17 charges against 48-year-old Kenyan charged with murder in the US

Bill Kipkorir Chemirmir, Kenyan man facing 17 murder charges in the US. [Courtesy]

A Kenyan suspected of serial killing in the US now faces three more capital murder charges.

Billy Chemirmir from Eldama Ravine in Baringo County, now faces 17 accusations of capital murder and two counts of attempted capital murder.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the healthcare worker has also been linked to seven other deaths, bringing the total to 24 deaths in North Texas.

Chemirmir, 48, is accused of smothering elderly women and stealing their jewelry, cash and other precious items in Dallas and Collin Counties in Texas, US, to sell at Dallas-area pawn shops.

He allegedly posed as a maintenance worker to gain access to the apartments of elderly women.

The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday reported that a Dallas County grand jury on Tuesday handed down three new capital murder charges against Chemirmir.

 “Chemirmir has now been charged with 17 counts of capital murder and two counts of attempted capital murder in Dallas and Collin counties. He has also been linked through medical examiner reports and civil case filings in seven other deaths, bringing the total to 24 deaths in North Texas,” read a publication posted on the Dallas Morning News website.

The new charges against Chemirmir as reported by the publication are in the deaths of Joyce Abramowitz, Doris Wasserman and Margaret White. All three were allegedly killed at The Tradition-Prestonwood, a luxury senior living complex in Dallas, and all had been previously identified as possible victims through civil lawsuits against the complex.

Abramowitz died in July 2016. In April, the Dallas Morning News notes that the deceased reported to police that several pieces of jewelry had been stolen from her jewelry box while she was on vacation. After her death, her son reported that a safe was missing.

White on her part died in August 2016. The executor of her estate, Paul Wright, noticed her apartment was missing her fine jewelry — including a wedding ring.

Wasserman is reported to have died in December 2017. She spent the afternoon of the day before Christmas eve playing with her great-grandson. Her family dropped her off at her apartment around 3:30 pm, but when they came back around 8 pm, they found her lying on the bed, fully clothed and unresponsive.

Chemirmir’s lawyer, Phillip Hayes as quoted by the Dallas Morning News said that a lot of the evidence against Chemirmir is circumstantial. It may put him in the area of an alleged murder, Hayes said but doesn’t prove he was the killer.

“It seems like every unexplained death they come up with, they’re pinning on him,” Hayes said. “If you look at all of it, it doesn’t stand up," said Hayes as quoted by the Dallas Morning News.

In July, Hayes was quoted saying the Covid-19 pandemic will delay his client’s criminal trial. He said it is unclear how a death penalty trial could be carried out during these times of social distancing.

From the publication, Dallas County Medical Examiner, Jeffery Barnard said that the coronavirus pandemic slowed the process of amending those death certificates but that he will work to clear the cases by the end of July.

Although there has been an outbreak of the virus at the jail, Hayes is quoted saying his client is being held in a single cell and is at low risk of infection.

Chemirmir who has been in custody since March 2018, has maintained his innocence and is being held in a Dallas jail after failing to raise $11.6 million (Sh1.17 billion) bail.

He was identified as a suspect after a Plano woman survived an attack at Preston Place Retirement Community on March 19, 2018. On the same day, another body was found across the hall.

Police identified Chemirmir as a suspect through a suspicious person and vehicle reports. He was first arrested on an outstanding warrant at his apartment.