Authorities said Mary Brooks, 87, died of natural causes after she was discovered dead on the floor of her condo in the Dallas region, with her food bags from a shopping trip still on her countertop.
It required an attack on another woman weeks later for police to change their minds, although her adored coral necklace and diamond rings were among the jewellery that was missing, according to her family.
Billy Chemirmir, 49, is accused of killing 22 older women, including Brooks, and his subsequent capital murder trial for Brooks’ death is set to begin on Monday in Dallas.
In the years after Chemirmir’s arrest in 2018, as police in the Dallas region reexamined elderly people’s deaths that had previously been deemed natural despite relatives raising concerns about missing jewellery, the charges against Chemirmir expanded. This summer, four new indictments were added.
Chemirmir, who adamantly claims his innocence, was found guilty of capital murder in the suffocation death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris in April and was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
If found guilty of Brooks’ death, he will suffer the same punishment. In November of last year, the jury couldn’t agree, leading to a mistrial in his initial trial for Harris’s death.
Many victims’ families will attend the trial, according to Loren Adair Smith, whose 91-year-old mother is one of the people Chemirmir is accused of killing. She said this brings a “big bag of mixed feelings.”
“At the same time of having that dread feeling, we are really glad to go back and bring this chapter to a close,” Smith said.
Chemirmir’s arrest began as a result of Mary Annis Bartel escaping an attack in March 2018. At the time, 91-year-old Bartel reported to authorities that a man had broken into her apartment at a senior independent living complex, tried to suffocate her with a pillow, and taken her jewels.
Bartel revealed the assault in a recorded interview that was shown during Chemirmir’s earlier trials before she passed away in 2020. She claimed she knew she was in “severe danger” the instant she opened her door and noticed a man wearing green rubber gloves.
The following day, according to the police, Chemirmir was located in the parking lot of his apartment building. He had just thrown out a sizable red jewellery box and was holding cash and valuables. Documents in the box helped them find Harris’ house, where they discovered her dead in her bedroom with lipstick all over her pillow.
Prosecutors presented evidence during the trial showing that Harris and Chemirmir checked out simultaneously at a Walmart just hours before she was discovered dead.
Chemirmir disclosed to a detective in a police video interview that he earned money by purchasing and reselling jewels and that he has also held jobs as a caretaker and a security guard.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Creuzot stated that while he is not opposed to the death penalty, he weighs several factors before deciding whether to pursue it, including the length of time it would take for someone to be executed, the expense of any appeals, and whether the person would still pose a threat to society if they were to remain in prison. He said, “Chemirmir is going to die in the prison.”
The nine capital murder charges against Chemirmir that are pending in the nearby Collin County have not yet been decided by the prosecutors there.
