ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 5, 2011
Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff, Office: 714-347-8408, Cell: 714-292-2718
Farrah Emami, Spokesperson, Office: 714-347-8405, Cell: 714-323-4486

PAROLE DENIED FOR WOMAN WHO MURDERED HUSBAND OF THREE WEEKS BY DISMEMBERING, DECAPITATING, DISEMBOWELING, COOKING AND FREEZING BODY IN 1991

SANTA ANA – The Board of Parole Hearings (Board), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, denied the parole today for a woman who killed her husband of three weeks over Thanksgiving weekend in 1991 by dismembering, disemboweling, cooking and freezing his body. Omaima Aree Nelson, 43, is currently being held at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, CA. Nelson was sentenced March 18, 1993, to 25 years to life for second degree murder, with a sentencing enhancement for personal use of a knife and, in a separate incident, assault with a firearm.

Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Randy Pawloski, who originally prosecuted the case, appeared at the hearing to oppose Nelson’s parole. The victim’s daughter Margaret Nelson was also present at the hearing and told the Board how her father was taken from her when she was a 15-year-old high school sophomore and how he has missed her growing up and becoming a mother.

Before denying her parole, the Board took into consideration the facts of the case, Nelson’s criminal history, and her lack of responsibility, remorse, rehabilitation, and self-improvement. The Board also cited reports that she has continuously engaged in the habit of having relationships, including congenital visits, with older men while incarcerated for financial gain.

Nelson will be eligible for her next parole hearing in 2026.

Facts of the Case

Nelson met her husband, 56-year-old William Nelson, two months before getting married in November 1991. Over Thanksgiving weekend, between Nov. 28, 1991, and Nov. 30, 1991, after three weeks of marriage, she murdered and dismembered William Nelson. She cut off the victim’s genitals and then cooked the victim’s decapitated head and placed it in the freezer. She boiled William Nelson’s hands in oil. She used the garbage disposal to dispose of much of the body, and other body parts were thrown out in the apartment building dumpster. Several body parts were found in the trunk of a car and in the apartment.

Nelson was arrested on Dec. 1, 1991, by the Costa Mesa Police Department after she contacted an acquaintance to help her dispose of the body. During the trial, Nelson gave varying and conflicting statements as to what had happened. The jury rejected her claim that her husband repeatedly beat and raped her. Subsequent medical examinations and photographs showed no signs of abuse or injuries to the inmate other than those sustained while dismembering the victim.

Extensive Criminal History

The defendant was previously convicted of several crimes including two counts of auto theft and shoplifting on Dec. 10, 1987, hit and run with property damage on July 31, 1989, shoplifting and battery for biting a security officer on July 10, 1989, driving under the influence on Jan. 24, 1990, driving without license on June 17, 1990, and assault with firearm in November 1990.

Nelson has been cited for seven major rule violations while incarcerated between 1993 and 2005 including fighting in the dayroom, battery on a staff member, hiding contraband, stealing donated headphones, two citations for mutual combat, and failure to comply with instructions. She was also cited for eight minor rule violations between 1995 and 2004 including disturbing class by getting into a verbal argument, being in possession of unissued property, being out of bounds, failure to report to class, failure to report to an assigned job, using the telephone at an unassigned time, laying on her bunk while prison staff took count of inmates, and not being in compliance with grooming standards.

Inmate’s Lack of Rehabilitation and Remorse and Continued Threat to Public Safety

The OCDA’s parole opposition letter states that the murder was “carried out in an especially heinous, atrocious, cruel and callous manner. The victim was defiled and mutilated after the offense, and the motive for the crime was inexplicable.”

The inmate has failed to complete any educational or vocational classes while incarcerated and has failed to abide by prison rules. Her extensive criminal history and prison violations not only indicate an escalating pattern of criminal conduct and violence, but also demonstrate the inmate’s failure to rehabilitate. Nelson has never taken responsibility for the crime and insists that she murdered, decapitated, dismembered, and disemboweled William Nelson in self-defense. She has never expressed any remorse. The Board found that her lack of rehabilitation and remorse makes her a threat to public safety if released from state prison.

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TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorneywww.orangecountyda.com • 401 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, CA 92701