A California woman who killed, cooked and then ate her husband won't be getting out of prison -- the parole board denied her request for early release.
Omaima Nelson was convicted of killing her husband of just three weeks back in 1991 with a pair of scissors, then dismembered him, cooked him in barbecue sauce and ate the feast.
At the parole hearing Wednesday, Nelson, now 43 years old, denied the last part.
"I swear to God I did not eat any part of him. I am not a monster," she said, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
When asked "What was your purpose in cooking him?" Nelson did not answer. She did, however, apologize for dismembering her husband, who at 56 was more than 30 years her senior.
Nelson claimed she was acting in self defense, that her husband was trying to strangle her, so she hit him with a lamp and then stabbed him to death.
"If I didn't defend my life, I would have been dead. I'm sorry it happened, but I'm glad I lived," she said.
Nelson claimed she is a changed woman from the one 20 years ago who "refused to let go of any pain anyone had ever caused her."
She said she "looked for love in all the wrong places... but now I value my integrity and my journey... I have a strong desire to help others."
She said if she were released, she would go back to her native Egypt to live with her mother.
But the board refused to release her, saying she is still a risk to society. She will continue serving her 27-years-to-life sentence.
Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Randy Pawloski, an original prosecutor in the case, took the unusual step of attending the hearing, during which he uttered the understatement of the year.
"The honeymoon ended as dramatically as any in American history," Pawloski said.
Omaima Nelson was convicted of killing her husband of just three weeks back in 1991 with a pair of scissors, then dismembered him, cooked him in barbecue sauce and ate the feast.
At the parole hearing Wednesday, Nelson, now 43 years old, denied the last part.
"I swear to God I did not eat any part of him. I am not a monster," she said, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
When asked "What was your purpose in cooking him?" Nelson did not answer. She did, however, apologize for dismembering her husband, who at 56 was more than 30 years her senior.
Nelson claimed she was acting in self defense, that her husband was trying to strangle her, so she hit him with a lamp and then stabbed him to death.
"If I didn't defend my life, I would have been dead. I'm sorry it happened, but I'm glad I lived," she said.
Nelson claimed she is a changed woman from the one 20 years ago who "refused to let go of any pain anyone had ever caused her."
She said she "looked for love in all the wrong places... but now I value my integrity and my journey... I have a strong desire to help others."
She said if she were released, she would go back to her native Egypt to live with her mother.
But the board refused to release her, saying she is still a risk to society. She will continue serving her 27-years-to-life sentence.
Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Randy Pawloski, an original prosecutor in the case, took the unusual step of attending the hearing, during which he uttered the understatement of the year.
"The honeymoon ended as dramatically as any in American history," Pawloski said.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/omaima-nelson-denied-parole-killed-cooked-ate-husband
