Unseen - The 91 YO Grandma Who Took Down a Serial Killer | The Case of Mary Bartel | UNSEEN

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

"There’s something wrong, there’s something really wrong here" -- On March 19th, 2018, 91 year old Mary Bartel is getting ready for her aerobics class, when she hears a loud knock at the door. On the other side, in an innocent looking disguise, is one of the most prolific serial killers in all of Texas history. As Mary unknowingly greets him, she must now fight for her survival and try to remember everything she can about him, or else he may never be stopped. Credits: Directing & editing by Matthew Rice Research by Tiffany Loxton Writing by Manon Lafosse Produced by Alexandra Salois & Salim Sader Voiceover by William Akana - - - Sources: Texas Crew Productions (Paramount: The Pillowcase Murders) Stage 29 Productions Peteski Productions People Inside Edition WFAA News FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth Trial Clips LiveNow from Fox Glenn Beck Podcast NBC 5 Rick Bartel (YouTube) AARP Unforbidden Truth Prescott News NBC5 DFW Texas Observer Dallas News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This footage hides the most disturbing secret. At first glance, everything looks normal as the woman in red walks through her local Walmart, buying groceries, but look closely. She is being followed. This man has been walking behind her, stocking her through many aisles, to the cash register, and out the exit, before entering his car and following her out of the parking lot. The woman being followed is 81-year-old, loving grandmother, Lou T. Harris. And only two hours after this footage was recorded,

Lou T. Harris was found dead in her home. After checking multiple retirement home security cameras, there appears to be footage of the same man, stalking elderly women in many different outfits, blue nurse scrubs, a health care provider t-shirt, and even seen pretending to be a plumber. In retirement communities across Dallas, Texas, hundreds of elderly women started to die in disturbing ways,

exactly like Lou T. Harris. We were looking at 700 or more unattended deaths. I've never seen a case. case of this magnitude. The Dallas police were investigating these deaths as one-offs. They weren't looking for a serial killer. But everything changed on March 19, 2018, when 91-year-old Mary Bartel was attacked in her retirement community.

As she's rushed to the hospital, police had no idea that she just outsmarted a serial killer. The year is 2016. Mary Bartel, 91 years old, lives a peaceful life in Dallas, Texas. For the past four years, she is called Preston, Pryston. place, a luxury retirement community, her home with her beloved husband, Dawn. Retirement communities are supposed to offer a safe and comfortable environment, providing all the amenities of a real home in a resort-like setting, perfect for Mary and other seniors.

Safe and secure in a 16-acre gated community. It's really nice. The people are just great. Everybody who's got such a friendly attitude. They assured us they had never had any issues with security. Mary and Don were happily married for 67 years. until Dawn passed away in 2015. Though she deeply misses him,

as the years go by, Mary stays active in her community, finding comfort in her close-knit family. Her routine consists of going to mass, a daily exercise class, and spending time with her many friends. Mary was a sweetheart. She was just right around the corner from our apartment.

But on March 19th, 2018, things took a disturbing turn for the worse. At 9.26 a.m., a 911 dispatcher in Plano takes a call. On the other line, An elderly woman's voice isn't a panic. She's calling from Preston Place retirement home. It was supposed to be like any normal day.

Jackie, Mary's close friend, was on her way to pick her up for their daily exercise class. But this time, something was off. When she arrived at Mary's front door, her friend wasn't waiting outside as usual. She noticed that the door was ajar. So she pushed it open and looked in. And she saw Mary. Mary is lying completely motionless on her bed. Jackie rushes over to her in a panic, trying to wake her up, but she's unconscious.

Quickly, Jackie calls 911 to get help for her beloved friend. As the EMTs arrive her up, she's breathing. As the EMTs arrive at her apartment, they check her pulse, hoping there might be a chance to save her. A police officer alerts Mary's son, John Bartel. John and the rest of the family are in a state of shock. Not only do they not know if she will survive, but they have no clue what could have happened, or why. Despite being over 90 years old, Mary works out regularly, has an active social life,

is quick-witted and independent, and on top of that, she doesn't have any worrisome medical history. Suddenly, and to the EMT surprise, Mary regains consciousness. The woman lifts her hand towards the police officer on the scene and then points to her own finger, waiting for him to notice this crucial detail. Her wedding ring is gone. Her son, John. He told me she wears that wedding ring all the time. She sleeps in it, she bays in it, it does not leave her hand.

If that wedding ring's missing, there's a problem. Mary and Don were the definition of high school sweethearts. To their children and grandchildren, their love was out of a movie, destined to be together forever. Mary held the memories of Don closer to her than ever since his passing a few years earlier. All the Bartels know that her ring not being on her finger is extremely unusual, And so, they searched through her entire apartment to try and find any hint of where it could be. Not only is it nowhere to be found, but in fact, every single piece of valuable jewelry is missing. Sergeant Brian France begins to realize he's heard of something like this before.

It reminded me of the bulletin officer Chapman who put out regarding thefts from deceased people. Hundreds of elderly women had passed away over the years. Some under suspicious circumstances, some with their belongings missing, yet their deaths were never questioned, until now. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply.

That's when I get that sink and feeling like, oh my gosh, this is serious. Mary Bartel is rushed to the hospital, clinging to life. Her survival is uncertain and with it the chance to uncover the truth. As investigators anxiously wait for news on Mary, they are forced to revisit other cases that bear an eerie resemblance to hers. That's when they stumble upon the case of Helen Lee. It's six months earlier, summer 2017, only nine miles away from Mary, 82-year-old Helen Lee has made the retirement community, Parkview Frisco, her home for the past five years, and has enjoyed her new life surrounded by her friends. But most importantly, her granddaughter who visits all the time. My Grammy was the most loving, caring, compassionate person.

Helen worked as a seamstress for over 45 years before retiring and deciding to live in the well-established and popular Texas retirement home. 90-year-old Marilyn Bixler is another resident at Friscoe, and also Helen's best friend. Both women love going to lunch, dinner, and make any excuse to spend time together. They even live in the same building, Marilyn on the first floor, and Helen on the third. The stairwell was constantly unlocked. No video surveillance cameras whatsoever. It's now September 1st. Helen and Marilyn are enjoying their retirement years,

but within the span of just a few weeks, both women were found dead in their apartments. Sunday, September 3rd, Grammy never made it to church, so I decided to go check on her. I saw her laying in her bedroom. Kane at her side. I trusted law enforcement when

they said that she probably died of a heart attack. At first glance, their deaths are deemed not suspicious. After all, it wasn't entirely unexpected to the authorities as they were both in their late 80s, and a retirement home is not an uncommon place for residents' last moments, and so they quickly rule the deaths as natural causes, opting not to perform autopsies. After all, who would want to hurt senior citizens? But something doesn't sit right with the families. Both women were found lying perfectly straight, as if carefully positioned.

They also noticed bruises on their arms and a pair of glasses were found twisted completely backward, but no one did anything. I asked the police, do you think someone hurt my mother? But then I was told, no. She had died naturally, and someone just happened to come by and rob the jewelry off of her cold dead body. The night mom died. I realized her ring's gone, and I said, who stole mom's ring? She never took her ring off. With new robberies continuing to pile up, local police are now forced to dig deeper.

They uncover a troubling pattern, a string of elderly women over the years, all found dead under similar circumstances, all missing valuable jewelry, wedding rings, gold necklaces, even a Rolex watch. The total worth of stolen items exceeds half a million dollars, and the timing of the disappearances with the deaths is too coincidental to ignore. This points to something far more sinister. Normally you have maybe three deaths here at Tradition Prestonwood. Now we've got several deaths in three and a half months with stolen jewelry. There should be alarms going everywhere. Between 2016 and 2018, hundreds of senior citizens' deaths are now being investigated, and each of them can be traced back to only four luxury senior living facilities.

We were looking at somewhere probably around 700 or more unattended deaths. For years, the retirement home management seems to do nothing. about it, but the families push for answers. They get in contact with the community relations director at Tradition Prestonwood, Edmundo Sanchez, asking what happened to the jewelry? But when pressed with questions, his whole demeanor seems to change, only offering short and indifferent responses. And he said, well, these old ladies hide stuff in their underwear drawer sometimes. He was very dismissive. Residents decide to take action themselves and begin to put up warning posters, alerting everyone about the jewelry thefts, and encouraging them.

them to lock their doors to stay safe. The posters, however, are swiftly taken down by retirement home management who claimed they were not approved and could cause unnecessary worry and stress among the residents. Something was not right. The community relations director said it was sudden, heart attack, she just dropped dead. Finally, after many complaints, in the fall of 2016, detectives decided to look into the situation more and bring Edmundo Sanchez into the police station for questioning. Detective Allen, Batch number 7-025.

And I'm McMundo Chi Sanchez. My name is title is Community Relations Director. What do you think has happened to the children? The only ones that were out there that were not, supervise were with paramedics. The families. Clinic back their mom had jewelry and was missing. Ms. Prady passed away, her bedroom.

I'm not dead in the pyramid being easily. ushering me out. Is there a staff maybe talking about growing issues about what just occurred? Now we're all like, this has to stop. The casual tone of his response alerts some of the local police. Now, getting even more suspicious, the sergeants start inquiring about surveillance footage in all the retirement homes. To their surprise, it's revealed that not only are cameras limited overall, but at

Preston play specifically, there are no cameras on the third or fourth floors, meaning that almost all of the doors and exits are unmonitored. It seems like it would almost be too easy for someone to slip in and out unnoticed. Sergeant Davis told me something is fishy. Something about this is not right. The police pursue every possible lead, even questioning the paramedics on the scene, but without physical evidence, suspects, or anything substantial other than the missing jewelry, they quickly reach a dead end. The paramedics, they're all cleared. They always touched the body, it was covered up. The case is closed. No, arrests are made.

But things took a turn on March 19th, 2018. When 91-year-old Mary Bartel was rushed to the hospital, her case mirrors the others from the past two years, but this time her survival could mean answers, answers that could finally lead the police closer to the truth. I thought I would die. I'm not afraid to die, but I can die that way. March 19th, 2018, it's a typical Monday morning at Preston Place retirement home. Mary is in her apartment at her computer, writing an email to her children when at approximately 8.30 a.m., there's a sudden knock at her apartment door.

Mary, assuming it's probably a friend or a trusted staff member, unlocks her front door to greet the person. But as the lock clicks, a tall man pushes the door open. In a panic, Mary tries to keep it closed, but the man forcefully enters her apartment. That's when Mary notices something disturbing. The man is wearing green rubber gloves. I saw those two green rubber gloves. My life was in grave danger. He said, don't fight me.

Lie on the bed. He grabbed a pillow off my bed and just forcibly pushed down very hard. I felt as though I could not breathe. The man towers over the frail 91-year-old Mary. She tries to try to her. to fight back and push against him, but she's clearly outmatched. His strength and height overpower her in only seconds. In a last moment of desperation, she attempts to reach for her life alert on her neck, but her arm is pinned down. Mary passes out. Suddenly, the door creaks open.

However, this time, it's actually one of Mary's friends coming to get her for their morning workout. The scene horrifies her. Her friend is motionless, unresponsive, and stuck in an unnatural position, something is wrong with Mary. She rushes to call 911, hoping to save her in time. On the gurney, against all odds, Mary opens her eyes. In a struggling breath, she urgently gives police a full description of the man who did this to her. Detectives can now start a thorough investigation with Mary's precise description and canvass any possible witnesses, including all employees of the retirement home. They uncover multiple reports of a suspicious individual lurking on the premises with the exact same description that Mary gave.

The suspect has been seen on numerous occasions visiting the fourth floor and has stated he was there to check for pipe leaks, 510, 180 pound dressed in a clean suit carrying a satchel. Around the same day in time as Mary's attack, a phone call was made to police after a stranger was seen loitering around his own car for hours in their retirement home parking lot. The concerned caller took note of the license plate. When police look up the car, they find out it's registered to someone with the name of Billy Chimirmer. Billy is a 46-year-old man. He perfectly matches Mary's description. He also works in the medical field, or so it seems.

After looking at security footage, at first glance, he appears to be a nurse, a plumber, a maintenance worker, and everything in between. Now, detectives start to better understand his tactics. The man enters facilities thanks to random uniforms from his previous jobs and unmanned doors. Police decide to take an even closer look at him and discover more suspicious behaviors. In his criminal record, they see DUI charges and the most alarming. Chimir Mir has been arrested for trespassing a retirement home in 2016 when he pretended to be a maintenance worker to gain entry to elderly's properties. If this suspect is a killer, he is a man who has access to medicine, keys, vulnerable citizens, and could potentially have over 700 victims and is currently walking free. What police know is that he changes appearance, jobs, vehicles, and identities, making his way through four different retirement homes with ease, without ever being caught by authorities.

Tasked with the impossible job of catching someone who seemingly doesn't exist, all resources are focused on finding this man at all costs. There's a suspected serial killer on the loose. It's now March 20th, 2018, one day after Mary's attack. The suspicious vehicle from the previous day pulls into a nearby Walmart, only 5.7 miles away from Mary's apartment. Walmart has cameras all over the place, all over the store, able to watch his conduct for hours at a time. At 2.30 p.m., the security cameras capture Billy walking through the store. If you look closely, you'll notice that he's following one person specifically, an elderly woman, dressed in red. The man mirrors her exact movements and stalks her through aisles for over 20 minutes.

As the woman casually finishes her shopping and gets back in her car to go home, she doesn't notice the suspicious vehicle and the man from Walmart, still following her out of the parking lot. It is terrifying to think that you could just be going your merry own way in Walmart. It's now 5.50 p.m., hours later, on that same day. Police finally spot Billy's vehicle. According to their descriptions of Billy, the driver is a perfect match. Police tail the vehicle as it enters an apartment complex.

The suspect stops in front of a dumpster, gets out of his car, and throws something unidentified inside of it. While some of the officers continue to follow him, the others go investigate the dumpster. They retrieve the items their suspect has left behind and make a shocking discovery. There's a beautiful, bright red jewelry box. It seems to have been broken into. Some valuables were left behind, but most importantly, they find it. old name tag inside the box, along with the document, the name reads Lou T. Vang Harris.

Police quickly search the name and find an 81-year-old woman who lives less than two miles away. It's now a race against time. There was a decision made quickly. Go to that residence and do a welfare check. One of the neighbors asked me, is everything okay? I said, yes, sir, we just need to check the welfare of the lady who lives here. And he said, well, she should be fine. I saw her at the post office at 4.30. Since it's in their jurisdiction, ultimately force entry until the residence. As police rush inside the home, they're sadly too late.

The body of an elderly woman is found, and she matches the description of Lou T. Harris. The family members are immediately notified. Lou T. Harris's granddaughter, Karen Vuong, knows something must have gone horribly wrong when one day her dad unexpectedly picks her up from school. My dad picked me up from the university. He immediately burst out sobbing, like, Karen, I have to tell you something. She's gorgeous and she loved dressing up. She had a little kid's smile.

We'll never understand or know why he chose her, of all people. I was at the place where I was already terrified, triple checking the locks, making sure that no one was falling. Initially, Lutie Harris's apartment showed no signs of a break-in and no detail seemed suspicious, but because of the previous discovery of her jewelry box in the dumpster, the search for the suspected serial killer reaches a new level of urgency. The police, who are still following his trail, take action, and finally arrest Billy Chimir outside his apartment complex in Dallas. All evidence points him to being the one who killed Lutee Harris, only one hour before his arrest.

Sources say suspect Billy Chimirmear is being held here at the Dallas County Jail on a capital murder charge. He is taken down to the police station and immediately put inside the interrogation room. Billy feigns his innocence and confusion when confronted with his actions. and the evidence, keeping his cool the detective presents him with irrefutable proof of his guilt. The neighbor's apartment, Dallas found several cell phones, gloves, printed out, passport, for an alias. In his vehicle and in his apartment, police had found multiple pieces of jewelry belonging to previous

victims and evidence linking to more than one suspicious death. In an attempt to get more information, police go to local pawn shops and jewelry sellers, bringing a picture of Tremir, hoping they might recognize their prime suspect and gather even more evidence. One of the owners of Diamond and Gold's Exchange immediately recognizes Chimirmir as a regular customer, appearing in security footage consistently. He's laughing, shaking hands. He portrayed himself as a buyer and a seller of jewelry. Obtaining it legally, this was his job.

Through multiple different pawn shops, diamond stores, and even online marketplaces such as eBay, Chimirmir reportedly made over $100,000 selling jewelry, but this number is most likely much larger than the police can even fathom. It's April 2022. After the first trial for Lou T. Harris ended in a mistrial, the second attempt to bring Billy Chimirmir to justice finally begins. The trial now focuses on her murder only, despite Chimirmir's alleged involvement in at least 18 other murders. The trial of Billy Chimirmeir starts in just a couple of hours. Prosecutors believe that the evidence against Shemir Mir in the murder of Lou The Harris is the strongest. She's the last victim he's accused of killing about an hour before his arrest.

Counsel, how does your file please? Your Honor, ladies, gentlemen, the jury, the end of the plea, not yet. Even little man with his beady little eyes, there's nothing in there. There's no soul. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a case about stalking, smothering, and stealing. The prosecution began its case. focusing on the day before Billy Shamir Mir's arrest when he's accused of attacking 91-year-old Mary Bartel. On the very first day, Mary Bartel's testimony is played to the court.

Her words and her powerful description of what happened paint a horrific picture of the evil that she faced. It was some of the strongest evidence we had. Ms. Bartel told us exactly what he did, how he went about it. In the courtroom, victims' families hang on Mary's every word, knowing now what their own parents and grandparents must have endured. Mary's children are incredibly proud of their mother's bravery. April 28, 2022, it takes the jury only 45 minutes of deliberation to convict Chimirmir of capital murder. At this time, having to make jury of 12 then had finally been guilty of the office of capital murder you will suffer a sickness of life without the possibility of form.

Lou Harris's family is relieved. Their mom and grandmother are gone, but justice has been been served. Now it would get what his actions deserve. We are incredibly relieved that justice is finally here. We would hope that what we've gone through here, that these communities wake up and hold themselves accountable. Families of 22 victims linked to Shemir have it invited back to court next week to give victim impact statements. That's where they will be allowed to address Shem humor directly for the first time. The judge allowed all of the victims linked to Billy Shamirmir to testify. Fabulous big pictures of our moms for us to hold up.

My mother was Mary Nelson. She was healthy and vibrant, kind, funny, and she loved life. She taught me to always look for the good in everyone. And because of Mary, on October 7, 2022, Billy Chimirmirmir was convicted for a second time, ensuring he would never hurt anyone again. Today, Mary's legacy lives on throughout her family and through the families of all the other victims. Sadly, she died peacefully in 2020,

a few days shy from her 93rd birthday. Mary is deeply missed, but her life is living proof that courage has no age. Her memory is cherished by everyone who knew her, and her heroism is an inspiration to all.