The families of the victims of a 49-year-old Texas man accused of murdering at least 22 elderly women want him to be sentenced to death.
After being found guilty of two capital murders, Billy Chemirmir was ordered to serve two life sentences without the possibility of parole, reported Oxygen True Crime. The most recent was his conviction on Oct. 7 for the 2018 murder of 87-year-old Mary Brooks. His first life sentence came after a jury’s decision to find him guilty at a retrial in April for the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris in 2018.
The Kenyan-born convicted murderer, who is said to be one of the most prolific serial killers in America, seemed to have a pattern. Chemirmir is accused of pretending to be a caregiver or handyman in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and then making his way into his victims’ houses between 2016 and 2018. Many of them lived in senior living communities and facilities.
He is said to have smothered his victims with a pillow. He generally stole the victims’ jewelry too. He allegedly did so in the cases of Harris and Brooks. The murders of the two elderly women were prosecuted in Dallas County, where he also once faced 11 murder indictments. Those murder indictments were later thrown out as the previous two convictions were secured.
Ellen French House is one of several family members who expressed frustration that the cases were dismissed, according to Fox News. Her mother Norma Wilson French, 85, was one of Chemirmir’s earliest victims. The 2016 case will now not be prosecuted.
She said that not only was it "another horrible feeling, but the paperwork doesn’t even have her name on it." She added, "Just a number now, I guess.” House recently said that she hoped Collin County where Chemirmir faces another nine murder charges, would sentence him to death if he is found guilty.
She said that he just "reeks of evil. I made really good eye contact with him several times, but no expression whatsoever.”
House is not the only one who wants Chemirmir to be put to death. Marilyn Bixler, 90, was found dead on her apartment floor in September 2017. She was initially believed to have died from natural causes. Her daughter Cheryl Pangburn also hoped that Dallas County would push to have Chemirmir executed. She claimed that the decision by Dallas County prosecutors came with a “sense of shock.” She called her mother’s murder the “ultimate crime,” and believed that Chemirmir deserved the “ultimate punishment.”
A spokesperson for District Attorney John Creuzot said that they have accomplished what they set out to do. The spokesperson noted that there is no question that "Billy Chemirmir will spend the rest of his life behind bars," and that he will "die in the state penitentiary.”
