Egyptian Model Kills And Eats Her New Husband After Moving To America

Born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1968, Omaima Nelson grew up in a poverty-stricken village in southern Egypt near the Sudanese border. Her childhood was overshadowed by severe trauma, including ongoing physical and sexual abuse inflicted by her father.

As a young little girl, Omaima had also been subjected to "female circumcision", or genital mutilation - making sexual intercourse extremely painful for the rest of her life.

Eventually, Omaima’s mother found the courage to leave her abusive husband, taking just three of her sixteen children with her to the slums of Cairo—often referred to as the “City of the Dead,” a name derived from the makeshift homes built among tombs.

When Omaima turned eighteen, she met an American man named Roger Stainbrook, who was visiting the area for work. Seeing him as a potential escape from the crushing poverty that had defined her life—and encouraged by her mother—she agreed to marry him.

When Roger’s assignment in Cairo ended, he brought his new bride back with him to Texas. The marriage, however, was short-lived, and the couple soon separated.

Alone in a foreign country, separated from her family and with limited English, Omaima struggled to build a stable life in America. She initially sought work as a housekeeper or nanny but, unable to secure steady employment, turned to petty theft to support herself.

After relocating to Southern California, she occasionally found work as a model. However, much of her income came from a series of relationships with men. A troubling pattern soon emerged: she would quickly move men into her home, spend their money, and, when confronted or when she lost interest, rob them and disappear.

In one instance, she reportedly tied a man to a chair, threatened him with a shotgun, and robbed him before fleeing.

After drifting between various towns, Omaima eventually settled in Orange County. By the fall of 1991, she met her next husband at a bar in Huntington Beach.

Dressed to impress in cowboy boots and a large gold belt buckle, Bill Nelson first caught her attention when she overheard him boasting about his wealth. The older man not only carried a thick wad of cash but also spoke openly to other patrons about the land he owned.

Behind the façade of a self-made man, however, was a convicted drug smuggler who had spent years in prison.

Despite this, the pair quickly bonded over a game of pool, and although the 56 year old was still married to another woman, he was drawn to the attention of the 23 year old Omaima. Within weeks, Bill took his new partner to Phoenix, where the two were married.

Bill was infatuated with his new bride and took her to his native Texas to meet his family. However, the relationship was met with scepticism from his adult children—some of whom were older than Omaima herself.

Undeterred by their disapproval, Bill returned with her to California, where they settled into an apartment he owned in Costa Mesa. The marriage, however, was short-lived.

Just three weeks later, Bill Nelson was dead, leaving Omaima a widow.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1991, Bill called his daughter to invite her to California to join him and Omaima for dinner. Disapproving of his new wife and convinced that Omaima was a gold digger, his daughter refused to set foot in the house.

That same day, Bill and Omaima sat down to eat dinner together on what would be their first Thanksgiving together, but it seemed that there was not much to be thankful for and by the end of the night, Bill would be dead at the hands of his wife.

She later claimed that Bill had frequently raped her whenever he didn’t get his way, and that evening marked the final time. Pushed to her breaking point, Omaima said she snapped.

Taking a pair of scissors, she plunged them into her husband before bludgeoning him with a clothes iron; hitting him with such force that the iron had broken into pieces.

Once he was dead, Omaima castrated Bill.

Still not satisfied however, she took to skinning him. Taking the leftover Turkey they had eaten that day, Omaima mixed it with Bill's skin before dumping it down the waste disposal.

Omaima then cut up the remains of Bill and placed them into garbage bags. Using her victim's own Corvette, she then drove the remains to the home of an ex-boyfriend and offered him £75000 to get rid of them. When he refused to assist, Omaima then drove to another ex's house, making the same offer.

Shocked and disgusted, this man called 911. Omaima was immediately arrested and charged with murder.

When authorities first examined Bill’s remains, they could not immediately identify him, as his head was missing. After securing a search warrant, they went to Nelson’s Costa Mesa apartment—and were confronted with a grisly scene of horror.

Sitting in a pan on the stove, was Bill's deep-fried hands which Omaima had hoped would prevent identification. Inside the freezer, Bill's head was stuffed inside, bloodied and mutilated. The iron used in the murder would later be found with pieces Bill's hair and chunks of his scalp still attached.

When Omaima's trial began, she stuck with the plea of self-defence, telling the courtroom:

Omaima pleaded with the court, informing them that after marrying Bill, his personality had completely transformed and an evil side emerged. She claimed that her new husband would sexually assault and beat her regularly and that she had castrated him out of revenge.

A Psychiatrist would also testify at the trial a shocking new detail that would disturb those in attendance. Upon cutting her husband's body up, Omaima had dressed up in a put on a pair of red heels and lipstick before cooking Bill's ribs.

Dousing them in BBQ sauce, she had then devoured the "sweet and delicious" remains of her husband.

Omaima denied the accusations of cannibalism but could not explain why roughly 130 pounds of her husband’s body remained unaccounted for.

The prosecution painted a damning portrait for the jury: a woman who seduced and married Bill purely for his wealth, then restrained him and ultimately took his life. Bruising around Bill’s ankles appeared to support this theory.

The jury ultimately rejected Omaima’s claims of being a battered woman seeking to escape an abusive husband. On 12th January 1993, she was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.

During her time in prison, Omaima has accumulated numerous disciplinary infractions, including assaulting staff, possessing contraband, theft, and engaging in fights. She has been repeatedly denied parole, with the board citing her as “unpredictable” and a continued risk to the public. She is next eligible for parole in 2026.