson, ex-model who killed and ate her husband, is now seeking parole". CBS. September 30, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  6. ^ Cekola, Anna (April 11, 1892). "Nelson must stand trial tor murder". The Newsport Beach Pilot. p. 1.
  7. ^ a b Dizon, Lily (December 1, 1992). "Woman's Trial Begins in Murder, Dismemberment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  8. ^ Billiter, Bill (February 1, 1992). "New Charges Filed Against Suspect in Grisly Murder: Crime: Complaint alleges that woman accused of killing and dismembering her husband imprisoned, tried to rob and assaulted another local man". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  9. ^ a b Weikel, Dan (1991-12-21). "Police Described Bloody Scene Filled With Body Parts". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ a b c Lynch, Rene (January 13, 1993). "Second-Degree Verdict for Wife in Grisly Murder". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Omaima Nelson, Woman Who Killed And Cooked Her Newlywed Husband, Seeks Parole". Huffington Post. October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  12. ^ Vermeulen, Terri (December 3, 1992). "Woman offered $75,000 to get rid of lover's body, friend claims - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  13. ^ Lynch, Rene (March 13, 1993). "O.C. Woman Sentenced in Grisly Murder". Los Angeles Times.
  14. ^ Lynch, Rene (1992-12-11). "Butchering of Husband Detailed in Testimony : Trial: Psychiatrist says defendant admitted eating a portion of victim. He said she later denied cannibalism. She says slaying was self-defense". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  15. ^ "Wife who killed, cooked husband denied parole". Indianapolis Recorder. October 7, 2011. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
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