Billy Chemirmir.Photo: Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP
Billy Chemirmir, a convicted murderer who was suspected of killing more than 20 elderly women over the course of two years, was killed in prison this week, PEOPLE has confirmed.
Chemirmir, 50, was found dead in his jail cell at a Texas state prison Tuesday morning, a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice wrote in a statement to PEOPLE.
He was serving a life sentence without parole for two counts of capital murder at Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas.
TDCJ said Chemirmir’s cellmate, who is currently serving a murder sentence, has been identified as the “assailant.” Officials did not release the cellmate’s name or share Chemirmir’s cause of death.
Chemirmir has beenaccused of killing 22 elderly womenin Dallas and Collin Counties between 2016 and 2018, PEOPLE previously reported.
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An investigation into Chemirmir began in March 2018 when Mary Bartel, who was 91 years old at the time, says she survived one of his alleged attacks,PEOPLE previously reported.She told police that Chemirmir, who was a former health care worker, forced his way into her apartment at a senior living center and smothered her with a pillow. He took off with her jewelry after she passed out.
Most of Chemirmir’s alleged victims were killed in the same manner, with the former healthcare worker allegedly forcing his way into apartments of seniors living in an independent community center, or entering their homes under the guise of being a maintenance worker.
“Chemirmir used his healthcare experience to his advantage, targeting and exploiting seniors, some of the most vulnerable people in our community,” then-Plano police chief Gregory W. Rushin said in a March 2018 press conference. “This is terribly disturbing.”
In April 2022, Chemirmir was convicted of capital murder in the smothering death of Harris, according toNBC News,CBS NewsandWFAA. Soon after, he was found guilty of killing 87-year-old Mary Brooks.
Chemirmir was not tried in the other alleged murder cases.
source: people.com
