Victim in Billy Chemirmir’s trial was generous, funny, son-in-law testifies - The Dallas Morning News

Many people long for the relationship with their in-laws that Richard Rinehart said he enjoyed with his wife’s mother.

Lu Thi Harris, who was known as Kim by her family, was generous and funny, Rinehart told jurors Tuesday morning, the second day of testimony against her accused killer Billy Chemirmir.

Rinehart’s testimony offered the first glimpse into Harris’ life before she was, prosecutors say, smothered to death in her Far North Dallas home at the age of 81.

“My mother-in-law was a hoot. She was very fun to be around,” Rinehart said.

Harris is one of at least 18 elderly women Chemirmir is accused of killing in the Dallas area between 2016 and 2018. She is the victim at the center of the first capital murder trial against Chemirmir. Police have said Chemirmir, 48, could be one of the state’s most prolific serial killers.

“This case is about stalking, smothering and stealing,” lead prosecutor Glen Fitzmartin told jurors. Testimony will continue Wednesday. Lawyers are trying to finish the case this week.

If convicted, Chemirmir faces an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole because the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office is not seeking the death penalty.

Chemirmir and his defense team have maintained he is innocent, but chose not to make an opening argument Monday.

Harris was born in a Chinese island. Her family moved to Vietnam prior to World War Two while she was a child, Rinehart said. Harris grew up in a primarily Chinese neighborhood of Saigon. As an adult, she opened a restaurant in downtown Saigon that one of her three children still runs today, Rinehart said.

Her first husband served in the South Vietnamese Army and was killed in 1970, Rinehart said. Harris re-married William Harris, who worked for an oil company. They lived together in Hong Kong before moving to Dallas, Rinehart said.

Rinehart married Harris’ daughter, Loan, in 1995. Loan Rinehart died of cancer in 2013. Richard Rinehart still lives walking distance from Harris’ home.

On the first day of trial, jurors heard from a survivor. Mary Bartel was attacked the day before Harris’ killing on March 20, 2018. She later died of natural causes at age 92, but before she did Bartel gave a taped deposition with lawyers. She was not, however, able to identify Chemirmir because she said she was fixated on a pair of green rubber gloves the attacker wore.

Plano police detectives later testified that they tracked a suspicious vehicle report at the independent living community to Chemirmir and used cell phone records to show he was in the area at the time.

Detective Cayce Shelton said he noticed Harris’ fuchsia lipstick was smeared across her face. He looked on the bed and found a white and polka-dot pillow stained with a fuchsia streak that appeared to match Harris’ lipstick.

On the first day of trial, jurors heard from Bartel, the survivor who was attacked the day before Harris’ killing. Bartel later died of natural causes at age 92, but before she did Bartel gave a taped deposition with lawyers. She was not, however, able to identify Chemirmir because she said she was fixated on a pair of green rubber gloves the attacker wore.

Plano police detectives later testified that they tracked a suspicious vehicle report at the independent living community to Chemirmir and used cell phone records to show he was in the area at the time.

Inside his car, detectives found multiple sets of keys, cash, bags of jewelry and a Kenyan passport.

Chemirmir is a Kenyan immigrant with permanent resident status in the U.S. He could face deportation if released.

Shelton, the Dallas detective, testified that one of the keys unlocked Harris’ front door.

Travis Danielsen is a medical examiner in Knoxville, Tenn., who worked at the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office at the time of Harris’ death. He testified Tuesday that he conducted her autopsy.

Danielsen testified that Harris had petechial hemorrhaging, or small burst blood vessels, on her eyes, neck, and shoulder. He also said he found petechiae while evaluating Harris’ neck muscles and heart. But petechiae alone are not an automatic sign of homicide, Danielsen testified.

“It’s certainly something we see often in asphyxial deaths however, like I said, they are a nonspecific finding,” he said. “There’s literature that a strong sneeze can cause petechaial hemorrhaging.”

Unlike strangulation, which can sometimes leave bruising on the neck, smothering leaves only those petechiae. But petechiae could also be found in natural deaths.

That led many of the deaths attributed to Chemirmir to be initially listed as due to natural causes. Only after his arrest did medical examiners re-investigate dozens of death certificates.

“They wouldn’t even bring [a body] to the medical examiner’s office unless there was external trauma,” Danielsen asked.

Danielsen also said he found bruising on Harris’ wrists, and that she had hypertension and cardiac disease — common in older adults, but not what caused her to die, he said. He said he considered investigative evidence from police to make a determination in the case.

“Without that information, it would be undetermined,” Danielsen said. “In asphyxial deaths, we rely on investigative information.”

In the end, he said the cause of death was smothering.

“The manner of death is homicide,” Danielsen said. “We have to consider any and all information.”

After walking through his report, Fitzmartin picked up the pillow with Harris’ lipstick and showed it to Danielsen. He offered a hypothetical that the pillow could have been pushed down over Harris’ nose and mouth.

“Could this cause the smothering you’re talking about?” Fitzmartin asked.

“Yes,” Danielsen said.

“Could this pillow used in that manner be a deadly weapon you’re talking about?” Fitzmartin asked.

“Yes,” Danielsen said.

Plano Detective Joe Claggett testified Monday that he approached Chemirmir with his gun drawn. He saw Chemirmir gripping a white envelope full of cash and a clear plastic bag full of jewelry.

Claggett told Chemirmir to get out of the car multiple times, he testified. When he didn’t move, Claggett pulled Chemirmir from the car and arrested him in the prone position as the jewelry and cash spilled out onto the ground.

Investigators later found Walmart security camera footage taken earlier that day showing Chemirmir and Harris checking out about the same time, lead prosecutor Glen Fitzmartin said. Fitzmartin said Chemirmir followed Harris to her house where he attacked her.

Last week, a jury of seven men and seven women was selected to hear evidence in the case. The courtroom is closed to the public as a COVID-19 precaution, but a live feed is available through the court’s YouTube page or below.

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source: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2021/11/16/watch-testimony-continues-in-the-capital-murder-trial-of-accused-serial-killer-billy-chemirmir/

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