Kenyan man facing death penalty for killing 22 grandmothers in Texas

In what reads like an excerpt from the Texas chainsaw Masscare, Billy Chemirmir, a 47-year-old Kenyan man is facing the gallows for killing 22 elderly women in Texas.

Chemirmir who settled in Texas in the 90’s after getting married to an American citizen is originally from Eldama Ravine, Kenya.

He has been indicted on capital murder charges in the deaths of 14 people, while civil lawsuits accuse him of killing eight more.

If found culpable, he faces the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

The suspect was arrested by detectives while trying to dispose off a gold chain he had stolen from a home after smothering its elderly owner with a pillow.

Homicide detectives acting on a tip-off found the 91-year-old victim lying at her bed, dead. A pillow with her lipstick was lying close by.

Many of the victims had been certified as having succumbed to natural causes but following the arrest, police have scrutinized over hundreds of deaths for potential links to the Kenyan.

Chemirmir would reportedly pose as a maintenance worker to access homes before smothering his victims with pillows.

He is said to have stolen valuables which he sold off online and at pawnshops across the city for a fortune.

His lawyer Phillip Hayes who declined to talk to the press however said his client had said he was innocent.

According to the Dallas News, Chemirmir has been cooling his heels in the slammer after he was unable to raise the required Ksh.1.6B bail.

He initially worked as a home healthcare aide and was  initially charged in 2018 with the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris.

In May 2019, he was charged with 11 other murders by smothering and three counts of attempted murder.

As of Tuesday, Chemirmir had been indicted on 14 capital murder charges in total, all of which involved elderly people and many of whom lived in assisted living facilities.