Convicted killer Billy Chemirmir was found dead in his Texas prison cell Tuesday morning. For families of his alleged 22 victims, the news brought complex emotions.
“My first response was shock, chills running all over my body. I couldn’t believe it,” said Loren Smith, the daughter of Phyllis Payne.
News of Chemirmir’s death spread rapidly among victims’ families. Some received a notification call from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Others received calls from District Attorney John Creuzot.
Chemirmir, 50, had been serving two prison sentences of life without parole in the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony near Palestine.
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Charged with killing 22 North Texas women over a two-year span, Chemirmir was found guilty of capital murder in October 2022 in the death of 87-year-old Mary Brooks. His first trial, for the murder of Lu Thi Harris, ended in a mistrial. Chemirmir was later convicted of the murder charge.
Investigators said Chemirmir was a serial killer who preyed on the elderly. He was accused of targeting homes and senior independent living centers, smothering people to steal jewelry.
“My mother died in fear,” said Shannon Dion, daughter of Doris Gleason. “This man did not have a peaceful passing. There is some relief in feeling he didn’t get off easily.”
“We certainly don’t condone murder, but one of the things we said was it’s over,” said Smith.
Haunted by their loved one’s final moments, victims' families have endured a complex journey of grief.
Most of the deaths were initially ruled natural causes, despite families reporting odd circumstances and stolen jewelry. It wasn’t until a woman survived an attack on her life, leading police to Chemirmir that the cases were reopened and indictments were filed.
Over the next several years, families dealt with pandemic delays and the blow of having their cases dismissed once Dallas County prosecutors secured two guilty convictions. They endured a mistrial with the first case and frustration when the district attorneys in Dallas and Collin counties declined to pursue the death penalty.
“This was jailhouse justice,” Dan Probst said, nephew of Catherine Sinclair. “I don’t know if I’m happy or sad because there is still so much that our families have been through.”
Cheryl Pangburn said she was absolutely stunned by the news after years of fighting for justice for her mother, Marilyn Bixler, who was murdered in Collin County.
"I just think it was totally off of anybody's radar that this soon after he was sentenced, that this would have been his fate," Pangburn said.
From the beginning, things didn't come easy for Pangburn.
She first learned Chemirmir was suspected of killing her mother from a fellow victim's family rather than the police.
After Chemirmir was indicted for her mother's death in Collin County, the District Attorney announced he would not pursue the death penalty, following a move by Dallas County.
“If you take away the fact that this is how Billy Chemirmir died, even though it was a terrible death and some people think it's what he deserved, he still never owned what he did, and he was still never accountable for what he did. So you have to look beyond that and recognize that the moment he died is also when he faced his final judgment and that he couldn't lie about it anymore, and then had to answer to God for what he did," she said.
The last time families saw Chemirmir was the day he was sent to prison.
He showed no emotion as they addressed him directly, urging him to confess to his crimes.
Chemirmir maintained he was innocent.
Now any chance of knowing the full truth is gone, but so is any chance of an appeal.
“I’m still processing,” said Dion. “It’s shocking but there is relief that this part of my nightmare, our nightmare is over.”
United in their grief, families formed the non-profit Secure Our Seniors Safety to push for reform among senior independent living centers and policies to better protect seniors.
Chemirmir was the subject of an NBC 5 streaming series, "Stranger at the Door," that looked into the dozens of deaths attributed to Billy Chemirmir. The series can be watched online here or on TV by following the instructions below.
How to Watch the Rest of NBC 5's 'Stranger at the Door'
- Watch on your Roku device: add the NBC DFW channel to your collection, open the channel and select the Stranger at the Door playlist.
- Watch on your Fire TV device: download the NBC DFW app from the Amazon Appstore, open the app on your Fire TV and select the Stranger at the Door playlist.
