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A Texas man has been charged with killing 12 elderly women, and police are now reexamining hundreds of other deaths to see if he might be connected.
A Dallas County grand jury Tuesday returned six capital murder indictments against Billy Chemirmir, 46, in connection with the deaths of the six women in 2016 and early 2018. A second grand jury in Collin County indicted Chemirmir on five other murder charges on Tuesday, but details didn't become available until Thursday.
After Chemirmir was arrested last year and charged with the murder of Lu Thi Harris, Dallas police said they would take a fresh look at the cases of 750 elderly people who died unattended to see if any might be linked to Chemirmir.
Collin County's indictments were for the slayings of Ann Conklin on March 18, 2018; Carolyn MacPhee on Dec. 31, 2017; Martha Williams on March 4, 2018; Miriam Nelson on March 9, 2018; and Minnie Campbell on Oct. 31, 2017, according to NBC Dallas.
Tuesday's indictments in Dallas County were for the killings of Phyllis Payne on May 14, 2016; Norma French on Oct. 8, 2016; Phoebe Perry on Oct. 29, 2016; Doris Gleason on Oct. 29, 2016; Rosemary Curtis on Jan. 17, 2018; and Mary Brooks on Jan. 31, 2018, according to court records.
Richard Arnold, a lawyer for Gleason's daughter, said his Gleason was smothered in her apartment at a senior living facility in Dallas. Jewelry and cash were missing from her home.
The daughter "had immediate suspicions something wasn't right," Arnold told NBC Dallas. "There was a particular piece of jewelry her mother always wore that was missing."
The victim's family is suing the facility where Gleason lived, accusing managers of allowing the suspect — who allegedly posed as a maintenance worker — into the building, according to NBC Dallas.
"We certainly think he should have been noticed on the day Doris Gleason was murdered," Arnold said.
Chemirmir was arrested for Harris' murder after another woman who was attacked in her home gave police in Plano, Texas, enough details to help them identify the suspect.