Leftovers: The Gruesome Thanksgiving Story of Omaima Nelson

KRIS CALVERT
21 hours ago
9 min read

*This episode of Hitched 2 Homicide contains descriptions of sexual violence, including rape, and graphic violence involving cannibalism. It may be disturbing or triggering for some listeners. Viewer and listener discretion is strongly advised.

She was beautiful, young, and charismatic. He was older, wealthy, and besotted. Five days after they married, he was dead—dismembered in a Costa Mesa apartment over Thanksgiving weekend 1991. Some of his remains were in the freezer. Some were in the trash. And, according to prosecutors, parts of him had been cooked.

This is the case of Omaima Aree Nelson and the murder of her husband, William “Bill” Nelson—one of Southern California’s most sensational, stomach-turning true crime stories.

Who Was Omaima Nelson?

Omaima Aree Nelson was born in Egypt and immigrated to the United States in the late 1980s. She was described as attractive, stylish, and looking for stability. In California, she met William “Bill” Nelson, a 56-year-old pilot and ex-con who had done time for smuggling.

He liked beautiful younger women; she liked security. It was a fast, impulsive match.

The two reportedly married after knowing each other only a short time—sometimes it’s said just a few days. That whirlwind start is important: there was no long, stable relationship here. This was a high-speed collision of two adults with baggage.

Thanksgiving Weekend 1991: The Murder

By Thanksgiving weekend, the marriage was already volatile. According to Omaima, an argument turned violent and she killed Bill in self-defense. According to prosecutors, this was not self-defense—it was slaughter followed by an elaborate, almost ritualistic disposal of the body.

What is not in dispute: Bill Nelson was killed inside their Costa Mesa apartment. He suffered multiple injuries, including a blow to the head. After he was dead, Omaima dismembered him.

This is where the case leaves the realm of “domestic homicide” and becomes one of California’s most disturbing murder scenes.

The Dismemberment and the Kitchen

When police eventually searched the apartment, they found an appalling scene:

Parts of Bill’s body were dismembered with tools.
Some body parts were found in the refrigerator and freezer.
Other parts were in trash bags.
There was evidence she’d used the kitchen—including a deep fryer—to cook parts of his body.

A forensic psychiatrist later testified that Omaima said she had cooked parts of him in oil and even tasted him. She allegedly said, “Nothing is better than the man you love, cooked.” That quote has followed this case ever since and is a big reason it ends up in “cannibal killer” lists.

Defense later tried to downplay the cannibalism angle, but the prosecution absolutely used it to show depravity, planning, and consciousness of guilt. Even if she only cooked body parts to make disposal easier, the imagery was devastating for a jury.

How Police Found Out

Omaima didn’t do a clean job covering her tracks.

After the murder, she tried to enlist help—telling an ex-boyfriend that she’d killed her husband and needed help getting rid of the body. That ex called police.

When officers arrived at the Costa Mesa apartment on December 1, 1991, they quickly realized this was no missing-person call. They were looking at a homicide with body dismemberment. Bill Nelson’s torso was found in the bedroom. Other parts were scattered, bagged, or refrigerated.

This level of postmortem activity is high-risk behavior—it suggests she was trying to avoid identification and disposal, not someone who panicked and called 911 after defending herself.

Omaima’s Story: Self-Defense and Abuse

At trial, Omaima said she killed Bill because he raped and abused her, and that she was acting in self-defense. She claimed he tied her up, assaulted her, and that she fought for her life. This is critical, because the jury didn’t just have to decide if she killed him—they had to decide if the level of violence and mutilation afterward made sense.

Domestic violence and sexual assault are real; the court heard testimony about her traumatic childhood in Egypt, including female circumcision and abuse. The defense tried to connect that trauma to a violent, dissociative response when she was attacked as an adult.

But prosecutors hammered one key point: whatever happened in the moment of killing, the dismemberment was deliberate, methodical, and not self-defense. Cutting up a body, cooking parts of it, and trying to scatter remains is evidence of cover-up, not fear.

The Prosecution’s Narrative

The state’s version was straightforward and powerful for a jury:

Omaima married an older, wealthier man quickly.
She decided to kill him.
She killed him in the apartment.
She dismembered him to hide the evidence.
She tried to get others to help her.
She showed no horror or remorse; instead she cooked parts of him.

They also suggested a financial motive: after his death, she tried to use his credit cards and car—behavior that does not match a traumatized, battered victim in shock.

The Trial and Conviction

In January 1993, Omaima Nelson was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of her husband, Bill Nelson. The jury rejected first-degree murder (premeditation) but also rejected her claim of complete self-defense.

She was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.

That sentence reflected what the judge and jury seemed to agree on: this was a killing followed by an extreme, gruesome attempt to dispose of the body. Even if she had been abused, the level of mutilation was beyond what a reasonable person would do in self-defense.

Did She Really Eat Him?

This is the question that drives clicks, so let’s address it clearly.

Yes, evidence at trial indicated she cooked parts of his body—reportedly ribs in barbecue sauce and other parts in oil.
Yes, a psychiatrist said she admitted to tasting him.
No, this was not a long-term cannibal lifestyle scenario. This was a post-homicide, post-dismemberment act tied to either mental breakdown, cultural superstition (she reportedly believed consuming part of him gave her power over him), or a bizarre method of disposal.

Parole and Later Years

Because she was sentenced 28-to-life, Omaima Nelson became eligible for parole after serving her minimum. When she appeared before the parole board, her explanations didn’t always help her—especially when she continued to minimize her responsibility or frame it only as self-defense.

She has been denied parole multiple times. California boards tend to look hard at offenders who committed especially heinous, dismemberment-related homicides and who appear to have manipulative traits.

Why This Case Still Fascinates True Crime Audiences

Holiday setting: A Thanksgiving weekend murder makes it instantly more shocking.
Gender role reversal: Female offenders who kill, dismember, and cook a body are rare; we’re used to male offenders in that role.
Cannibalism angle: Even the suggestion of eating a victim guarantees national coverage.
Beauty vs. brutality: Omaima was attractive, stylish, and young; the contrast with the crime scene creates cognitive dissonance that audiences want to resolve.
Immigrant-to-Hollywood dream gone wrong: She seemed to be chasing the California fantasy—then it turned into a horror movie.

“Did Omaima Nelson really eat her husband?”
“Inside the Costa Mesa apartment crime scene, 1991”
“Women who kill and dismember: rare but brutal”
“Thanksgiving murders in America”
“Self-defense or staged? The Omaima Nelson trial”
“Most shocking California murders of the 1990s”

Conclusion

The Omaima Nelson case is not just lurid—it’s instructive. It shows how a domestic relationship can escalate rapidly, how trauma and violence can collide, and how postmortem behavior often tells us more about intent than what happened in the first violent moment.

Sources used for this podcast:

Marcum, D. (2011, October 5). Woman who cut up husband seeks parole today. The Orange County Register. https://www.ocregister.com/2011/10/05/woman-who-cut-up-husband-seeks-parole-today/
Oxygen. (2014, November 8). Omaima Nelson [Photographs]. Snapped. https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/photos/omaima-nelson#390981
Innocentnamzy. (n.d.). Omaima Nelson. Shodrex. https://innocentnamzy.shodrex.com/pinfo?p=7718421635647600
Reuters. (2015, December 30). Living in the city of the dead. The Wider Image. https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/living-in-the-city-of-the-dead
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Investigation Discovery. (2022, November 28). Omaima Nelson: The model who killed, castrated & ate her husband for Thanksgiving. https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/murder/omaima-nelson-the-model-who-killed-castrated-ate-her-husband-for-thanksgiving
Wikipedia. (2012, September 27). Omaima Nelson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaima_Nelson
Sekeres, F. (2011, October 5). Woman who killed, cooked body denied parole. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/omaima-nelson-california-woman-convicted-grisly-murder-husband/story?id=14675780
Film Daily. (n.d.). Omaima Nelson: The chilling true story. https://filmdaily.co/news/omaima-nelson/
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Newspapers.com. (n.d.). [Omaima Nelson article image 446511278]. https://www.newspapers.com/image/446511278/

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Listener discretion is advised due to the graphic nature of some content, including descriptions of violence and criminal behavior.

Copyright & Ownership: This podcast episode, including all audio, video, and written content, is the property of Hitched 2 Homicide and its creators, © 2025 Kris Calvert & Rob Pottorf of RP Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

Do not copy, reproduce, or distribute any part of this content without express written permission.