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A true-crime author allegedly helped a Nebraska death row inmate, who murdered and dismembered a woman he met on Tinder, extort a prison nurse out of $25,000, according to local reports.
Samantha Al-Rekabi, who was reportedly working on a book about the 2017 murder of 24-year-old Sydney Loofe, was charged Wednesday with felony theft by extortion in connection with the incident, KLKN reported.
Aubrey Trail, a 56-year-old, was convicted and sentenced to death for Loofe's murder. Prosecutors said he strangled Loofe with an electrical cord and cut her body into 14 pieces, which he then dumped in various ditches along the sides of rural roads in Nebraska.
Trail's girlfriend, now 29, matched with Loofe on Tinder and solicited both the victim and Trail for group sex.
NEBRASKA MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR STRANGLING, DISMEMBERING TINDER DATE IN EVIL GROUP SEX FANTASY
Aubrey Trail, pictured here, was convicted and sentenced to life for Sydney Loofe's murder. (Nebraska Department of Corrections)
In Al-Rekabi's quest for information about Loofe's murder for her true-crime book, she apparently developed a relationship with Trail and helped him extort the prison nurse in 2021 prior to his sentencing that same year, according to an affidavit obtained by KLKN.
NEBRASKA COUPLE CHARGED WITH BRUTALLY MURDERING, DISMEMBERING TINDER DATE
The suspect also befriended the nurse in her pursuit of information for her book. They thought of themselves as "true crime buffs," according to court documents obtained by KETV.
Samantha Al-Rekabi, pictured here, apparently developed a relationship with Aubrey Trail and helped him extort a prison nurse in 2021. (Lancaster County Jail)
Trail eventually began communicating with the nurse, who told the killer that she was having relationship troubles with her husband. Trail allegedly manipulated the nurse, telling her that he hired a hitman to kill her husband, and the job could only be stopped if she paid him $25,000.
He also apparently convinced the nurse to smuggle contraband into prison for him, including a phone, chewing tobacco and a firearm, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported.
Aubrey Trail appears via video conference during his first court appearance before Saline County Judge Linda Bauer at the Saline County Courthouse Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Wilber, Nebraska. Trail was charged with the first degree murder of Sydney Loofe and improper disposal of her human skeletal remains in Loofe's 2017 murder. (Rebecca S. Gratz/The World Herald via AP)
Trail told the nurse to "... bring me a gun so I can just kill everybody," he said in phone calls obtained by authorities, according to the Journal-Star.
Al-Rekabi was apparently with the nurse when she took the funds from her bank account.
Sydney Loofe, pictured here, met Aubrey Trail's girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, on Tinder in 2017 before Trail murdered her and dismembered her body. (Facebook)
In an interview with the Nebraska State Patrol, Al-Rekabi reportedly said Trail manipulated her into swindling the nurse for money, claiming she thought he would kill her or her son, who was also an inmate, if she did not carry out the alleged extortion plot, KETV reported. The nurse quit her job in 2021.
"Trail also mentioned his intent to have a firearm smuggled into the prison," an investigator wrote in the affidavit, according to the Lincoln Journal-Star. He and Al-Rekabi "also discussed the compromised staff member and her desire to have her husband killed in order to prevent him from obtaining her pension (through divorce)."
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Phone calls obtained by investigators, however, apparently show Al-Rekabi "joking" with Trail "about how they were going to swindle $25,000," according to documents obtained by KETV.
The true-crime writer appeared in Lancaster County court Wednesday and was ordered held on $5,000 bond.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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