ISIS Beatle Sentenced to Life in Prison for Torture and Murder of Hostages DISAPPEARS from US Prison System
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One of the so-called ‘ISIS Beatles’ serving a life sentence for the torture and murder of American hostages has disappeared from the American prison system.
Alexanda Kotey, 39, is no longer in custody at the high-security Canaan Prison in Pennsylvania, Federal Bureau of Prisons records revealed.
The London native was jailed in the United States last year after pleading guilty in 2021 to eight criminal charges related to the kidnapping, torture and beheading of Islamic State hostages in Syria.
Kotey’s disappearance has sparked anger and confusion among relatives of his victims, including the daughter of a British aid worker he murdered.
Alexanda Kotey, 39, who is serving a life sentence for the torture and murder of US hostages has disappeared from the US prison system
Kotey (pictured during his capture by Kurdish officials in March 2018) was imprisoned in the United States last year after pleading guilty in 2021 to eight criminal charges related to the kidnapping, torture and beheading of Islamic State hostages in Syria .
Kotey, the member of the terror network known as ‘Jihadi George’, was sent to Canaan in August after admitting to eight charges related to the kidnapping, torture and execution of hostages in Syria between 2012 and 2015.
He accepted a plea deal that included “cooperation requirements” and avoided serving his sentence at the ADX Florence prison in Colorado, nicknamed the ‘Alcatraz of the Rocky Mountains’.
Now, less than six months later, he is listed as ‘not in BOP custody’ on the prison system’s website. It is unclear where Kotey is currently located.
BOP spokesman Donald Murphy confirmed to The Scottish Daily Record that ‘Alexanda Amon Kotey is not currently in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons’.
He added that there are “various reasons” an inmate may be referred to as not being in the system, but he did not disclose why Kotey received that designation.
“Inmates who were previously in BOP custody and have not completed their sentence may be out of BOP custody for a period of time for court hearings, medical treatment or other reasons,” Mr. Murphy stated.
The spokesperson also noted that the BOP does not provide specific details about an inmate due to “security or privacy reasons.”
MailOnline has approached the BOP, the US State Department and the UK Foreign Secretary for comment.
However, Kotey is no longer in custody at the high-security Canaan Prison in Pennsylvania (pictured), Federal Bureau of Prisons records revealed. A BOP spokesperson said there are “various reasons” an inmate may be referred to as not being in the system, but did not disclose why Kotey received that designation.
Now, less than six months later, Kotey is listed as ‘not in BOP custody’ on the prison system’s website. It is not clear where she is currently located.
Kotey kidnapped her David Haines (left) and witnessed his torture and murder. His daughter Bethany Haines (right, pictured as a teenager) says she believes Kotey is still in the US penal system. She fears the terrorist is ‘helping authorities’ and wants Kotey returned to a facility of high security to serve the entirety of his sentence.
Kotey was a member of the so-called ‘Beatles’ terrorist group that led a hostage-taking scheme that captured an estimated two dozen Westerners a decade ago. The hostages nicknamed them the Beatles because of their English accent.
Their appearance, always wearing masks, caused fear among the hostages due to the sadism they displayed. The world was also horrified by his propaganda videos where victims paraded in orange jumpsuits before being beheaded.
The group is believed to have kidnapped and killed 27 people. Among those they killed were four Americans and two Britons, including aid worker David Haines.
His daughter, 24-year-old Bethany Haines, told the Record yesterday that she believes Kotey is still in the US criminal justice system.
Ms Haines, from Perth, fears the bomber is “aiding the authorities” and wants Kotey returned to a high-security facility to serve out his entire sentence.
“He has been traceable in the past, as we have access to the data through the US victim notification scheme, and at least we were sure he was in a high-security facility,” he said.
“I don’t want to think that he’s managed to negotiate his way into some kind of easy deal on the basis of him helping the authorities or whatever.”
Ms Haines met Kotey face-to-face in Virginia last June, where she told him how she kidnapped her father and witnessed his torture and murder.
The meeting was part of a deal that ensured that, after 15 years, Kotey could be transferred to a UK prison to serve out the remainder of his life sentence.
It is unclear if Kotey has been transferred back to Britain or is still being held somewhere in the US.
Kotey (pictured in an October 2020 courtroom sketch) was sent to Canaan, “one of the most dangerous penitentiaries” in the US, last year after being sentenced on eight counts.
The terror cell was said to include Kotey, El Shafee Elsheikh (left) and ringleader Mohammed Emwazi (right), known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a drone strike.
Kotey went on trial in the United States after being captured by a Kurdish militia in Syria in January 2018.
It was turned over to US forces in Iraq. to the US in 2020, where he faced trial in connection with the murders of four American hostages: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
He was sent to Canaan – ‘one of the most dangerous penitentiaries’ in the US – last year after being sentenced on eight counts: four counts of hostage-taking resulting in death; conspiracy to commit hostage-taking resulting in death; conspiracy to murder US citizens outside the US; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, hostage-taking, and murder resulting in death; and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.
The terror cell was said to include Kotey, El Shafee Elsheikh and ringleader Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a drone strike.
Elsheikh was captured along with Kotey in Syria in 2018 by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces as he tried to escape to Turkey.
He, who was also sentenced to life imprisonment in the US last August after a the jury convicted him of taking hostages resulting in death and other crimes.
US authorities agreed not to seek a death sentence as part of a deal guaranteeing the extradition of Elsheikh and Kotey.