At first, authorities thought an 87-year-old woman found dead at her condo in Dallas, Texas, had died of natural causes. Mary Brooks was found on the floor of her house, with grocery bags still on her counter, indicating that she had just come from a shopping trip.
Police were convinced that there was no foul play, even after her family discovered that some jewelry was missing, including a few diamond rings.
Weeks later, police started reinvestigating Mary Brook’s death when another woman was attacked.
In the end, Billy Chemirmir, 49, was accused of killing Brooks and 21 other women in Texas. His murder trial involving Mary Brooks will start this week in Dallas. The murder charges against him started piling up after his arrest in 2018. Police across Texas started to revisit the deaths of older people that they had ruled as natural deaths, especially ones whose families were sounding the alarm about lost jewelry.
Earlier this year, in April, the killer was found guilty of the death of Lu Thi Harris, who was 81-years-old at the time of her death. Billy suffocated Harris and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors from Dallas County sought two life sentences instead of the death penalty during two previous trials out of the 13 capital murder cases against Chemirmir in the county.
If Chemirmir is convicted of Brook’s death, he will receive the same sentence. The mother of Loren Adair Smith was 91 when Chemirmir allegedly killed her, and Smith will be among the numerous relatives of Chemirmir’s victims who will be present at the trial.
According to Smith, the trial brings out a lot of mixed feelings, but she wants to go back and close the dreadful chapter.
Chemirmir’s reign of terrorizing older women apparently stopped in 2018 when one of his victims survived his attack. Mary Annis Bartel, who was 91-years-old, reported to authorities that a man had forcefully gained entry into her house at a community for seniors, tried to suffocate her with a pillow, and then stole her jewelry.
Police videotaped Bartel’s description of her attacker before her death in 2020, saying she knew she was in danger as soon as she opened her door and saw the man in green rubber gloves.
According to police, they traced Chemirmir and found him the following day at his apartment’s parking lot. They found jewelry and cash on him and reported that he had discarded a jewelry box. Some of the box contents led the police to Lu Harris’s home.
During an interview with the police, Chemirmir said that he earned a living from trading in jewelry, being a caregiver for the elderly, and working as a security guard.
One of the victims he is accused of killing was the widow of a deceased man for whom he had worked as an at-home caregiver.
John Creuzot, Dallas District Attorney, who chose to seek life sentences instead of the death penalty for Chemirmir, said he didn’t oppose the death penalty. Even so, his decision will ensure that Chemirmir will die in prison.
