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Murderer Billy Chemirmir – who was suspected of killing DOZENS of elderly women – is killed in Texas prison by his cellmate
Murderer Billy Chemirmir – who was suspected of killing DOZENS of elderly women – is killed in Texas prison by his cellmate
- Billy Chemirmir, 50, was serving two life sentences at a Texas prison for the capital murder convictions of two elderly women
- Beyond his convictions, he was indicted on another 20 capital murder charges in the killings of nearly two dozen victims
- Chemirmir was found dead in his cell early Tuesday morning, authorities determined his cellmate was the assailant
Convicted murderer Billy Chemirmir was killed Tuesday by a cellmate in a Texas prison.
Chemirmir, 50, was convicted last year of killing two people, but was accused in the deaths of nearly two dozen others. He was given two life sentences in prison without parole.
He was found dead early Tuesday morning in his cell. His cellmate, who is serving a sentence for murder, was identified as the assailant.
The killer’s name was not released.
During multiple trials, prosecutors alleged that Chemirmir, a suspected serial killer, targeted people inside their homes or at senior living facilities. He often smothered his victims with pillows in order to steal jewelry.
Convicted murderer Billy Chemirmir, 50, was killed Tuesday by a cellmate in a Texas prison
Chemirmir was killed in his cell at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas. Officials have not disclosed the murderer’s manner of death
The families of Chemirmir’s victims were notified of his death early Tuesday.
Most of the killer’s victims were initially believed to have died of natural causes, despite family members claiming the circumstances of their passings were odd and that jewelry had been stolen.
It wasn’t, however, until a victim survived an attack that law enforcement reopened the cases and indictments were filed against Chemirmir.
He was eventually charged with killing 22 North Texas women over a two-year span. He was found guilty of capital murder last October for the death of Mary Brooks, 87.
In April of 2022, he was convicted of the same charge for the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris. His first trial for her death ended in a mistrial.
Officials did not say how Chemirmir was killed. He was killed in the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, about two hours southeast of Dallas.
His attorney, Phillip Hayes, confirmed the killer’s death in a statement: ‘Despite how you feel about him, no one deserves to be murdered in prison.’
The Office of the Inspector General is investigating the killing.
Last month, the Collin County District Attorney opted not to pursue the death penalty in 11 of the pending cases against Chemirmir.
During multiple trials, prosecutors alleged that the suspected serial killer targeted people inside their homes or at senior living facilities. He often smothered his victims with pillows in order to steal jewelry
Defendant Billy Chemirmir listens to motions in his capital murder trial at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas, Friday, Nov. 19, 2021
Authorities believe that Chemirmir, who once worked as a senior-living caregiver, began his killing spree in April of 2016.
According to court records, he was accused of killing at least three women in Dallas’ upscale Edgemere community, and at least nine at The Tradition-Prestonwood, located in Far North Dallas.
He was ultimately arrested the day after an elderly woman, Mary Bartel, survived an attack at Plano’s Preston Place Retirement Community in March of 2018 and proceeded to report her missing jewelry.
Throughout his trials, Chemirmir maintained his innocence, repeatedly saying he was ‘not a killer’ and was ‘not at all what they’re saying I am.’
‘I am a very innocent person. I was not brought [up] that way. I was brought [up] in a good family. I didn’t have any problems all my life.’
One month before his April 2022 conviction, he said he was ‘100% sure’ he would not go to prison.
