Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Pillowcase Murders is a Paramount+ docu-series that was released on the platform on May 14, 2024. It follows the serial killings of several elderly women in senior communities across Dallas and the investigation that led up to a possible suspect.
Billy Chemirmir was convicted of killing two elderly women at high-end Texas retirement homes. He was then accused of 20 other killings of elderly women from 2016 to 2018. Chemirmir was suspected to be the serial killer responsible for the Pillowcase Murders. Until he was caught, the murders of elderly women in and around Dallas remained a mystery as no leads were made in the case for a while until a woman survived Chemirmir’s attack, Fox News reported.
The Pillowcase Murders had several similarities. The killer smothered all the victims with a pillow and raided their homes after they died. Billy Chemirmir was an in-house caregiver and a maintenance worker who worked in independent living communities across Dallas. He was also a former healthcare worker. He stole jewelry and other valuables. When the police assumed that a lot of the murders were naturally caused, the missing jewelry and valuables in the house suggested otherwise.
Chemirmir was accused of 22 counts of capital murder. He was to be tried for 13 counts in the Dallas court, and the others were in Collin County. Prosecutors dismissed the remaining 11 charges after Billy Chemirmir was found guilty of the two murders. They reportedly did not seek the death penalty. He was sentenced to two lifetimes in prison without the possibility of parole. He was serving time at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, as per a report by NBC DFW.
How did Billy Chemirmir get caught?
In March 2018, Mary Bartel told authorities that a man forced his way into her apartment and attacked her. He attempted to kill her and then tried to steal her jewelry. However, Bartel, who was 91 years old at the time, survived. She told the jury at the Pillowcase Murders trial that the attacker smothered her until she was unconscious and then went around raiding the house.
She reportedly woke up after he left and rushed to the hospital. Upon returning, she found several things missing: a gold locket with a picture of her late husband, a gold wedding band, a diamond gold ring, a silver bracelet, and two gold crucifixes.
After she reported the crime, the police got hold of Billy Chemirmir the very next day in the parking lot of his apartment. Inside his car, they found a lot of the jewelry and valuables he had stolen in a box. The contents of the box helped authorities trace the victims of the Pillowcase Murders.
They found documents related to Lu Thi Harris in the box. Harris died when she was 81 years old and was smothered by a killer. Her death was ruled a homicide because she had been wearing red lipstick, which stained the pillow she was murdered with. Billy Chemirmir then went on to be convicted of the murders of Lu Thi Harris and 87-year-old Mary Brooks. He was not tried for the other Pillowcase Murders.
According to KHOU 11, the children of a lot of elderly women who were killed in the Pillowcase Murders stated that their mothers were healthy and active at the time of the death. Eight of the women lived in the upscale Tradition-Prestonwood.
How did the Pillowcase Murders’ suspect Billy Chemirmir die?
The Guardian reported that Billy Chemirmir was murdered by a cellmate during his time in prison in September 2023. As per a report by CBS News, Chemirmir, who was accused of the Pillowcase Murders, was killed by Wyatt Ellis Busby. Busby was also reportedly found guilty of murder and had been sentenced to 50 years in prison. He was 7 years into his sentence when he killed Chemirmir. Busby also reportedly has a long history of convictions.
Busby and Billy Chemirmir were reportedly sharing a cell when he killed Chemirmir at some time during the night. Several of the Pillowcase Murders victims’ relatives expressed relief upon hearing the news of Chemirmir’s death.
Billy Chemirmir was reportedly a Kenyan citizen. However, he was legally living in the United States and had a permanent resident status. In an interview, the Pillowcase Murders’ suspect revealed that his family was from Rift Valley. He lived with his elderly father and cared for him on a family farm there. He initially sold cars after arriving in the US. After that, he was employed as a senior caregiver in North Texas. His healthcare background helped him to enter the homes of the elderly without much hassle.
In 2010 and 2011, much before the Pillowcase Murders, Billy Chemirmir was reportedly arrested on family violence charges and drunk and drive cases multiple times. Although he was then arrested in June 2016 for trespassing in an elderly living community, he was let go of considering good behavior. They only caught him in 2018 following that.
Pillowcase Murders is a docu-series that is streaming on Paramount+ now.
