In March 2018, 91-year-old Mary Annis Bartel was suspiciously missing from her Texas senior living community’s exercise class. Things grew even more dire when her workout buddy went to find her.
Bartel was found unconscious in her room. She had been attacked by a man who knocked on her door and then tried to suffocate her while wearing green rubber gloves, all before stealing her jewelry.
Bartel would have been one of seven victims in her community. But, miraculously, she survived. She then played a vital role in bringing the prolific serial killer to justice.
She survived and spoke up
From her hospital bed, Bartel recalled the harrowing incident and her assailant to the authorities. A man posing as a caretaker, who told her not to fight back, forced her onto her bed. He then grabbed a pillow and pressed it down over her head and chest until she lost consciousness.
Though the police weren’t initially convinced of Bartel’s story, it eventually led them to Billy Chemirmir, who allegedly killed at least 22 people (possibly more) between 2016 and 2018. His strategy was methodical and consistent: target older women living in well-to-do senior communities, then enter their homes under the guise of a maintenance worker or caregiver and smother them before stealing their jewelry.
Part of what enabled Chemirmir to be so successful was the general assumption that his victims simply died of old age.
“The mentality of it was, ‘They were old, and they just died,’” Shannon Dion, whose 92-year-old mother Doris Gleason was among those believed to have been killed by Chemirmir, told AARP The Magazine in 2022.
A crucial clue led police to the suspect
Police then caught and arrested Chemirmir after finding his OfferUp account trying to sell Bartel’s ring. He was sentenced to life in prison, and in 2023 was beaten to death by his cellmate.
For years, Bartel’s role in Chemirmir’s demise was kept secret. The police acknowledged that one of his survivors aided them in tracking him down. However, out of respect for her privacy, her identity wasn’t revealed. However, in November 2019, she was recognized with a Citizen Hero award.
“Her involvement in this case was crucial,” Police spokesman David Tilley told The Dallas Morning News in 2021. “Her role in this investigation was huge and definitely something we were very appreciative of,” he continued.
Bartel’s bravery is finally getting its due
Bartel has since passed, but her role in cracking the case is getting the spotlight. Her family has now published a book about her life, and her story was part of Oxygen’s Unknown Serial Killers of America.
Bartel endured an unimaginable attack and still found the strength to speak up about what happened to her. Because of her, families who had lost loved ones got answers they might have gone without forever. Today, she is remembered for far more than surviving; she is honored as a woman whose courage helped stop others from being hurt.
