Billy Chemirmir
Dallas, TX — Billy Chemirmir, an illegal immigrant from Kenya who worked as a home care worker in Texas, has been charged with the murder of 12 elderly women and stealing their jewelry and valuables. His arrest prompted an investigation of hundreds of other deaths of elderly patients in the Dallas area.
Chemirmir, who is 46-years old, has initially been charged for the killing of Lu Thi Harris, an 81-year-old woman, last March. He was recently indicted on 11 additional murders in Dallas and Collin Counties which go back several years. He also faces charges for five attempted murders.
All the women were found to have died from suffocation. Chemirmir reportedly killed them by strangling them with a pillow.
Police arrested Chemirmir after finding evidence linking him to the Harris murder while they were investigating a break-in at a 91-year old woman’s apartment. The woman was unconscious when police arrived apparently after she was smothered with a pillow. When she was revived, she told police that her attacker stole her jewelry box. Days after, Chemirmir was found throwing a jewelry box into a trash bin in Plano.
Chemirmir is now being held in Dallas County jail on a bond of $9.1 million. He also has an immigration hold for being in the country illegally.
Meanwhile, authorities are looking into over 750 similar cases to check Chemirmir’s possible involvement in those. “It will be a monumental task. But we’re up for the challenge and we’re gonna make sure we check each and every case,” said David Pughes, Dallas Police Department Executive Assistant Chief of Police.