By Steve Moran
โSenior living communities were the easiest of targets.โ
โHe was attacking a population of citizens that no one really cares about.โ
โOur moms were victims of the independent living industry.โ
โTheyโre literally begging to make them safe, and it is completely ignored.โ
These are quotes from the upcoming Paramount+ miniseries titled The Pillowcase Murders that starts streaming May 14, 2024.
The Story
Billy Chemirmir killed at least 22 women who lived in a number of senior living communities in the Dallas, Texas, area. He did this over a two-year period that started apparently in 2016 and came to an end in 2018. He would smother his victims to death, steal their jewelry and other valuables, and coldly and callously go straight from the murder to the pawn shop, turning these valuables into cash.
In 2022, he was convicted of murder in two of the deaths and sentenced to life in prison. In 2023, he was murdered in prison by his cellmate.
This miniseries is the telling of this story.
Finding Fault
This is a story of multiple failures. The police failed to pay attention, the coroner’s office failed to pay attention, and the senior living communities failed to pay attention. Initially maybe โ in some perfect world โ after the first one, two, or three deaths, the community might have caught on. It would seem that with eight deaths in one community (independent living) โ where, in each case, valuables were missing โ someone should have noticed.
It is also a cautionary tale about how communities need to be ever more vigilant about knowing exactly who is in the community โ and need to have staff who are willing to challenge anyone they donโt recognize, anyone without proper identification.
Responding
I am more and more convinced that each time the media publishes a negative story, the industry response โ the return fire โ needs to be telling stories about how great senior living is. I am walking the talk. You can see my comment on this trailer on YouTube. I would encourage you to leave your own; donโt complain that it is unfair, simply tell a story about how your life, a residentโs life, a familyโs life, was made better.
We can turn these negative stories into our own platform of positivity.
