A man accused of killing 18 older women in Dallas and its suburbs over the course of two years is ready to stand trial for one of the murders.
If convicted of capital murder in the death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris, Billy Chemirmir, 48, risks life in jail without the possibility of release.
The death penalty will not be sought by prosecutors.
Chemirmir was arrested in March 2018 when 91-year-old Mary Annis Bartel was attacked in her Plano senior living community apartment by a guy who forced his way in.
“Don’t resist me,” the man said as he tried to suffocate her with a pillow before fleeing with jewelry.
A jewellery box police say he had just thrown away led them to a Dallas home, where Harris was found dead in her bedroom, with lipstick smeared on her pillow.
After his arrest, authorities announced they would review hundreds of deaths, signalling the possibility that a serial killer had been stalking older people.
Over the following years, the number of people Chemirmir was accused of killing grew.
Most of the victims were killed at independent living communities for older people, where Chemirmir allegedly forced his way into apartments or posed as a handyman.
He is also accused of killing women in private homes, including the widow of a man he had cared for in his job as an at-home caregiver.
Chemirmir’s lawyer has said the evidence against his client is circumstantial.
