Billy Chemirmir
Jurors on Friday took less than a half-hour to convict an accused serial killer of a second murder. In keeping with his M.O. in preying on elderly women, Billy Chemirmir, 49, followed Mary Brooks, 87, from a Walmart to her home in January 2018, authorities in Texas have said.
“We have accomplished what we set out to do,” the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office said Friday. “There is no question that Billy Chemirmir will spend the rest of his life behind bars. We thank the family of Mary Brooks and the family of Mr. Chemirmir’s other alleged victims for putting their faith in this office to ensure justice was done. The pain and loss he has caused will never be erased, but we can all sleep better at night knowing he has, in effect, indeed received a death sentence. Billy Chemirmir will die in the state penitentiary.”
Jurors convicted him after 27 minutes of deliberating, said prosecutors.
He received an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After just 27 minutes of deliberation, Billy Chemirmir has been found GUILTY of Capital Murder in the death of Mary Brooks.
He once again receives an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. pic.twitter.com/qqg7tRi6qd
— Dallas County DA (@Dallas_DA) October 7, 2022
Chemirmir has been charged with murdering 22 elderly women. His M.O. was to enter into their homes by posing as a maintenance or healthcare worker, kill the women and take their valuables.
He was arrested in 2018 after another woman, Mary Bartel, 91, survived him attacking her. She later died in 2020. Prosecutors used Brooks’ and Bartel’s experiences when putting Chemirmir on trial for murdering Lu Thi Harris, 81. He had Harris’ jewelry, keys, and even $2 bills she would give out as gifts, prosecutors said. He and Harris were both at the same Walmart hours before the murder on March 20, 2018. Prosecutors suggested he was there to track her, and that he blended in with the rest of the customers.
Alleged serial killer #BillyChemirmir sits at defense table waiting for the start of his retrial for the murder of 81-year-old Lu Harris. Chemirmir is accused of posing as a healthcare worker or maintenance worker at elderly persons’ homes. Harris was smothered w/pillow. pic.twitter.com/zlgaFQxt4t
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) April 25, 2022
Jurors took less than an hour to convict him in Harris’ death. As in the Brooks case, he received an automatic sentence of life without parole.
“We are pleased with this verdict,” said Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot in April. “It is a just verdict and one the families of Lu Thi Harris, Mary Bartel, Mary Brooks, and others have been waiting for.”
[Booking photo via Dallas County Jail]
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