A British woman who married a US convict serving a 24 year sentence has finally met him for the first time.
Naomi Oquendo had never met him Victor Oquendo in the flesh, despite being in contact for two years
Previously called Naomi Wise, the jail mentor fell for Oquendo, 31 – nicknamed Animal – after the pair started chatting online.
He shot dead two rivals in a gangland hit and has served 12 years of his sentence, which also accounts for three armed robberies.
Loved-up Naomi, 27, is very open about the details of her unconventional life as a jail wife and regularly updates her social media followers.
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here
She flew from her home in Manchester to Michigan, US over the weekend to see the double killer in the flesh for the first time on July 11.
Describing their meeting, Naomi said that her husband grabbed her face and gave her an "intense kiss” as soon as they saw each other.
She joked: “You know that man has been waiting twelve years. That kiss was a 12-year build up of no contact for this man.
"The correction offers were like, 'you can stop now’.”
The pair are not officially married yet but refer to themselves as husband and wife.
Despite being banged up, Oquendo has gifted her with an engagement ring, wedding ring and eternity ring.
Talking about her fairytale day, Naomi said: "I got through security, I walked into the visiting room and I could just see the back of his head.
"And I was like, oh my God, he’s f***ing real. I’m so nervous at this point, my whole body is shaking.
"And then he turns around and looks at me and as soon as I look at him, all my nerves disappear. We spent the whole time laughing and feeding each other food.”
Despite having never met, Naomi revealed she was comfortable enough to pick food out of Oquendo’s teeth.
She now plans to move across the pond to be closer with him.
While in Michigan, she has gone back to Carson City Correctional Facility to see him for a second time.
Oquendo will be eligible for parole in 2034 but could be inside until 2052.
Naomi has started a petition to get her husband granted clemency, which has so far garnered over 26,000 signatures.
She said: "Victor’s mother was victim to countless amounts of abuse from his father. The situation they faced led to Victor and his siblings being taken into care.
"Victor was in foster care from a very young age and failed by the system. The gangs of Detroit offered him the first taste of what a 'family' was and also gave him a chance to survive on the streets.
"But along with it came a criminal lifestyle. I am in no way condoning his crimes, and neither is he. Victor knows he is not a victim nor innocent.
"He is extremely sorry for the crimes he committed, empathetic to the family it would have affected and spends the majority of his time tortured by what he did.”
Previously speaking about how they met, Naomi said: “I found a website through which I could write to a prisoner and figured it would be perfect – they’ve lived fascinating lives.”
She mentored one man before contacting Oquendo at Macomb Correctional Facility in Michigan, after spotting his mugshot on writeaprisoner.com.
It was only after they had been in contact for a fortnight that he admitted he had shot dead two men in 2010 when he was 19.
Naomi says: "I was shocked. It was a lot to take in. I wanted to know how he felt about what he’d done. If he didn’t care that would have been a red flag, but he’s extremely remorseful.
"He struggles to live with himself and has night terrors. It said a lot to me about the person he really is.”
Describing how they ended up in a relationship, Naomi said: "Victor is the man I want to be with. From the beginning, I knew it was different.
"I couldn’t stop thinking about Victor. I checked my phone constantly and got butterflies when he replied. After a few weeks, I knew I couldn’t deny it any longer. I told Victor that I was sorry but I’d started to get feelings and needed to pull away.
"He begged me to let him ring me and, on the phone, he admitted he had feelings for me too.
"It was the first time we’d spoken on the phone and I was surprised by how nice his voice was. It was very deep and calming.
"We swapped pictures and Victor sent me love letters and art in the post. The first was a letter saying he believes we’re a partnership. I replied in agreement. He also sent portraits he’d drawn of me. He’s a brilliant artist and does tattoos in prison.”
