She lived primarily in Southern California, working as a student nanny and later also getting a job as a model at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
[5] She obtained a driver's license in 1989 and was noted for 12 traffic violations, including the theft of a car leased by a boyfriend, 38-year-old Jack Huston, in Chino.
[6][5] In November 1990, 61-year-old Robert Hannson, a resident of Huntington Beach, accused her of attempted robbery for pointing a gun at him while he was tied up during a consensual bondage session but no official charges were filed to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Another boyfriend, Richard Gray, accused Omaima of putting a knife to his throat during their relationship, which she later claimed occurred consensually during a sex game.
She was also reported for the 1989 assault on a female security guard who had caught her shoplifting in a Thrifty's store by biting her breast, which resulted in a charge of battery.
Gray alerted the authorities, who searched the Nelson residence to discover much of the furniture stained with blood and human flesh haphazardly strewn about the rooms, either wrapped in tinfoil or packed into plastic bags or cardboard boxes.
[15][19] A few hours later, in the early morning of December 2, Omaima went to the Monte Vista Avenue house of an acquaintance, 27-year-old Jose Esquivel, and told her that her husband had sexually assaulted her, showing him cuts on her chest, thighs, and feet, as well as ligature markings on her wrists as proof.
She then asked him to help in the disposal of Nelson's body, including his entrails and dentures, which she had brought to his doorstep in a garbage bag and wanted to dump into the Back Bay in Newport Beach.
[8] During the trial, her attorney Thomas Mooney claimed self-defense and said that she had undergone female genital mutilation as a child and that sex was traumatic and painful for her, only increased by the assaults she allegedly sustained during her marriage.
[8][18][21] Omaima also accused the deceased Nelson of domestic violence and sexual abuse during their three weeks of marriage, claiming she lived in constant fear because Bill threatened her with death or that he would falsely report her to immigration as an illegal alien.
[7] A medical examination conducted in December 1991 showed no signs of physical sexual trauma on Omaima while the pathology report of Bill Nelson revealed that he bore ligature markings on his wrists, indicating that he was tied up shortly before his death.
[28][25][29] Her prison record noted her for a number of disciplinary infractions, including fighting, battering a staff member, possession of contraband, theft, arguing, failing to comply with instructions and "not being in compliance with grooming standards".