LINCOLN, NE – Samantha Al-Rekabi, a celebrated true-crime writer, is now the subject of a real-life crime story. Al-Rekabi has been charged with felony theft by extortion, accused of assisting a death row inmate in Nebraska, Aubrey Trail, in a scheme to extort $25,000 from a prison nurse.
Trail, a 56-year-old convicted murderer, was sentenced to death for the brutal killing and dismemberment of 24-year-old Sydney Loofe in 2017. The pair had connected via the dating app Tinder. Trail’s gruesome act involved strangling Loofe with an electrical cord, dismembering her body into 14 pieces, and scattering them along rural roads in Nebraska.
In a shocking twist, Al-Rekabi, who was researching the Loofe murder for her book, allegedly developed a relationship with Trail and became embroiled in his extortion plot against the prison nurse in 2021. The nurse, who shared an interest in true crime, was reportedly befriended by Al-Rekabi during her investigation.
The plot took a sinister turn when Trail began communicating with the nurse, exploiting her marital issues. He allegedly convinced her that he had arranged for a hitman to kill her husband, a situation that could only be averted by paying him $25,000. Furthermore, Trail reportedly persuaded the nurse to smuggle contraband into the prison, including a phone, chewing tobacco, and a firearm.
Reports suggest that Al-Rekabi was present when the nurse withdrew the funds for the extortion plot. In a conversation with the Nebraska State Patrol, Al-Rekabi claimed that she was manipulated into the scheme by Trail, who threatened to harm her or her incarcerated son if she didn’t comply. The nurse quit her job in 2021.
Investigators have obtained phone calls that suggest Al-Rekabi and Trail discussed the extortion plot casually. Al-Rekabi appeared in Lancaster County court on Wednesday and was held on a $5,000 bond.