November 27, 2025 • 48 mins
Original Air date of 11/29/2023. Re-published for Thanksgiving-themed episodes.
In 1991, over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a real-life nightmare unfolded in the kitchen of a beautiful new bride. A red hat, scissors, an iron, and homemade BBQ ribs would reveal the most disturbing and bizarre of holiday rituals.
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Research and Source Materials:
abcnews.go.com/US/omaima-nelson-california-woman-convicted-grisly-murder-husband/story?id=14675780
www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/cannibalism
www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/model-who-killed-cooked-and-ate-husband-denied-parole/
www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-13-mn-1395-story.html
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4706216/
www.sapiens.org/biology/cannibalism-ritualized-sacred/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:28):
Hello and welcome to Alita Dangra, Shades of Murder, a
podcast where I will share and discuss tells a true grim
mysteries and all things dark and macabre.
If you eat Plain Dream and Shades of Murder like me, then
welcome my kindred spirits to your new podcast.
(00:48):
If you enjoy the show, Please remember to follow and
subscribe, share and consider a five star rating so I can
present more stories to you and we could all embrace the love
the darkness together. All of my contact information
you can find in the episode description below.
Please be forewarned that each episode contains specific and at
(01:09):
times a very graphic and disturbing details of the case
and may not be intended for all audiences.
This case is not to be listened to lightly.
It is very graphic and contains some extremely disturbing
details of the crime, but it is an important and compelling
story to hear. This murder has been showcased
(01:32):
on other podcasts and YouTube shows, but the focus has always
been placed on the grotesquenessof the crime and has neglected
to explore the pertinent and much more compelling elements of
what triggered the event and howit all unfolded.
This is the story of Omaima Nelson On a night when turkeys
(01:55):
are carved and bowls of gravy are passed around the family
table. A nightmarish murder scene would
unfold in the kitchen of Omaima Nelson's home.
That evening in their lovely apartment in Costa Mesa, CA,
Omaima's much older husband, 56 year old William Nelson, would
attempt to force himself upon her.
(02:16):
And not for the first time even that same day, the sexual
assaults had only become worse and Omima no longer would allow
herself to be his victim. In a moment of rage, Omima
plunged a pair of scissors into his chest and stomach.
She then struck her husband overthe head with an iron and
(02:37):
proceeded to bash his head with it over and over again.
She went into shock, fell into astate of what can only be
described as mental displacement, and began to cut
up his body on the kitchen floor.
Over the next 12 hours, this battered and deranged woman
would hack up her large husband into pieces and do her best to
(03:00):
shove much of his flesh and internal parts down the garbage
disposal. Amyma Nelson may have gotten
away with the crime except for the fact that her husband had
been a very large man, which made him even more difficult and
time consuming to dispose of. As a result, she made the
(03:20):
unfortunate error of trusting the wrong person.
I'm not sure about all of you listeners out there, but for
many of us in the true crime world, we have jokingly discuss
how everyone needs that one person you can turn to if and
when you must dispose of the body.
There is only one person you canentrust this to.
(03:42):
For me, I have that one person and they know who they are, so
thank you. Unfortunately for Amaima Nelson,
she did not have any trustworthyfriends who had her back.
When she turned to someone for help in the disposal of William
Nelson's body. That person she reached out to
said that he would help her, butinstead they betrayed her and
(04:05):
turned her over to law enforcement.
Apparently Amaima had also enlisted the aid of two ex
boyfriends to remove the teeth from William Nelson's
decapitated skull to further destroy evidence of his
identity. When this phone call LED
homicide investigators to AmaimaNelson's door, they found on the
front seat of her dead husband'sred Corvette, which she had been
(04:28):
driving around town in several black trash bags filled with
various body parts. The detectives at the scene were
shocked and horrified by the discovery of human organs in the
vehicle. Upon entry to their apartment,
they were stunned and not prepared for the nightmare seen
inside. William Nelson's hands were
(04:49):
found inside the deep fryer. His head was propped up in the
freezer. Several random dismembered body
parts were located stuffed inside a brown suitcase on
Maima. Nelson was promptly detained and
interrogated the next morning. On December 3rd, 1991, she was
arrested and held on a $250,000 bail while investigators tried
(05:14):
to piece together the crime a little over a year later on
Maima Nelson, who was only 23 years old at the time of the
offence. Would it last take the stand?
I can only imagine how taken back the jurors were at the
beautiful young woman who was a model and former nanny who had
(05:34):
committed this horrific crime. Once she was given the chance to
tell her story, Amyma Nelson confessed to stabbing and
bludgeoning her new husband in adesperate attempt to prevent him
from raping her. She was not going to allow
herself to be sexually assaultedby him again, and she picked up
(05:55):
a pair of scissors and stabbed her husband with them over and
over again. The rage that had deeply nested
itself inside Omima her entire life had been freed, and she
grabbed an iron and other randomobjects within their home and
beat him senseless with them until he lay dead and bloodied
(06:19):
on the floor. In her own words, she freaked
out when she realized what she had done and became
psychologically detached from the events that would follow as
she slipped into a trance like state.
The jury, which consisted of eight women and four men,
listened in horror and disbeliefas the events of that night were
(06:41):
revealed. After Omima Nelson realized her
husband William was dead, the ritual of dismemberment began.
She chopped off his hands and then boiled them in a pot on the
stove and oil with the purpose of removing any fingerprints.
The victim's torso had been skinned, also referred to as
fled. A mima openly admitted to how
(07:03):
she had cooked her husband's head and placed it inside their
freezer so she could more easilypull out his teeth.
Using leftovers from their Thanksgiving meal the day
before, she blended in parts of his body with the Turkey and
stuffing, went to the apartment complex's trash bin and hid them
there inside a bag. Amya Nelson also confessed to
(07:27):
having castrated her husband, William Nelson, and vengeance
for his vicious sexual attacks. One of her neighbors testified
to hearing the repetitive soundsof chopping and the grinding of
their garbage disposal all throughout the night.
The investigators of the crime scene found various remains of
(07:47):
William Nelson's corpse stuffed in the garbage bags and the
apartment's trash bin, as O Maima had confessed to, but
reported that some parts of him were never recovered.
Understandably, the jurors and the foreman were quite disturbed
and traumatized by the graphic images of the man's body, or
(08:07):
shall I say the pieces of the man's body they were forced to
look at as evidence. Her psychiatrist, Doctor David J
Scheffner, diagnosed Imima Nelson as a psychotic and that
in his 20 years of practice he had never encountered such a
bizarre and psychotic offender. In addition to her confession on
(08:31):
the stand and the evidence presented by the prosecution, it
was learned by the psychiatrist in his sessions with her that
she had dressed up for the all night event.
Allegedly, according to the defendant, she put on red high
heels, wore a Red Hat and painted her lips in red for the
(08:51):
ritual of the dismemberment and disposal of her husband's body.
Although she tried to claim it was not true.
During the trial, Omima had confessed to her doctor how she
had prepared his ribs like they do in restaurants, explaining
how she brushed his ribs with BBQ sauce and cooked them inside
(09:14):
the oven, her psychiatrist recounted to the courthouse.
In one session, she expressed tohim how she sat down at their
kitchen table and chewed into his ribs, saying out loud to
herself. And I quote, it's so sweet.
It's so delicious. I like mine tender.
Deputy District Attorney Randolph J Pulaski treated Omima
(09:38):
Nelson as a hostile defendant. He painted her to the jury as a
predator, a young, beautiful immigrant woman who used men for
money and luxuries. And in the case of William
Nelson, his purpose had expired.Attorney Pulaski illustrated how
Omima murdered Nelson in her greed and darkness and that she
(09:59):
had all intention of stealing his money in car and running
away. During the trial, he asked Omima
facetiously if she would assist in gathering the rest of the
evidence since there were still a lot of missing meat from the
large man. He addressed her saying, and I
quote, we're missing about 130 lbs of bill, You know, where he
(10:21):
might have gone. During her trial, Omima Nelson
shared with the court how she had been a victim of severe
physical and sexual abuse in hernative country of Egypt as a
young girl. Like millions of other young
girls, even as young as infants,Omima was forced to undergo what
is known as female circumcision,which is nothing like what male
(10:45):
circumcision entails. Amaima fled to Egypt for the
United States in 1986 for a new life and for a world away from
the discrimination and abuse sheand so many women endured there.
However, the genital mutilation she was subjected to and the
abuse she was forced to experience growing up in Egypt
(11:08):
prevented her from being able toenjoy sexual intercourse.
She was so severely damaged internally and externally that
she could not experience pleasure.
Her experiences with men in the United States only led to
further damage of herself, imageand sense of personal worth as
(11:29):
she became intertwined with one abusive, violent man after the
other. Upon meeting the much older and
seemingly kind and gentle William E Bill Nelson, she
experienced for the first time what she believed to be love.
Here was a man who was stable, financially well off, adored her
(11:53):
and treated her better than any other man had before.
She believed she had found her nine in shining armour and based
on this belief, Omimah accepted his proposal only a few days
after meeting one another. She even complied with having
sex with Nelson several times a day because she loved him and
(12:16):
wanted him to be happy. But according to Omimah, the
gentleman and William Nelson didnot last long.
William Nelson, who was a pilot,had a criminal record for
dealing marijuana, but there were no signs or indicators that
he was a violent man. William Nelson, who was
originally from the Midwest, returned to his old home to
(12:39):
spend their honeymoon there and to introduce his young,
beautiful bride to his adult children.
According to Omaima, it was there that she first was exposed
to his dark and violent side. She claimed that he demanded sex
within the realm of S&M, in particular acts involving
(12:59):
bondage. When she resisted and tried to
refuse him, he would lose his temper and become erratic,
violent, and cruel. He would find torturous ways to
punish her when she defied him, such as when one time she
claimed that he threw her new kitten outside of his vehicle's
window. Her husband then began to sell
(13:21):
her body to older men in exchange for money and even once
for her car. Amyma said that her husband saw
her as his property and that he told her and I quote, I paid for
you, I'm getting what I paid for.
She claimed that he threatened to abandon her in the desert and
that if she did not do as he pleased, he would report her to
(13:44):
the authorities and say she was a Mexican prostitute.
She said that she stayed with him because he would sincerely
apologize after the abuse and she was scared of what he would
do to her if she actually left. He raped and beat her multiple
times. On one particular occasion when
(14:04):
she told him she was done with his abuse and was leaving him.
It was on such an occasion during Thanksgiving in 1991 when
her husband forced himself upon her, that, oh, Maima Nelson had
had enough. The prosecution did their best
to present Omima Nelson as a monster and even made a
(14:26):
fictional comparison of her to that of Hannibal Lecter.
I find the prosecution even being allowed to compare her to
a fictional character in a film laughable, offensive, and really
should not be permitted in a court of law.
I mean talk about sensationalizing the court trial
(14:48):
and not sticking to the evidence.
Amaya Nelson by all accounts wasmentally ill, psychologically
broken, and very likely deservedthe diagnosis of a psychotic.
But was she psychotic in the sense of a Hannibal Lecter like
character? No, she was uneducated female
(15:09):
immigrant who had suffered unimaginable amounts of sexual
and physical abuse, was emotionally damaged, and did
what she had to in order to survive in a new world.
They said she was a liar, that she was not a survivor or victim
of abuse, and that William Nelson was the true victim,
(15:31):
pointing out the evidence that his ankles had been bound during
the attack. Although this is an interesting
element of the evidence, first of all, we already know they
were engaged in S&M practice. Secondly, I wonder how they
determined this to be true. Has ankles been discovered in
the garbage bags to which the autopsy showed there to be signs
(15:53):
of binding like ligature marks found on wrists or around the
neck? Myva Nelson also had a previous
and quite extensive criminal record which was reflective of
her unhinged mental state but nevertheless did not help her
already aggravated murder case. She was first convicted on 2
(16:17):
counts of auto theft and shoplifting on December 10th,
1987. Less than two years later, she
was charged with a hit and run for property damage, more
shoplifting, and assault and battery of a security officer
whom she bit. Then, in early 1990, she was
(16:39):
arrested for a DUI, then drivingwithout a license that June and
in November of that year, assault with a firearm on Mima.
Nelson's lawyer, Public defenderThomas G Mooney, painted his
client as the victim and that she was not a monster but rather
a frightened and abused young woman.
(17:00):
She killed him while fighting off her rapist in self defence
and did everything she felt had been necessary to cover up the
crime. The defence attorney and the
testimony offered by Mima herself did not sway the jury
into believing she was innocent of the crime based on self
defence, especially considering the horrifying and grotesque
(17:22):
details of the homicide and concealment of his death.
Over six days, the Orange CountySuperior Court jury deliberated.
The defendant must have induced enough sympathy and lack of
sound mind though, because they could not agree on her
committing premeditated first degree murder.
(17:44):
Amaima Nelson was acquitted of the first degree murder charge.
Instead, the jury returned with a conviction of second degree
murder, which held a maximum sentence of 25 years
imprisonment. In addition to being convicted
of second degree murder, Imama Nelson was also found guilty of
assaulting another wealthy, mucholder white man, Robert Hansen
(18:07):
of Huntington Beach, CA in November of that previous year.
He claimed that she had bound him and threatened him with a
gun if he did not give her his money.
The jurors did not believe his story entirely, though, and
Omima was acquitted of the more serious charges of false
imprisonment and attempted robbery, however, and both the
(18:28):
murder of her husband and the assault on Hanson, her
boyfriend. At the time of the attack, Omima
had a yielded weapons, a knife on her husband, and a gun on her
boyfriend, which led to aggravating circumstances in
each crime. Under California criminal law,
this could increase her sentenceby an additional six years.
(18:50):
Omaima Nelson now was faced with18 years to life in prison for
the killing of William Nelson, with a knife being utilized in
his death and an additional 10 years incarceration for the
assault on Hansen with a gun. The judge sentenced her to 25
years to life, which is the maximum she could receive, and
(19:12):
under California law she has to complete 80% of the sentence.
In 2002, Omima Nelson filed for habeas corpus under the claim of
ineffective counsel for their failure to not have her plead
not guilty by reason of insanity.
I would have thought she had something to stand on with this
(19:33):
claim because I absolutely agreethat this plea should have been
used or a plea of guilty by reason of insanity.
Unfortunately for Amima, this petition was denied by the US
District Court for the Central District of California in 2003,
which said it was beyond the statute of limitations.
(19:56):
The first time she was made eligible for parole was in 2006.
Her attorney, Terence Scott, fought for her in an appeals
court that same year, arguing that the reason why Amima Nelson
had chopped up her husband's body.
Was because Egyptian mythology believed that if one chops up
the body of their enemy then they will not face them in the
(20:17):
afterlife. Now during my research I cannot
locate anything regarding this particular belief.
From what I did read, this belief may have derived from the
story of Osiris, whose own brother Set plotted against him
and jealousy murdered him and then dismembered him into 14
pieces, spreading him throughoutEgypt.
(20:41):
Perhaps this was his way of dishonouring him, and by cutting
him up into his many pieces and placing them in different
places, he was stripping him of his power and thus thwarting his
entry into the afterlife. Then in relation to this
mythology, by dismembering her husband, Almaima was not just
(21:02):
trying to conceal the crime, butrid him of his dignity, power
and self respect and thus any remaining hold over her in the
afterlife. This is just my interpretation
of how this mythology could havepossibly affected her beliefs
and actions. She was denied an appeal and her
(21:24):
possibility to be freed from prison based on at least what
the prosecutor Pulaski stated was her own lack of remorse, how
she has not taken responsibilityfor what she has done, and that
she still places the blame for her crimes upon the victim.
I'm not sure how this holds any ground when she fully confessed
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to everything she did to the victim, including how she killed
him, the details as to how she attempted to get rid of his
body, and that she was sorry that she took his life but she
believed it was the only way to save her own.
The District Attorney addressed her on Maima Nelson up to that
point in her incarceration had neglected to finish any
(22:07):
education or vocation based courses provided there and that
she did not follow the rules andregulations of the prison.
It did not help Omima Nelson's attempt at parole that she was
the opposite of a model prisoner.
While incarcerated between 1993 and 2005, she was sided with
(22:29):
seven major rule violations. These included a fight in the
day room, battery of a prison staff member, concealment of
contraband, theft of headphones,two more for mutual combat, and
failure to comply with directions.
In addition to these major violations, Omima had an
additional 8 minor ones. Between 1995 and 2004.
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She was sided with disturbance in a class for getting into a
verbal disagreement, holding in her possession on issued
property, being out of bounds, failure to report to class,
failure to report to her assigned position, use of the
phone during an unassigned time,lying on her bunk when prison
staff were conducting A headcount, and being non
(23:13):
compliant with grooming standards.
Wow. I mean, it sounds like she's in
grade school instead of an adultprison with its manual, trivial
and ridiculous numbers and typesof citations.
I understand the citations for the major issues, especially if
they involve violence, but seriously, Failure to report to
(23:35):
class? I know.
Here's a great idea. Why don't we treat the
incarcerated like children, berate, then penalize them for
the most minor infractions and not provide them with any real
guidance or treatment? This approach, I'm sure, is
especially effective for those who have a mental illness, a
history of abuse and violence, and who are all around
(23:57):
psychologically impaired. Good job, American penal system.
Insert sarcasm here. In 2019, Omima Nelson applied to
the 9th Circuit Court for authorization to file a second
habeas corpus petition under thedecision McCoy made by the
Supreme Court in 2018. Under this ruling, the Court
(24:19):
held that if the defense counselconcedes guilt for their client
during trial after the defendanthas directed them to maintain
their innocence, this is in direct violation of their 6th
Amendment right to a fair trial.However, the courts have their
ways around prisoners filing claims which are often not
clarified to them and are used to successfully defeat their
(24:43):
attempts. Since Congress had placed a one
year statute of limitations on habeas corpus petitions being
filed, the petitioner must file an application to receive
authorization to file a secondary petition for a writ
within one calendar year date inwhich the constitutional right
(25:05):
was first acknowledged by the Supreme Court.
The decision made in McCoy was on May 14th, 2018, but Omima did
not file her application until November 26th, 2019, which
successfully destroyed any consideration or for being able
to file a second habeas corpus. Omima Nelson will not be
(25:28):
eligible for parole again until 2026.
There is a current movement to free Omima Nelson set up through
Change.org, which I personally have signed many different
petitions on. However, I only sign something
once I have done my own researchon the matter.
It may be obvious to say, but I think it is very important that
(25:49):
we all do our own due diligence before placing support behind a
convicted criminal who could still pose A potentially serious
threat to others in society. Really, any social or political
petition should be looked at very closely and not take the
word of another person or website.
In the case of Omaima Nelson, according to reports, she has
(26:11):
not only been a model prisoner while incarcerated, no pun
intended, but has done everything to her habilitate and
better herself during her time there.
She currently resides at the Central California Women's
facility in Chowchilla, CA. It would be almost too easy to
label this horrifying story as one that is merely committed by
(26:36):
a psychotic and to only focus onthe disgusting details, which I
think skips over the most important and the most
interesting elements of this case.
This young woman was a victim ofviolence and sexual abuse her
entire life. From a tender age, she was
(26:56):
sexually mutilated to be assimilated into an archaic and
brutal belief system regarding the purpose and value of women
in her culture. She was marked for life, damned
to never experience real physical pleasure, and was
(27:16):
taught very early on because it was that it was men who caused
this suffering. Female genital mutilation is a
widespread practice across most nations in Africa, many in the
Middle East and some in Asia. Some may claim it to be a
tradition and not something thatour Western cultures should
(27:39):
interfere in, but nothing could be further from the truth.
For centuries, this external cutting, whether partial or
total removal of a female's genitalia, the ceiling, and
stitching up a part of their vagina or a combination, has
been done with a mistaken beliefthat is necessary for reasons of
(28:04):
chaste religion and hygiene. It is also been utilized as a
tool to eliminate a woman's sexual pleasure.
From as old as 15 to as young asinfants, girls are subjected to
this brutal and cruel tradition.More than 200 million girls and
(28:26):
women have been forced to endurethis mutilation and often times
it causes severe health complications.
Please understand that these procedures are carried out often
by a non medical professional and they are not for any reason
based on legitimate healthcare. In fact, the cost of the fallout
(28:50):
of female genital mutilation is over a billion dollars.
Not only does female genital mutilation induce 0 benefits to
the recipient, but it causes severe bleeding, trouble with
urination, CIS and infections, increases the difficulty of
carrying a baby later on and increases the chances that a
(29:12):
child will be stillborn. They also have caused
haemorrhages and death. Research indicates that the long
term psychological effects female genital mutilation has on
its victims can be very serious and often debilitating.
One study reported that a 6th ofcircumcised immigrant women
(29:36):
exhibit thresholds that surpass those of PTSD, and a third of
them suffer from severe degrees of depression and anxiety.
The trauma and brutality these women were forced to endure,
especially at such a young and vulnerable age, increases their
chances for substance abuse and a wide range of mental health
(30:00):
issues. It seems completely insane why
and how this continues to go on,but since it is perceived as a
social norm and totally acceptedby the cultures who practice it,
it has not been easily eradicated.
This is a human rights violation, an exercise of female
(30:21):
discrimination at its most extreme, and there are many
organizations with WHO at its forefront who are committed to
spreading education about this practice, helping those who are
subjected to it, and those who help to perpetuate it understand
the extreme damage they are inflicting upon females.
(30:42):
Unfortunately, at the time of Almimah's female genital
mutilation, there was not a global movement against this
practice. She was a victim at a young age
of this brutal act, which inflicted unmeasurable amounts
of harm upon her body, her psyche and her spirit.
(31:04):
Understandably, I think she hated men and wanted to get as
much as she could out of them, since thanks to the patriarchal
forces in her own country, her capability for real pleasure had
been severely minimized, if not completely absent from her life.
Just imagine that this happens to countless girls and women in
(31:27):
these nations, which most of theworld turns a blind eye to.
This is not about cultural differences, this is about
minimizing the female purpose and value in these cultures.
They are not allowed to be educated, not allowed to express
themselves, not allowed to pursue their dreams, and are not
(31:49):
permitted to have pleasure. Their existence is solely to
serve that of the men and society and most of the women
who have been subjected to this abuse and discrimination for so
long that it is difficult, if not impossible, for them to even
understand how wrong, how dangerous and permanently
(32:13):
damaging this is. I don't blame on my Ma Nelson
one bit for hating men, having such deep resentment and rage
toward them for the abuse and exploitation she continued to
suffer from when she came to a country that she believed would
be her salvation, her escape from her past.
(32:38):
It is of little surprise after she was pushed to the edge too
many times that she snapped. The other equally important and
intriguing element of this case?It's her confession that she ate
part of her dead husband, which she attempted to withdraw later
on. It is easy to be revolted, even
(32:59):
nauseated, by the act of cannibalism, and trust me, the
thought of eating a human being is both of those things.
But it is important to have someinsight into the history of this
taboo subject to understand the offender and her actions.
The act of cannibalism has been presented 1 sidedly in most
(33:20):
discussions and in media presentations.
True crime and fiction because it is unthinkable, disgusting
and hard to conceive of doing even under the most severe of
circumstances, that being starvation.
Although it is very rare for societies to practice it in
modern times, there are some cultures that still do.
(33:43):
The act of cannibalism has not been a popular school of
research and historically was often suppressed by those of the
Western world, in particular by missionaries and agents of
colonialism. There have been records of
various cultures consuming members for sheer survival in
times of great famine. Research has revealed that such
(34:04):
practices have been recorded in a wide diversity of countries
and cultures in times of extremeand sustained stress, in
particular during times of famine, and has been practiced
worldwide from Japan, China, what was once known, to Persia
to France. Cannibalism has been something
societies have partaken in underthe most extreme of
(34:27):
circumstances. Cannibalism, also known as
anthropophagi, which is the Latin term for man eating, is
reported to have been practiced way before the time of Homo
sapiens inside the caves of Homoancestor who was the common
ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals.
De fleshed human bones have beendiscovered dating back as far as
(34:50):
600,000 years in Goes Cave in England.
Remains of humans provided evidence of the practice of
cannibalism in unique ways, suchas how many of the skulls were
utilized as drinking vessels. As to whether the Egyptians
practice cannibalism is hotly debated since the Pyramid Texts
found which, prone to its practice, have been deemed by
(35:13):
some to be merely metaphorical in nature and not to be taken
literal. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek writer
in the 1st century BC, wrote down an ancient story involving
the goddess Cyrus forbidding theEgyptians from consuming the
flesh of humans. First, it is critical for this
discussion to realize that thereare two different kinds of
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cannibalism which exist. It is not as simple as
individuals who consume others for survival while lost at sea
or in some other hostile environment, or the element of
the twisted case of a serial killer.
Although while doing this research it made me see things a
little more complicated and their purpose of doing so.
(35:57):
When involving the latter, thereis endocannibalism and then
there is exocannibalism. The same actions with entirely
opposite targets, motivations and intent.
Exocannibalism involves consuming the flesh of others
where the individual or members of a group are often perceived
as the enemy, such as prisoners of war or those killed in
(36:20):
combat. The primary motivation for
exocannibalism is to take vengeance upon the enemy and or
to absorb their virtuous powers such as bravery, wisdom, or
strength. For some cultures, such as those
in Fiji, one does not eat an enemy who is not courageous and
strong since by consuming them, they will assimilate these
(36:44):
virtues. It has also been enacted by some
societies to exhibit aggressive and antisocial behavior.
This can be seen in situations where individuals consume
someone who has caused harm to their loved ones.
Those who were believed to be malevolent and had caused harm
to the community could also facecannibalism as a concept of
(37:05):
punishment and S Papua. During the early 1960s through
the early 1970's, the vast majority of deaths were believed
to have been the result of witchcraft and sorcery, many of
whom were murdered by their communities and their flesh
eaten. This act of cannibalism is
enacted in such a manner as to express disdain, disrespect, and
(37:29):
hostility toward the enemy. Contrary to this practice
believed to have stopped centuries ago, various
documentation such as the case in Papua New Guinea has proven
otherwise. It was documented by Medicines
Sans Frontiers, which is an international medical charity,
how soldiers in Liberia in the 1980s participating in what were
(37:53):
known to be ritualized feast. This ritual cannibalism is
rooted in the purpose of drawingin physical and spiritual powers
through the consumption of humanflesh.
It is also serves the purpose ofterrifying the enemy.
For the children who served in Joseph Kony's infamous army in
Uganda, the practice of exocannibalism was used as a
(38:17):
ritual to initiate a boy becoming a man.
Exocannibalism is practice against the enemy.
Endocannibalism is utilized to show love, respect, and honor to
the dead. It is believed by some cultures
that eating parts of the dead relative helps them to move on
to the other world, which may bea way of holding on to them by
(38:38):
absorbing their positive attributes.
Various parts in the lowlands ofSouth America have been recorded
as being involved in the act of endocannibalism than any other
part of the world, specifically as an element of the funerary or
Mortuary rite. Most often the flesh of their
deceased loved one is cooked andconsumed, or they would roast
(39:01):
and grind up the bones and consume the ash.
The eating of the bones was popular in northern Brazil, in
the western and northern parts of Amazonia, and within the
Upper Ornocle regions of southern Venezuela.
One particular event was recorded among the Al Mahawaka
and Peru, where a grieving mother wailed as she ground her
(39:22):
daughter's bones into a powder and blended them into a drink
made of maize. The ritual unfolded almost over
2 weeks, which ended in the mother tossing the remaining
ashes of her child into the river.
Although the act of cannibalism is difficult to get past in this
sense, it does resonate with howthe consumption of their
(39:44):
deceased loved 1 is a way to stay with them.
Yes, it is still disgusting and bizarre, but in this context, I
can grasp the meaning of what isbehind this ritual for those who
believe in its power and purpose.
And in its own way, it's poignant, deep, and kind of
(40:05):
beautiful. The act of cannibalism has also
been viewed by some monks and ascetics as a way to transcend
one's own spirit, mind, and body.
The Agoris are a sect of Hindu ascetics who reside in India,
whose beliefs center around the concept that all things in the
universe are equally sacred, including that of human remains.
(40:27):
Through the actions of holding and caressing the bodies of the
deceased and consuming human flesh.
Their goal is to move beyond theparameters and categories that
humans have strictly labeled as being natural and reach a state
of Nirvana in the process. During the 1500's, the Tibetan
monks consumed what were referred to as pills of flesh.
(40:50):
These pills of flesh were the remains of Brahman ascetics.
Now ascetics are people who practice an extreme form of
self-discipline and abstention, in particular from any source of
pleasure with the goal of reaching a higher spiritual
plane. Brahmins were the most powerful
members of the spiritual communities and Hindu society.
(41:10):
They represented the most enlightened and wisest of them
all. The consumption of spiritual and
intellectual elites was perceived as the ultimate source
of transcendence. There was strong documentation
of this practice whose primary purpose was to create a bridge
between the recipient of the flesh pill and the spiritual
(41:31):
leader whom they consumed. Viewed through these unique and
deeply meaningful cultural experiences, 1 can begin to see
how cannibalism is perceived as food for the spirit, mind and
body. Interest in practices and
cannibalism in the Western worldhad its origins in an unusual
(41:52):
place. Known for its healing powers,
Mumia is a highly praised substance that is exclusively
located on a single mountainsidein Persia.
Its name is derived from the local word for wax.
This mum was utilized in a wide range of medicinal purposes and
in the Arabic world was known for being an invaluable and very
(42:15):
costly substance. The problem happened, as it
often does, when Western Europeans, upon their initial
exposure to the Islamic world, mistranslated the text from
Mamia. Translators during the 11th and
12th centuries incorrectly identified Mamia as the
substance that was derived from the mummified bodies within
(42:38):
Egyptian tombs. Due to this poor translation and
thus complete misinterpretation of the text.
Medical cannibalism in Europe was practiced by the elite,
especially for many generations in medieval Europe.
This led to the creation of manydifferent beliefs surrounding
the substance and how it could help heal from the blood of
(43:01):
gladiators healing epilepsy to human fat mixed into homeopathic
medicines. It was used to help headaches,
to prevent heart attacks, anything imaginable.
During this time, it was properly documented how
individuals were raiding Egyptian tombs and stealing
their contents, from pottery to the jewels hidden inside.
(43:22):
However, there were also those who were stealing the mummies
themselves and stealing them forhigh profits.
The demand grossly outweighed the resources available, which
led to body snatchers and immoral tradesmen stealing fresh
corpses of the executed, the enslaved and others and
transforming them into mummies. 1 record of this described how a
(43:46):
body snatcher would take the body of a person who had been
hind, embalm the body with salt and drugs, dry it inside an oven
and grind the remains or ashen to own powder which apothecaries
would purchase to create home remedies.
During the Victorian era, the craze for all things Egyptian
was so huge that unwrapping mommies was an actual event
(44:09):
inside some lecture halls, at hospitals, or even unveiled at
exclusive gatherings inside private homes.
Can you even imagine being invited to such an event?
I mean it would have been surreal.
Amazing, full of wonder and mystique and creepy and
terrifying all at once. Not to mention the whole
(44:30):
unwrapping of a mummy thing, which is beyond dishonorable and
I would think would not be the best energy to leave around.
What do you think about Oh my Man Nelson and the motivations
behind this horrific crime? Not on any level am I condoning
her actions because she committed an absolutely vile act
(44:52):
of murder. However, I think, no pun
intended, that dissecting the pieces of her life and viewing
her behaviour on a deeper and multi layered level, as I hope I
have succeeded in doing with this episode, helps to see her
and her crimes on a different, more compelling level.
She was not just a murderer, shewas not just a cannibal.
(45:16):
She was a terrified, brutally traumatized woman who snapped in
the truest and most simple senseof the word.
Do I believe she has redeemed and progressed enough to be
free? I personally do not believe that
it would be wise to let her backinto society, but I don't
necessarily think she should be locked up in prison the rest of
(45:36):
her days either, nor should she ever happen.
Omaya Nelson is a prime example of an individual who should have
pled guilty by reason of insanity and spent the rest of
her life at a mental health facility.
Who knows, maybe if her defense attorney and our criminal
justice system had done their job better than she would have
received the mental health treatment she desperately needed
(46:00):
and deserved even before these events, and this murder would
never have happened. What are your thoughts on Omaya
Nelson? Do you think she was just a mad
woman who killed and ate her husband, or was she severely
abused a traumatized young womanwho murdered, dismembered, and
consumed parts of her victim so he no longer had power over her?
(46:26):
Thank you so much for listening to this case.
I appreciate each and everyone of you and I'm beyond thrilled
to be your host. Until next time, Stacey, I'm
watching shades of art happeningin the streets next door and
especially inside your own home.Elena Dama.
(46:48):
Shades of Murder is created, researched, written and edited
by Elena Dama. Music courtesy of Pixabay by
Ashot Denilian.
Hello and welcome to Alita Dangra, Shades of Murder, a
podcast where I will share and discuss tells a true grim
mysteries and all things dark and macabre.
If you eat Plain Dream and Shades of Murder like me, then
welcome my kindred spirits to your new podcast.
(00:48):
If you enjoy the show, Please remember to follow and
subscribe, share and consider a five star rating so I can
present more stories to you and we could all embrace the love
the darkness together. All of my contact information
you can find in the episode description below.
Please be forewarned that each episode contains specific and at
(01:09):
times a very graphic and disturbing details of the case
and may not be intended for all audiences.
This case is not to be listened to lightly.
It is very graphic and contains some extremely disturbing
details of the crime, but it is an important and compelling
story to hear. This murder has been showcased
(01:32):
on other podcasts and YouTube shows, but the focus has always
been placed on the grotesquenessof the crime and has neglected
to explore the pertinent and much more compelling elements of
what triggered the event and howit all unfolded.
This is the story of Omaima Nelson On a night when turkeys
(01:55):
are carved and bowls of gravy are passed around the family
table. A nightmarish murder scene would
unfold in the kitchen of Omaima Nelson's home.
That evening in their lovely apartment in Costa Mesa, CA,
Omaima's much older husband, 56 year old William Nelson, would
attempt to force himself upon her.
(02:16):
And not for the first time even that same day, the sexual
assaults had only become worse and Omima no longer would allow
herself to be his victim. In a moment of rage, Omima
plunged a pair of scissors into his chest and stomach.
She then struck her husband overthe head with an iron and
(02:37):
proceeded to bash his head with it over and over again.
She went into shock, fell into astate of what can only be
described as mental displacement, and began to cut
up his body on the kitchen floor.
Over the next 12 hours, this battered and deranged woman
would hack up her large husband into pieces and do her best to
(03:00):
shove much of his flesh and internal parts down the garbage
disposal. Amyma Nelson may have gotten
away with the crime except for the fact that her husband had
been a very large man, which made him even more difficult and
time consuming to dispose of. As a result, she made the
(03:20):
unfortunate error of trusting the wrong person.
I'm not sure about all of you listeners out there, but for
many of us in the true crime world, we have jokingly discuss
how everyone needs that one person you can turn to if and
when you must dispose of the body.
There is only one person you canentrust this to.
(03:42):
For me, I have that one person and they know who they are, so
thank you. Unfortunately for Amaima Nelson,
she did not have any trustworthyfriends who had her back.
When she turned to someone for help in the disposal of William
Nelson's body. That person she reached out to
said that he would help her, butinstead they betrayed her and
(04:05):
turned her over to law enforcement.
Apparently Amaima had also enlisted the aid of two ex
boyfriends to remove the teeth from William Nelson's
decapitated skull to further destroy evidence of his
identity. When this phone call LED
homicide investigators to AmaimaNelson's door, they found on the
front seat of her dead husband'sred Corvette, which she had been
(04:28):
driving around town in several black trash bags filled with
various body parts. The detectives at the scene were
shocked and horrified by the discovery of human organs in the
vehicle. Upon entry to their apartment,
they were stunned and not prepared for the nightmare seen
inside. William Nelson's hands were
(04:49):
found inside the deep fryer. His head was propped up in the
freezer. Several random dismembered body
parts were located stuffed inside a brown suitcase on
Maima. Nelson was promptly detained and
interrogated the next morning. On December 3rd, 1991, she was
arrested and held on a $250,000 bail while investigators tried
(05:14):
to piece together the crime a little over a year later on
Maima Nelson, who was only 23 years old at the time of the
offence. Would it last take the stand?
I can only imagine how taken back the jurors were at the
beautiful young woman who was a model and former nanny who had
(05:34):
committed this horrific crime. Once she was given the chance to
tell her story, Amyma Nelson confessed to stabbing and
bludgeoning her new husband in adesperate attempt to prevent him
from raping her. She was not going to allow
herself to be sexually assaultedby him again, and she picked up
(05:55):
a pair of scissors and stabbed her husband with them over and
over again. The rage that had deeply nested
itself inside Omima her entire life had been freed, and she
grabbed an iron and other randomobjects within their home and
beat him senseless with them until he lay dead and bloodied
(06:19):
on the floor. In her own words, she freaked
out when she realized what she had done and became
psychologically detached from the events that would follow as
she slipped into a trance like state.
The jury, which consisted of eight women and four men,
listened in horror and disbeliefas the events of that night were
(06:41):
revealed. After Omima Nelson realized her
husband William was dead, the ritual of dismemberment began.
She chopped off his hands and then boiled them in a pot on the
stove and oil with the purpose of removing any fingerprints.
The victim's torso had been skinned, also referred to as
fled. A mima openly admitted to how
(07:03):
she had cooked her husband's head and placed it inside their
freezer so she could more easilypull out his teeth.
Using leftovers from their Thanksgiving meal the day
before, she blended in parts of his body with the Turkey and
stuffing, went to the apartment complex's trash bin and hid them
there inside a bag. Amya Nelson also confessed to
(07:27):
having castrated her husband, William Nelson, and vengeance
for his vicious sexual attacks. One of her neighbors testified
to hearing the repetitive soundsof chopping and the grinding of
their garbage disposal all throughout the night.
The investigators of the crime scene found various remains of
(07:47):
William Nelson's corpse stuffed in the garbage bags and the
apartment's trash bin, as O Maima had confessed to, but
reported that some parts of him were never recovered.
Understandably, the jurors and the foreman were quite disturbed
and traumatized by the graphic images of the man's body, or
(08:07):
shall I say the pieces of the man's body they were forced to
look at as evidence. Her psychiatrist, Doctor David J
Scheffner, diagnosed Imima Nelson as a psychotic and that
in his 20 years of practice he had never encountered such a
bizarre and psychotic offender. In addition to her confession on
(08:31):
the stand and the evidence presented by the prosecution, it
was learned by the psychiatrist in his sessions with her that
she had dressed up for the all night event.
Allegedly, according to the defendant, she put on red high
heels, wore a Red Hat and painted her lips in red for the
(08:51):
ritual of the dismemberment and disposal of her husband's body.
Although she tried to claim it was not true.
During the trial, Omima had confessed to her doctor how she
had prepared his ribs like they do in restaurants, explaining
how she brushed his ribs with BBQ sauce and cooked them inside
(09:14):
the oven, her psychiatrist recounted to the courthouse.
In one session, she expressed tohim how she sat down at their
kitchen table and chewed into his ribs, saying out loud to
herself. And I quote, it's so sweet.
It's so delicious. I like mine tender.
Deputy District Attorney Randolph J Pulaski treated Omima
(09:38):
Nelson as a hostile defendant. He painted her to the jury as a
predator, a young, beautiful immigrant woman who used men for
money and luxuries. And in the case of William
Nelson, his purpose had expired.Attorney Pulaski illustrated how
Omima murdered Nelson in her greed and darkness and that she
(09:59):
had all intention of stealing his money in car and running
away. During the trial, he asked Omima
facetiously if she would assist in gathering the rest of the
evidence since there were still a lot of missing meat from the
large man. He addressed her saying, and I
quote, we're missing about 130 lbs of bill, You know, where he
(10:21):
might have gone. During her trial, Omima Nelson
shared with the court how she had been a victim of severe
physical and sexual abuse in hernative country of Egypt as a
young girl. Like millions of other young
girls, even as young as infants,Omima was forced to undergo what
is known as female circumcision,which is nothing like what male
(10:45):
circumcision entails. Amaima fled to Egypt for the
United States in 1986 for a new life and for a world away from
the discrimination and abuse sheand so many women endured there.
However, the genital mutilation she was subjected to and the
abuse she was forced to experience growing up in Egypt
(11:08):
prevented her from being able toenjoy sexual intercourse.
She was so severely damaged internally and externally that
she could not experience pleasure.
Her experiences with men in the United States only led to
further damage of herself, imageand sense of personal worth as
(11:29):
she became intertwined with one abusive, violent man after the
other. Upon meeting the much older and
seemingly kind and gentle William E Bill Nelson, she
experienced for the first time what she believed to be love.
Here was a man who was stable, financially well off, adored her
(11:53):
and treated her better than any other man had before.
She believed she had found her nine in shining armour and based
on this belief, Omimah accepted his proposal only a few days
after meeting one another. She even complied with having
sex with Nelson several times a day because she loved him and
(12:16):
wanted him to be happy. But according to Omimah, the
gentleman and William Nelson didnot last long.
William Nelson, who was a pilot,had a criminal record for
dealing marijuana, but there were no signs or indicators that
he was a violent man. William Nelson, who was
originally from the Midwest, returned to his old home to
(12:39):
spend their honeymoon there and to introduce his young,
beautiful bride to his adult children.
According to Omaima, it was there that she first was exposed
to his dark and violent side. She claimed that he demanded sex
within the realm of S&M, in particular acts involving
(12:59):
bondage. When she resisted and tried to
refuse him, he would lose his temper and become erratic,
violent, and cruel. He would find torturous ways to
punish her when she defied him, such as when one time she
claimed that he threw her new kitten outside of his vehicle's
window. Her husband then began to sell
(13:21):
her body to older men in exchange for money and even once
for her car. Amyma said that her husband saw
her as his property and that he told her and I quote, I paid for
you, I'm getting what I paid for.
She claimed that he threatened to abandon her in the desert and
that if she did not do as he pleased, he would report her to
(13:44):
the authorities and say she was a Mexican prostitute.
She said that she stayed with him because he would sincerely
apologize after the abuse and she was scared of what he would
do to her if she actually left. He raped and beat her multiple
times. On one particular occasion when
(14:04):
she told him she was done with his abuse and was leaving him.
It was on such an occasion during Thanksgiving in 1991 when
her husband forced himself upon her, that, oh, Maima Nelson had
had enough. The prosecution did their best
to present Omima Nelson as a monster and even made a
(14:26):
fictional comparison of her to that of Hannibal Lecter.
I find the prosecution even being allowed to compare her to
a fictional character in a film laughable, offensive, and really
should not be permitted in a court of law.
I mean talk about sensationalizing the court trial
(14:48):
and not sticking to the evidence.
Amaya Nelson by all accounts wasmentally ill, psychologically
broken, and very likely deservedthe diagnosis of a psychotic.
But was she psychotic in the sense of a Hannibal Lecter like
character? No, she was uneducated female
(15:09):
immigrant who had suffered unimaginable amounts of sexual
and physical abuse, was emotionally damaged, and did
what she had to in order to survive in a new world.
They said she was a liar, that she was not a survivor or victim
of abuse, and that William Nelson was the true victim,
(15:31):
pointing out the evidence that his ankles had been bound during
the attack. Although this is an interesting
element of the evidence, first of all, we already know they
were engaged in S&M practice. Secondly, I wonder how they
determined this to be true. Has ankles been discovered in
the garbage bags to which the autopsy showed there to be signs
(15:53):
of binding like ligature marks found on wrists or around the
neck? Myva Nelson also had a previous
and quite extensive criminal record which was reflective of
her unhinged mental state but nevertheless did not help her
already aggravated murder case. She was first convicted on 2
(16:17):
counts of auto theft and shoplifting on December 10th,
1987. Less than two years later, she
was charged with a hit and run for property damage, more
shoplifting, and assault and battery of a security officer
whom she bit. Then, in early 1990, she was
(16:39):
arrested for a DUI, then drivingwithout a license that June and
in November of that year, assault with a firearm on Mima.
Nelson's lawyer, Public defenderThomas G Mooney, painted his
client as the victim and that she was not a monster but rather
a frightened and abused young woman.
(17:00):
She killed him while fighting off her rapist in self defence
and did everything she felt had been necessary to cover up the
crime. The defence attorney and the
testimony offered by Mima herself did not sway the jury
into believing she was innocent of the crime based on self
defence, especially considering the horrifying and grotesque
(17:22):
details of the homicide and concealment of his death.
Over six days, the Orange CountySuperior Court jury deliberated.
The defendant must have induced enough sympathy and lack of
sound mind though, because they could not agree on her
committing premeditated first degree murder.
(17:44):
Amaima Nelson was acquitted of the first degree murder charge.
Instead, the jury returned with a conviction of second degree
murder, which held a maximum sentence of 25 years
imprisonment. In addition to being convicted
of second degree murder, Imama Nelson was also found guilty of
assaulting another wealthy, mucholder white man, Robert Hansen
(18:07):
of Huntington Beach, CA in November of that previous year.
He claimed that she had bound him and threatened him with a
gun if he did not give her his money.
The jurors did not believe his story entirely, though, and
Omima was acquitted of the more serious charges of false
imprisonment and attempted robbery, however, and both the
(18:28):
murder of her husband and the assault on Hanson, her
boyfriend. At the time of the attack, Omima
had a yielded weapons, a knife on her husband, and a gun on her
boyfriend, which led to aggravating circumstances in
each crime. Under California criminal law,
this could increase her sentenceby an additional six years.
(18:50):
Omaima Nelson now was faced with18 years to life in prison for
the killing of William Nelson, with a knife being utilized in
his death and an additional 10 years incarceration for the
assault on Hansen with a gun. The judge sentenced her to 25
years to life, which is the maximum she could receive, and
(19:12):
under California law she has to complete 80% of the sentence.
In 2002, Omima Nelson filed for habeas corpus under the claim of
ineffective counsel for their failure to not have her plead
not guilty by reason of insanity.
I would have thought she had something to stand on with this
(19:33):
claim because I absolutely agreethat this plea should have been
used or a plea of guilty by reason of insanity.
Unfortunately for Amima, this petition was denied by the US
District Court for the Central District of California in 2003,
which said it was beyond the statute of limitations.
(19:56):
The first time she was made eligible for parole was in 2006.
Her attorney, Terence Scott, fought for her in an appeals
court that same year, arguing that the reason why Amima Nelson
had chopped up her husband's body.
Was because Egyptian mythology believed that if one chops up
the body of their enemy then they will not face them in the
(20:17):
afterlife. Now during my research I cannot
locate anything regarding this particular belief.
From what I did read, this belief may have derived from the
story of Osiris, whose own brother Set plotted against him
and jealousy murdered him and then dismembered him into 14
pieces, spreading him throughoutEgypt.
(20:41):
Perhaps this was his way of dishonouring him, and by cutting
him up into his many pieces and placing them in different
places, he was stripping him of his power and thus thwarting his
entry into the afterlife. Then in relation to this
mythology, by dismembering her husband, Almaima was not just
(21:02):
trying to conceal the crime, butrid him of his dignity, power
and self respect and thus any remaining hold over her in the
afterlife. This is just my interpretation
of how this mythology could havepossibly affected her beliefs
and actions. She was denied an appeal and her
(21:24):
possibility to be freed from prison based on at least what
the prosecutor Pulaski stated was her own lack of remorse, how
she has not taken responsibilityfor what she has done, and that
she still places the blame for her crimes upon the victim.
I'm not sure how this holds any ground when she fully confessed
(21:44):
to everything she did to the victim, including how she killed
him, the details as to how she attempted to get rid of his
body, and that she was sorry that she took his life but she
believed it was the only way to save her own.
The District Attorney addressed her on Maima Nelson up to that
point in her incarceration had neglected to finish any
(22:07):
education or vocation based courses provided there and that
she did not follow the rules andregulations of the prison.
It did not help Omima Nelson's attempt at parole that she was
the opposite of a model prisoner.
While incarcerated between 1993 and 2005, she was sided with
(22:29):
seven major rule violations. These included a fight in the
day room, battery of a prison staff member, concealment of
contraband, theft of headphones,two more for mutual combat, and
failure to comply with directions.
In addition to these major violations, Omima had an
additional 8 minor ones. Between 1995 and 2004.
(22:53):
She was sided with disturbance in a class for getting into a
verbal disagreement, holding in her possession on issued
property, being out of bounds, failure to report to class,
failure to report to her assigned position, use of the
phone during an unassigned time,lying on her bunk when prison
staff were conducting A headcount, and being non
(23:13):
compliant with grooming standards.
Wow. I mean, it sounds like she's in
grade school instead of an adultprison with its manual, trivial
and ridiculous numbers and typesof citations.
I understand the citations for the major issues, especially if
they involve violence, but seriously, Failure to report to
(23:35):
class? I know.
Here's a great idea. Why don't we treat the
incarcerated like children, berate, then penalize them for
the most minor infractions and not provide them with any real
guidance or treatment? This approach, I'm sure, is
especially effective for those who have a mental illness, a
history of abuse and violence, and who are all around
(23:57):
psychologically impaired. Good job, American penal system.
Insert sarcasm here. In 2019, Omima Nelson applied to
the 9th Circuit Court for authorization to file a second
habeas corpus petition under thedecision McCoy made by the
Supreme Court in 2018. Under this ruling, the Court
(24:19):
held that if the defense counselconcedes guilt for their client
during trial after the defendanthas directed them to maintain
their innocence, this is in direct violation of their 6th
Amendment right to a fair trial.However, the courts have their
ways around prisoners filing claims which are often not
clarified to them and are used to successfully defeat their
(24:43):
attempts. Since Congress had placed a one
year statute of limitations on habeas corpus petitions being
filed, the petitioner must file an application to receive
authorization to file a secondary petition for a writ
within one calendar year date inwhich the constitutional right
(25:05):
was first acknowledged by the Supreme Court.
The decision made in McCoy was on May 14th, 2018, but Omima did
not file her application until November 26th, 2019, which
successfully destroyed any consideration or for being able
to file a second habeas corpus. Omima Nelson will not be
(25:28):
eligible for parole again until 2026.
There is a current movement to free Omima Nelson set up through
Change.org, which I personally have signed many different
petitions on. However, I only sign something
once I have done my own researchon the matter.
It may be obvious to say, but I think it is very important that
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we all do our own due diligence before placing support behind a
convicted criminal who could still pose A potentially serious
threat to others in society. Really, any social or political
petition should be looked at very closely and not take the
word of another person or website.
In the case of Omaima Nelson, according to reports, she has
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not only been a model prisoner while incarcerated, no pun
intended, but has done everything to her habilitate and
better herself during her time there.
She currently resides at the Central California Women's
facility in Chowchilla, CA. It would be almost too easy to
label this horrifying story as one that is merely committed by
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a psychotic and to only focus onthe disgusting details, which I
think skips over the most important and the most
interesting elements of this case.
This young woman was a victim ofviolence and sexual abuse her
entire life. From a tender age, she was
(26:56):
sexually mutilated to be assimilated into an archaic and
brutal belief system regarding the purpose and value of women
in her culture. She was marked for life, damned
to never experience real physical pleasure, and was
(27:16):
taught very early on because it was that it was men who caused
this suffering. Female genital mutilation is a
widespread practice across most nations in Africa, many in the
Middle East and some in Asia. Some may claim it to be a
tradition and not something thatour Western cultures should
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interfere in, but nothing could be further from the truth.
For centuries, this external cutting, whether partial or
total removal of a female's genitalia, the ceiling, and
stitching up a part of their vagina or a combination, has
been done with a mistaken beliefthat is necessary for reasons of
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chaste religion and hygiene. It is also been utilized as a
tool to eliminate a woman's sexual pleasure.
From as old as 15 to as young asinfants, girls are subjected to
this brutal and cruel tradition.More than 200 million girls and
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women have been forced to endurethis mutilation and often times
it causes severe health complications.
Please understand that these procedures are carried out often
by a non medical professional and they are not for any reason
based on legitimate healthcare. In fact, the cost of the fallout
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of female genital mutilation is over a billion dollars.
Not only does female genital mutilation induce 0 benefits to
the recipient, but it causes severe bleeding, trouble with
urination, CIS and infections, increases the difficulty of
carrying a baby later on and increases the chances that a
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child will be stillborn. They also have caused
haemorrhages and death. Research indicates that the long
term psychological effects female genital mutilation has on
its victims can be very serious and often debilitating.
One study reported that a 6th ofcircumcised immigrant women
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exhibit thresholds that surpass those of PTSD, and a third of
them suffer from severe degrees of depression and anxiety.
The trauma and brutality these women were forced to endure,
especially at such a young and vulnerable age, increases their
chances for substance abuse and a wide range of mental health
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issues. It seems completely insane why
and how this continues to go on,but since it is perceived as a
social norm and totally acceptedby the cultures who practice it,
it has not been easily eradicated.
This is a human rights violation, an exercise of female
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discrimination at its most extreme, and there are many
organizations with WHO at its forefront who are committed to
spreading education about this practice, helping those who are
subjected to it, and those who help to perpetuate it understand
the extreme damage they are inflicting upon females.
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Unfortunately, at the time of Almimah's female genital
mutilation, there was not a global movement against this
practice. She was a victim at a young age
of this brutal act, which inflicted unmeasurable amounts
of harm upon her body, her psyche and her spirit.
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Understandably, I think she hated men and wanted to get as
much as she could out of them, since thanks to the patriarchal
forces in her own country, her capability for real pleasure had
been severely minimized, if not completely absent from her life.
Just imagine that this happens to countless girls and women in
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these nations, which most of theworld turns a blind eye to.
This is not about cultural differences, this is about
minimizing the female purpose and value in these cultures.
They are not allowed to be educated, not allowed to express
themselves, not allowed to pursue their dreams, and are not
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permitted to have pleasure. Their existence is solely to
serve that of the men and society and most of the women
who have been subjected to this abuse and discrimination for so
long that it is difficult, if not impossible, for them to even
understand how wrong, how dangerous and permanently
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damaging this is. I don't blame on my Ma Nelson
one bit for hating men, having such deep resentment and rage
toward them for the abuse and exploitation she continued to
suffer from when she came to a country that she believed would
be her salvation, her escape from her past.
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It is of little surprise after she was pushed to the edge too
many times that she snapped. The other equally important and
intriguing element of this case?It's her confession that she ate
part of her dead husband, which she attempted to withdraw later
on. It is easy to be revolted, even
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nauseated, by the act of cannibalism, and trust me, the
thought of eating a human being is both of those things.
But it is important to have someinsight into the history of this
taboo subject to understand the offender and her actions.
The act of cannibalism has been presented 1 sidedly in most
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discussions and in media presentations.
True crime and fiction because it is unthinkable, disgusting
and hard to conceive of doing even under the most severe of
circumstances, that being starvation.
Although it is very rare for societies to practice it in
modern times, there are some cultures that still do.
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The act of cannibalism has not been a popular school of
research and historically was often suppressed by those of the
Western world, in particular by missionaries and agents of
colonialism. There have been records of
various cultures consuming members for sheer survival in
times of great famine. Research has revealed that such
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practices have been recorded in a wide diversity of countries
and cultures in times of extremeand sustained stress, in
particular during times of famine, and has been practiced
worldwide from Japan, China, what was once known, to Persia
to France. Cannibalism has been something
societies have partaken in underthe most extreme of
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circumstances. Cannibalism, also known as
anthropophagi, which is the Latin term for man eating, is
reported to have been practiced way before the time of Homo
sapiens inside the caves of Homoancestor who was the common
ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals.
De fleshed human bones have beendiscovered dating back as far as
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600,000 years in Goes Cave in England.
Remains of humans provided evidence of the practice of
cannibalism in unique ways, suchas how many of the skulls were
utilized as drinking vessels. As to whether the Egyptians
practice cannibalism is hotly debated since the Pyramid Texts
found which, prone to its practice, have been deemed by
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some to be merely metaphorical in nature and not to be taken
literal. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek writer
in the 1st century BC, wrote down an ancient story involving
the goddess Cyrus forbidding theEgyptians from consuming the
flesh of humans. First, it is critical for this
discussion to realize that thereare two different kinds of
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cannibalism which exist. It is not as simple as
individuals who consume others for survival while lost at sea
or in some other hostile environment, or the element of
the twisted case of a serial killer.
Although while doing this research it made me see things a
little more complicated and their purpose of doing so.
(35:57):
When involving the latter, thereis endocannibalism and then
there is exocannibalism. The same actions with entirely
opposite targets, motivations and intent.
Exocannibalism involves consuming the flesh of others
where the individual or members of a group are often perceived
as the enemy, such as prisoners of war or those killed in
(36:20):
combat. The primary motivation for
exocannibalism is to take vengeance upon the enemy and or
to absorb their virtuous powers such as bravery, wisdom, or
strength. For some cultures, such as those
in Fiji, one does not eat an enemy who is not courageous and
strong since by consuming them, they will assimilate these
(36:44):
virtues. It has also been enacted by some
societies to exhibit aggressive and antisocial behavior.
This can be seen in situations where individuals consume
someone who has caused harm to their loved ones.
Those who were believed to be malevolent and had caused harm
to the community could also facecannibalism as a concept of
(37:05):
punishment and S Papua. During the early 1960s through
the early 1970's, the vast majority of deaths were believed
to have been the result of witchcraft and sorcery, many of
whom were murdered by their communities and their flesh
eaten. This act of cannibalism is
enacted in such a manner as to express disdain, disrespect, and
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hostility toward the enemy. Contrary to this practice
believed to have stopped centuries ago, various
documentation such as the case in Papua New Guinea has proven
otherwise. It was documented by Medicines
Sans Frontiers, which is an international medical charity,
how soldiers in Liberia in the 1980s participating in what were
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known to be ritualized feast. This ritual cannibalism is
rooted in the purpose of drawingin physical and spiritual powers
through the consumption of humanflesh.
It is also serves the purpose ofterrifying the enemy.
For the children who served in Joseph Kony's infamous army in
Uganda, the practice of exocannibalism was used as a
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ritual to initiate a boy becoming a man.
Exocannibalism is practice against the enemy.
Endocannibalism is utilized to show love, respect, and honor to
the dead. It is believed by some cultures
that eating parts of the dead relative helps them to move on
to the other world, which may bea way of holding on to them by
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absorbing their positive attributes.
Various parts in the lowlands ofSouth America have been recorded
as being involved in the act of endocannibalism than any other
part of the world, specifically as an element of the funerary or
Mortuary rite. Most often the flesh of their
deceased loved one is cooked andconsumed, or they would roast
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and grind up the bones and consume the ash.
The eating of the bones was popular in northern Brazil, in
the western and northern parts of Amazonia, and within the
Upper Ornocle regions of southern Venezuela.
One particular event was recorded among the Al Mahawaka
and Peru, where a grieving mother wailed as she ground her
(39:22):
daughter's bones into a powder and blended them into a drink
made of maize. The ritual unfolded almost over
2 weeks, which ended in the mother tossing the remaining
ashes of her child into the river.
Although the act of cannibalism is difficult to get past in this
sense, it does resonate with howthe consumption of their
(39:44):
deceased loved 1 is a way to stay with them.
Yes, it is still disgusting and bizarre, but in this context, I
can grasp the meaning of what isbehind this ritual for those who
believe in its power and purpose.
And in its own way, it's poignant, deep, and kind of
(40:05):
beautiful. The act of cannibalism has also
been viewed by some monks and ascetics as a way to transcend
one's own spirit, mind, and body.
The Agoris are a sect of Hindu ascetics who reside in India,
whose beliefs center around the concept that all things in the
universe are equally sacred, including that of human remains.
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Through the actions of holding and caressing the bodies of the
deceased and consuming human flesh.
Their goal is to move beyond theparameters and categories that
humans have strictly labeled as being natural and reach a state
of Nirvana in the process. During the 1500's, the Tibetan
monks consumed what were referred to as pills of flesh.
(40:50):
These pills of flesh were the remains of Brahman ascetics.
Now ascetics are people who practice an extreme form of
self-discipline and abstention, in particular from any source of
pleasure with the goal of reaching a higher spiritual
plane. Brahmins were the most powerful
members of the spiritual communities and Hindu society.
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They represented the most enlightened and wisest of them
all. The consumption of spiritual and
intellectual elites was perceived as the ultimate source
of transcendence. There was strong documentation
of this practice whose primary purpose was to create a bridge
between the recipient of the flesh pill and the spiritual
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leader whom they consumed. Viewed through these unique and
deeply meaningful cultural experiences, 1 can begin to see
how cannibalism is perceived as food for the spirit, mind and
body. Interest in practices and
cannibalism in the Western worldhad its origins in an unusual
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place. Known for its healing powers,
Mumia is a highly praised substance that is exclusively
located on a single mountainsidein Persia.
Its name is derived from the local word for wax.
This mum was utilized in a wide range of medicinal purposes and
in the Arabic world was known for being an invaluable and very
(42:15):
costly substance. The problem happened, as it
often does, when Western Europeans, upon their initial
exposure to the Islamic world, mistranslated the text from
Mamia. Translators during the 11th and
12th centuries incorrectly identified Mamia as the
substance that was derived from the mummified bodies within
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Egyptian tombs. Due to this poor translation and
thus complete misinterpretation of the text.
Medical cannibalism in Europe was practiced by the elite,
especially for many generations in medieval Europe.
This led to the creation of manydifferent beliefs surrounding
the substance and how it could help heal from the blood of
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gladiators healing epilepsy to human fat mixed into homeopathic
medicines. It was used to help headaches,
to prevent heart attacks, anything imaginable.
During this time, it was properly documented how
individuals were raiding Egyptian tombs and stealing
their contents, from pottery to the jewels hidden inside.
(43:22):
However, there were also those who were stealing the mummies
themselves and stealing them forhigh profits.
The demand grossly outweighed the resources available, which
led to body snatchers and immoral tradesmen stealing fresh
corpses of the executed, the enslaved and others and
transforming them into mummies. 1 record of this described how a
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body snatcher would take the body of a person who had been
hind, embalm the body with salt and drugs, dry it inside an oven
and grind the remains or ashen to own powder which apothecaries
would purchase to create home remedies.
During the Victorian era, the craze for all things Egyptian
was so huge that unwrapping mommies was an actual event
(44:09):
inside some lecture halls, at hospitals, or even unveiled at
exclusive gatherings inside private homes.
Can you even imagine being invited to such an event?
I mean it would have been surreal.
Amazing, full of wonder and mystique and creepy and
terrifying all at once. Not to mention the whole
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unwrapping of a mummy thing, which is beyond dishonorable and
I would think would not be the best energy to leave around.
What do you think about Oh my Man Nelson and the motivations
behind this horrific crime? Not on any level am I condoning
her actions because she committed an absolutely vile act
(44:52):
of murder. However, I think, no pun
intended, that dissecting the pieces of her life and viewing
her behaviour on a deeper and multi layered level, as I hope I
have succeeded in doing with this episode, helps to see her
and her crimes on a different, more compelling level.
She was not just a murderer, shewas not just a cannibal.
(45:16):
She was a terrified, brutally traumatized woman who snapped in
the truest and most simple senseof the word.
Do I believe she has redeemed and progressed enough to be
free? I personally do not believe that
it would be wise to let her backinto society, but I don't
necessarily think she should be locked up in prison the rest of
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her days either, nor should she ever happen.
Omaya Nelson is a prime example of an individual who should have
pled guilty by reason of insanity and spent the rest of
her life at a mental health facility.
Who knows, maybe if her defense attorney and our criminal
justice system had done their job better than she would have
received the mental health treatment she desperately needed
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and deserved even before these events, and this murder would
never have happened. What are your thoughts on Omaya
Nelson? Do you think she was just a mad
woman who killed and ate her husband, or was she severely
abused a traumatized young womanwho murdered, dismembered, and
consumed parts of her victim so he no longer had power over her?
(46:26):
Thank you so much for listening to this case.
I appreciate each and everyone of you and I'm beyond thrilled
to be your host. Until next time, Stacey, I'm
watching shades of art happeningin the streets next door and
especially inside your own home.Elena Dama.
(46:48):
Shades of Murder is created, researched, written and edited
by Elena Dama. Music courtesy of Pixabay by
Ashot Denilian.
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