A woman convicted of dismembering and cooking her husband’s remains was denied parole Wednesday.
After nearly 20 years in prison, Omaima Aree Nelson, 43, stood before a parole board for the second time. “I'm sorry it happened the way; it did happen and I'm sorry he died,” says Nelson of the crime she committed in her Costa Mesa apartment in 1991.
During the hearing, she sat fidgeting as the commissioners rehashed her gruesome crime. “She spent the weekend of Thanksgiving in ‘91 decapitating, dismembering, cooking and freezing William Nelson [56] her husband of 4 weeks,” said Commissioner Cynthia Fritz.
Nelson told the board she was temporarily insane at the time of the murder; she says she blacked out when she chopped up the body. When the board asked why Nelson brutalized and stabbed her husband to death she pointed to her childhood. She says she was beaten, molested and raped by step-fathers when she lived in Egypt, but so far no evidence has supported the claims. “It’s a part of Nelson’s blame game, let’s blame everyone but me,” said Randy Pawloski, the Orange County DA who was on the case when the murder took place.
Nelson also said her husband beat her and that pushed her over the edge. “But I’ve changed; I’ve learned my lesson,” Omaima Nelson added.
Nelson handed the parole board letters from supporters—family, friends and lovers who want her to be released. The board held letters that stated a much different opinion. A former judge on the case at the time wrote, “Even I was shocked by the statement to the psychiatrist that she hung the rib cage in the shower to drain the blood. She then said she cooked the ribs, dressed up in a red dress, hat and gloves and sat at the dinner table eating them while saying 'Oh my Nelson, you taste so sweet'."
Omaima Nelson defended herself saying, “That's what's been said but I swear, I, in my heart know, I did not eat any body parts of his.”
The DA, William Nelson’s daughter, judges and psychiatrists petitioned the board to deny Nelson parole. “To let her out in the community here or in Egypt would be incomprehensible,” says Pawloski.
Nelson’s parole was denied. The board based it off of numerous factors including the heinous act of the crime, the physiological evaluation that deemed her a risk to society and the fact she needs to complete more rehabilitation programs.
After 5 hours in the parole room and 30 minutes in deliberation, Nelson sat listening; she was emotionless when the board read the decision. “The prisoner is not suitable for parole because of the risk of danger to society,” said Fritz.
Nelson is denied parole for another 15 years, however, the board says if she completes programming before then she can petition for an earlier parole date.
TXT 24
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