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The murders of several older women went unnoticed for years until the killer made a mistake that led police right to him. From 2016 to 2018, over 20 women were killed in their Texas retirement homes. Because all the victims were older than 70 years old, police assumed they died of natural causes, but something more sinister was actually occurring right under everyone’s nose.

Mary Bartel was a resident at the Preston Place Retirement Community in Plano, Texas, according to PEOPLE. The 91-year-old woman was comfortable in her daily routine until one day, she got a knock at her door.

“I opened the door and I saw this man with his green rubber gloves on,” she told authorities. “I tried to push back but I’m 91-years-old and he is young and muscular. And he just said, ‘Don’t fight me. Just get on the bed.’”

The man then began smothering Bartel with a pillow. “I felt as though I could not breathe,” she said. “I thought I would die. I am not afraid to die, but I didn’t want to die that way.” But she would live to tell her story.

Although the man attempted to kill her, Bartel was luckily still alive just unconscious. The suspect, who thought Bartel was dead, proceeded to steal her jewelry before fleeing the retirement complex. Eventually, Bartel’s friend came looking for her after she failed to show up at their exercise class.

Eventually, Bartel was taken to the hospital and gave a statement to police, and that’s when everything began to click for authorities. Before the attack on Bartel, six older women died in the same retirement home, reported PEOPLE, but this particular attack began raising suspicions as another older woman was killed the same day Bartel was attacked.

An investigation into these deaths found the victims were also missing jewelry, and after stumbling across a license plate, police found a name: Billy Chemirmir, a former health care worker originally from Kenya.

On March 20, 2018, police apprehended Chemirmir after witnessing him handle a red wooden jewelry box which belonged to 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris, another one of his victims, according to AP News.

Because of Chemirmir’s work as a former health care worker, police say he targeted elderly women living in upscale senior living facilities. He would rob and kill his victims allegedly dressed as a maintenance worker or a health care worker. He was charged with 22 counts of murder although he was only tried and convicted for two of them.

Chemirmir was found guilty on two separate counts of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2022, but one year into serving his sentence, Chemirmir was reportedly killed by another inmate, according to AP News.