A Dallas County jury will continue deliberating Friday in the capital murder trial of Billy Chemirmir.
Jurors deliberated about four hours Thursday before going home for the night. Defense attorney Kobby Warren wanted jurors to be sequestered overnight, citing heavy local media attention around the case. State District Judge Raquel “Rocky” Jones denied the request and released the jury about 7:45 p.m.
The jury is tasked with deciding Chemirmir’s guilt or innocence in the death of Lu Thi Harris, 81, in her Dallas home. Jurors may also consider the charge of theft.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers finished making closing arguments about 3:45 p.m. Thursday.
On the final day of testimony, jurors heard from the owner of a jewelry store who said he bought gold and diamonds from Chemirmir beginning in November 2015.
Gilad Nissanov, owner of Diamond and Gold Exchange in Far North Dallas, said he paid Chemirmir more than $91,000 for jewelry over a period of about two years.
Chemirmir is accused of killing elderly women by smothering them, leaving little or no signs of an attack, and stealing their valuable items. The first woman Chemirmir is accused of killing, according to medical examiner records, is Catherine Probst Sinclair on April 7, 2016.
During the first three days of the trial, which began Monday, Dallas County prosecutors presented evidence of attacks on three elderly women: Harris, 88-year-old Mary Brooks and 91-year-old Mary Bartel.
But jurors are deciding only whether Chemirmir is guilty in Harris’ death.
Bartel survived her attack, and the account that she gave police set in motion the investigation into Chemirmir. The cause of death listed in autopsy reports for dozens of women eventually was changed from natural to undetermined or homicide as a result of the investigation.
“His greed was more important than their lives,” prosecutor Jerry Varney said in closing arguments Thursday before jurors started deliberating.
Chemirmir was arrested March 20, 2018, the same day as Harris’ death.
Police have said Chemirmir could be among Texas’ most prolific killers. Chemirmir has been indicted on 18 counts of capital murder in Dallas and Collin counties. In all, he has been linked by police records, civil lawsuits and medical examiner reports to at least two dozen deaths. Chemirmir and his defense team say he is innocent. He chose not to testify in his trial.
Defense lawyer Kobby Warren said prosecutors piled on accusations against Chemirmir because they couldn’t prove that he killed Harris.
“You probably got confused on what case you were here for,” Warren said. “It’s not Ms. Brooks. It’s not Ms. Bartel. But it’s Ms. Harris.”
“You can believe, if you want to, that Mr. Chemirmir killed Ms. Brooks, but the state did not prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed Ms. Harris.”
Lead prosecutor Glen Fitzmartin said Chemirmir picked out Harris in a Walmart, followed her home and smothered her with a pillow. He then took several of her belongings including jewelry and money, Fitzmartin said.
A cellphone expert testified Thursday that Chemirmir’s cellphone was in the area of Harris, Brooks and Bartel around the time of their attacks.
Mark Sedwig, an FBI agent who analyzed Chemirmir’s cellphone records, said that his phone was in the area of Brooks’ house for 45 minutes on Jan. 30. His phone was detected in the area of the Diamond and Gold Exchange about nine minutes after leaving the area of Brooks’ house, Sedwig testified under questioning of prosecutor Dimitri Anagnostis.
But defense lawyers Warren and Mark Watson disputed that the cellphone data is reliable.
On Wednesday, jurors watched an hourslong taped police interrogation of Chemirmir on the day of his arrest. Presented with police accusations that he was in Harris’ house and in possession of her things, Chemirmir denied killing her.
Jurors also saw video surveillance footage from a Far North Dallas Walmart that showed that Chemirmir and Harris were in the store at the same time. He drove out of the parking lot two minutes before she did, though, defense lawyers pointed out.
Prosecutors also showed surveillance footage from the same Walmart of Chemirmir following Brooks in January 2018. Richardson police testified that their investigation determined he also targeted her at the store and smothered her in her home.
“You know now when they were shopping in that Walmart ... He was in his hunting grounds,” said Varney, the prosecutor.
On Tuesday, Dallas detectives testified that they found Harris’ body at her home, and her son-in-law, Richard Rinehart, testified about her life as a Vietnam War refugee and gracious personality. Rinehart testified that she often gave friends and family members $2 bills as gifts. Chemirmir was arrested while clutching an envelope with her handwriting on it that was full of $2 bills.
On Monday, jurors heard about Bartel, who survived an attack in her Plano apartment. Police suspected Chemirmir in the attack, and waited at his apartment to arrest him. A Plano detective testified that officers watched as he tossed a jewelry box into a dumpster. The jewelry box included a piece of paper with Harris’ name.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, the courtroom is closed to the public. The trial has also been streamed live on the court’s YouTube page.
