Texas families of accused serial killer’s victims give impact statements: ‘What a vile coward you are’

Accused serial killer Billy Chemirmir, who has been convicted of the murders of two elderly women and charged in nearly two dozen others, listened in court this week as the families members of his victims gave impact statements. 

Chemirmir was convicted last week in the death of 87-year-old Mary Brooks, who he followed home from a Dallas-area Walmart in January 2018 and murdered. 

He had already been convicted in the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris. Chemirmir automatically received sentences of life without parole for both murders. 

Prosecutors detailed at trial how Chemirmir would pose as a maintenance worker to get access to seniors’ homes at independent living facilities, then smother them and steal their valuables. 

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Karen Nelson described her mother, 81-year-old Mirriam Nelson, as a “healthy and vibrant” woman who loved life. 

“I’ve spent countless hours reliving what her last moments must have been. Did she fight? Did she beg your for her life? It makes me sick to my stomach that your evil face is the last thing she saw when she left this earth,” Nelson said in court on Friday. “What a vile coward you are to prey on the vulnerable, elderly women.”

Ellen French House, the daughter of Norma Wilson French, confronted Chemirmir in court, saying that he “terrorized, smothered, and murdered my mother.”

“I pray she did not suffer long,” she said. “So many lives, so many memories are forever destroyed because of your greed.”

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His scheme unraveled in March 2018 when 91-year-old Mary Annis Bartel survived his attack. She later told police that a man forced his way into her apartment and tried to smother her with a pillow before making off with her jewelry. 

Her case led police to Chemirmir, where they found him in the parking lot of his apartment complex holding jewelry and cash that he had stolen from victims. 

Chemirmir was arrested in March 2018. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot declined to seek the death penalty in the case. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.