Accused serial killer healthcare worker tied to a THOUSAND unexplained deaths of elderly patients is indicted on additional murder charges
February 27, 2020 in News by RBN Staff
Source: Daily Mail
- Billy Chemirmir, 47, was indicted on Tuesday on murder charges in the deaths of Leah Corken, 83, and Juanita Prudy, 82
- He now faces 14 capital murder charges in Texas for allegedly targeting elderly women who he is accused of robbing and smothering to death
- He posed as a maintenance worker to enter assisted living facilities in North Texas and gain access to the women when they were alone, authorities say
- Capital murder charges in the state carry the death penalty or life in prison with no chance of parole
- Chemirmir is being investigated in 1,000 unexplained cases
- Originally from Nigeria, ICE have also placed a hold on his file and deportation proceedings may begin if he leaves state custody
An immigrant healthcare worker has been indicted on two further counts of capital murder in North Texas after previously being charged with smothering almost a dozen elderly women to death.
A Dallas County Grand Jury on Tuesday indicted Billy Chemirmir, 47, on murder charges in the deaths of Leah Corken, 83, and Juanita Prudy, 82.
Billy Chemirmir (pictured), 47, who is suspected of being involved with more than 1,000 unexplained deaths in Texas, has been charged with 14 murders
The two women lived in The Tradition-Prestonwood in Dallas and died suddenly in the summer of 2016.
Court documents claim that Chemirmir smothered the women to death with a pillow.
Chemirmir is suspected of being involved with more than 1,000 unexplained deaths in Texas.
The Kenyan, who worked as a home healthcare aide, was initially charged in 2018 with the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris.
In May 2019, he was charged with 11 other murders by smothering and three counts of attempted murder.
As of Tuesday, Chemirmir had been indicted on 14 capital murder charges in total, all of which involved elderly people and many of whom lived in assisted living facilities.
He is believed to have posed as a maintenance worker to gain access to the buildings.
The death of 89-year-old Solomon Spring was the only one that did not involve smothering. He was found in a pool of his own blood inside his residence.
Leah Corken, 83, and Juanita Prudy, 82, were allegedly targeted by accused serial killer Billy Chemirmir
A timeline of deaths at The Tradition assisted living facility that are linked to suspected serial killer Billy Chemirmir. Several of the families have now filed a lawsuit against the facility
In Texas, a capital murder charge carries either the death penalty or life in prison without the chance of parole.
According to NBC, Chemirmir’s attorney says his client maintains he is innocent of the charges.
He is being held in Dallas County Jail on $11.6 million bond.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also placed a hold on Chemirmir’s file. This means that in the case that he is released from state custody, ICE can detain him and potentially begin deportation proceedings.
According to Dallas News, Chemirmir has permanent resident status and moved to the US in the 90s after his sister organized a visa for him.
Chemirmir was first arrested in March 2018 for allegedly smothering the first identified victim Lu Thi Harris with her pillow and stealing her jewelry box.
Police had been watching him in relation to another woman who he had allegedly tried to smother to death in the same fashion and robbed before fleeing.
Chemirmir who worked as a home healthcare aide, was initially charged in 2018 with the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris (left). In 2019, Chemirmir was indicted on six more murder charges, including the murder of Doris Gleason (right), 92, on October 29, 2016
Chemirmir was previously charged with the murder of Phyllis Payne (left), 91, on May 14, 2016, and Norma French (right), 85, who was killed October 8, 2016
At the time, officers observed Chemirmir putting something in a dumpster at his apartment block before executing an arrest warrant they had out on him in relation to the attempted capital murder.
Inside the dumpster, police found a box with jewelry inside, and a piece of paper they were able to link to a woman in Dallas.
They contacted local police to do a welfare check on Harris, and officers found her dead inside.
A general view showing Block 6600 of Warm Breeze Lane, where Dallas Police conducted a welfare check and found Harris murdered, allegedly smothered by Chemirmir
Chemirmir’s initial attempted murder charge stemmed from an incident in Frisco in October 2017.
At that time, Chemirmir allegedly posed as a maintenance worker at the home of a 93-year-old woman living in assisted care in Frisco.
The woman told police she was smothered with a pillow, and robbed of jewelry.
Afraid for her life, the woman said she was praying out of fear she would die.
In March 2018, Chemirmir allegedly stormed into a 91-year-old woman’s home and told her: ‘go to bed, don’t fight me’.
After her face was covered with a pillow, she lost consciousness, but was later revived by Plano Fire and Rescue, where she revealed her attacker had stolen jewelry from her.
He is believed to have sold or pawned their jewelry after robbing his victims.
Many of the deaths now attributed to Chemirmir were first listed as deaths by natural causes as no foul play was suspected.
However, once he was identified as a suspect in Harris’ death in March 2018, detectives began reviewing hundreds of natural death cases to attempt to identify other potential victims.
Chemirmir has been indicted in the deaths of 83-year-old Leah Corken; 82-year-old Juanita Purdy; 88-year-old Mary Brooks; 84-year-old Minnie Campbell; 82-year-old Ann Conklin; 75-year-old Rosemary Curtis; 85-year-old Norma French; 92-year-old Doris Gleason; 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris; 81-year-old Carolyn MacPhee; 81-year-old Miriam Nelson; 91-year-old Phyllis Payne; 94-year-old Phoebe Perry; and 80-year-old Martha Williams.
He is suspected of, but not yet indicted in, the deaths of 82-year-old Joyce Abramowitz, 87-year-old Glenna Day, 89-year-old Solomon Spring, 90-year-old Doris Wasserman and 86-year-old Margaret White.
He is still being investigated for nearly 1,000 unsolved deaths or attacks, and the victims are mostly elderly women who were in nursing homes.
In July 2019, the families of Purdy and Corken filed a lawsuit against The Tradition-Prestonwood in Dallas where it is believed three victims died within a three-month period in 2016.
The suit claims the living facility failed in security and repeatedly allowed a serial killer onto the premises.
Earlier this month, the families of two other potential victims, Ann Conklin and Miriam Nelson, filed a lawsuit against Preston Place Retirement Community, a separate living facility where Chemirmir is alleged to have found his victims.
Family members claim the ‘necessary steps’ weren’t taken to ensure the safety of their loved ones.
Nelson’s daughter Karen Harris claims that her mother reported that Chemirmir was trespassing on the property before her death and that she later learned reports had been filed by other residents.
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- Indictment ties suspected jewel thief to 81-year-old smothered in her bed | Courts | Dallas News
- Serial killer suspect now charged with smothering a dozen elderly women in Dallas, Collin counties | Crime | Dallas News
- Suspected Serial Killer Indicted in Two More Capital Murder Cases – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
- Fact check: Serial murder suspect Billy Chemirmir is not an unauthorized immigrant, ICE says