Former Model Who Killed, Cooked And Ate Her Husband Denied Parole
Oct. 5 2011, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
A former model who killed, cooked and ate her husband over Thanksgiving weekend in 1991 was denied parole on Wednesday.
It is the second time that Omaima Nelson has applied for and been denied parole, she was previously turned down in 2006.
Nelson was convicted to 27-years-to-life in prison for the grisly murder of her 56-year-old husband, William Nelson, which authorities compared to the fictional slayings of Hannibal Lector.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the Orange County District Attorney's office opposed Nelson’s bid for freedom on the grounds that she had a history of violence before the murder, and because her crime was so especially heinous.
"This is probably one of the most egregious mutilations we've ever had," said Senior Deputy District Attorney Randy Pawloski, who prosecuted the case. "It is one of the most gruesome and notorious crimes ever committed in Orange County."
The Egyptian-born model had only been married for a month when she abruptly ended the relationship over Thanksgiving weekend by killing her husband, who was three decades her senior, and then dismembering him in their Costa Mesa, California apartment.
After the gruesome holiday season slaying, Nelson, who was in her twenties at the time, cooked her husband's head on the stove, skinned his torso, and fried his hands in oil.
She then delivered garbage bags filled with the body parts to various ex-boyfriends, asking them to help dispose of the evidence and offering $75,000 for help. The murderess was arrested on December 2, 1991, after police found trash bags containing human body parts in the couple's Eastside apartment and in William Nelson's Corvette.
Nelson, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1986 from Egypt, admitted to dipping part of William's body in barbecue sauce and tasting him, but Pawloski said she now denies that.
"Of course she says that (she doesn't remember) because the parole board doesn't want to let a cannibal out," he said.
Former Costa Mesa Police Sergeant Bob Phillips was the lead investigator in the case. "Omaima Nelson is the most bizarre and sick individual I've had the occasion to meet," he said. "It was the most gruesome case I saw."
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