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- [00:00]
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- [01:02]
Charlie Scudder
In the hours and days after Billy Shamir was arrested in Dallas, police began to retroactively piece together the clues that the killer had left behind. With data from a cell phone Shamir voluntarily handed over, they found that he was frequenting many different senior living communities, the Walmart and several Cash for Gold businesses like the diamond and Gold Exchange. They also saw from his Offer UP and Craigslist records that although he said he bought and sold jewelry on the side, he didn't do much buying over the years. He did do a lot of selling. Investigators thought there might be even more victims that they didn't yet know about. They wanted the public's help. Plano's police chief called the media to the station for a press conference. By then, police had identified several other cases linked to Shamir Mir, including a report from 94 year old Ella Lawson in nearby Frisco, Texas who said a man had attacked her. At Parkview, another independent living community, Plano's police chief Gregory Rushin took to the podium surrounded by top cops and district attorneys from around the greater Dallas area.
- [02:09]
Gregory Rushin
Chimera uses healthcare experience to his advantage in targeting and exploiting seniors, some of the most vulnerable people in our community. This is terribly disturbing. In the Frisco case, He knocked a 93 year old victim from a walker floor and smothered her with a pillow. Who does that? We just want to take a moment to express our Condolences to the victims of the families who have suffered from these horrific crimes. We're going to make every attempt to identify all the victims in communities across the metroplex to fully investigate this case and provide justice for the victims and for their families.
- [02:47]
Charlie Scudder
Rushin announced that he was setting up a 24 hour tip line manned by detectives so members of the public could phone in with information relevant to the investigation. That was a remarkably rare step for the police to take, as one news reporter was quick to point out. Good to see you, sir.
- [03:03]
Gregory Rushin
I do have one question.
- [03:05]
Charlie Scudder
Setting up a hotline seems to be highly unusual unless you believe there is.
- [03:10]
John Cruzeau
Significantly more criminal activity against Billy Shimuri.
- [03:14]
Charlie Scudder
The police chief agreed, giving the first hint that his team was already starting to realize how widespread the crimes were.
- [03:21]
Gregory Rushin
Well, we believe that the way that these crimes were committed, when you're a senior and you have health, health care issues and you're living by yourself and then you do become deceased, that many people would think, well, either way, that's natural causes and there is not a deep investigation into those matters. So it will be very easy to disguise a crime in that type of activity. So, yes, we do think that we want to make sure that we know about any other possible crimes that are out there and look into those. We're looking at those ourselves, going back and looking at unintended deaths and things to try to see if we see anything in those. We also want to clear themselves as well.
- [03:57]
Charlie Scudder
Soon after the press conference, the phone started ringing. With each call, police's list of possible victims started to grow. I'm Charlie Scudder and this is the Unnatural Causes Chapter five. The prosecution, Dan Probst called the Plano police hotline right away and his Aunt Kathy's name was added to a list of possible victims. Josh Alleman, the former Edgemere security guard, called the hotline too.
- [04:38]
Josh Alleman
My buddy that I worked with, the one that was there when we caught him, the one that knew my theory, calls me 9 o'clock at night and first thing he said was, josh, you were right. You were right all along. And he told me that Billy was a murderer, that he killed an elderly woman. He's on the news. And so I was driving home when he called me and, you know, he tells me about it and I hang up. And first thing I did was I, I screamed. I, I yelled in my car. I was just me, I was just full of emotions, just so Jo. So furious, you know.
- [05:18]
Charlie Scudder
Was there any vindication in that, that you were right?
- [05:25]
Josh Alleman
I think the, the pain of being right would outweigh that. Yeah, it was right, but it was the worst thing that you could be worried about, you know.
- [05:38]
Charlie Scudder
Others found out later as investigators began putting puzzle pieces together and making the awful phone calls to tell families who had grieved for years that their loved ones peaceful deaths were anything but. Here's Plano police detective John Hoffman.
- [05:53]
John Cruzeau
We didn't just go, maybe this person. We did a lot of research, a lot of investigating, and went, you know, this is. This is beyond coincidence. We need to reach out. That's a very uncomfortable call to make. You get different reactions from it.
- [06:12]
Charlie Scudder
One of the calls Hoffman made that summer was to Shannon Dion, whose mother, Doris Gleason, died at the Tradition Preston would. This is Shannon.
- [06:20]
Shannon Dion
It was basically, I'm working on this case, this person who has done these things, and your mother's unattended death has come up.
- [06:32]
Charlie Scudder
It had been almost a year and a half after her records request showed a pattern of deaths at the tradition Prestonwood.
- [06:40]
Shannon Dion
You could have knocked me over. There's an old term, gobsmacked. After all this time, it was strange to have this all come up. But finally, this being a possibility, things made sense. As horrible as the sense is, was the puzzle came together. I don't have a word to describe when I think about what my mother's last moments. I have nightmares of that.
- [07:16]
Charlie Scudder
At the same time attorneys began deciding how to prosecute Shamir Mir, there were multiple jurisdictions with cases. Primarily Dallas county and its suburban neighbor Collin County, Plano, where the investigation really began with Mary Bartel and Anne Conklin, is in Collin County. But the first murder he was charged with, the murder of Kim Harris, was in Dallas. Remember, Kim was the south Vietnamese refugee you heard about in the last episode because he was arrested with the proverbial smoking gun of Kim's jewelry box, cash keys, and more. Prosecutors believed it was the strongest case Dallas would get to try him first on as many cases as they'd like. Then the Collin county district attorney would take over. That meant the case soon came under the purview of newly elected Dallas district attorney John Crusoe. Crusoe was elected top prosecutor in 2018, but he had spent a long career in Dallas and was well known in its criminal courthouse. He had spent two decades as a felony court judge. Most people in the courthouse still call him Judge Cruzeau or just Judge. Cruzeau is a democrat and has pushed for progressive equal justice initiatives as a judge and prosecutor long before he was elected DA he was most known for his work in establishing Dallas Drug Courts, an alternative sentencing program that prioritizes treatment rather than incarceration. He's considered a reformer, a champion of evidence based sentencing, and although he worked on several death penalty cases as a prosecutor early in his career, he had never sent someone to death row as a judge and hadn't sought execution for a defendant as da. In fact, he's worked with prosecutors groups whose goal is to eliminate the death penalty nationwide. Then Shamir Mir's capital murder cases came across his desk. For the first and only time in his tenure as da, Crouzeau decided to file paperwork with the court to seek execution for Shamir Mir. Cruzeau and I have spoken many times about this case and others. During one of Shamir Mir's trials, I mentioned that I'd started work on a podcast about the case. He said he'd be happy to set up an interview and talk through some of those tough decisions that he and his team made when trying the case. But when I reached out earlier this year, he said through a spokeswoman that he'd have to think about it. Then he agreed. Then, before we could schedule a date for the interview, the spokeswoman said he'd changed his mind and declined to answer any of my questions about the case. In the meantime, he sat for interviews with TV documentary crews and cable talk shows about the case. Yet for some reason, he didn't want to talk to our team about it. I ultimately sent him a list of written questions, which also went unanswered. I wanted to know more about why he made the decision to seek execution for Shabir Mir in July 2019. I knew Shamir Mir had maintained his innocence, and I know that although there are some moral questions about the tactic, prosecutors have sought execution in the past as a bargaining chip to force a plea deal with a defendant. I wondered if Cruiseau had made the same bet before Shimirmer's trial. The DA declined to answer those and many other questions. Whether it was a decision based on the severity of the crimes or just a prosecutorial tactic to pressure Shamir Mir, the death penalty case sped toward trial in February 2020. A date for the first trial for the murder of Kim Harris was set for the following spring. Then something unexpected happened.
- [10:57]
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- [11:23]
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- [11:58]
News Anchor
Breaking news from Channel 7 Eyewitness News.
- [12:02]
Charlie Scudder
Several breaking developments tonight in the coronavirus outbreak.
- [12:05]
News Anchor
Defendants, judges and attorneys are feeling the.
- [12:07]
Charlie Scudder
Impacts of COVID 19. The COVID 19 pandemic halted all court proceedings across the country. In many places, it put an already backlogged system into even greater jeopardy. As the lockdown weeks turned into months, jurists began experimenting with virtual hearings and even virtual trials. Not without error. You may remember this Texas hearing about a fairly banal civil forfeiture case that went Viral in early 2021. Can you hear me? Judge?
- [12:36]
News Anchor
I can hear you.
- [12:37]
Charlie Scudder
I think it's a filter. It is, and I don't know how to remove it. I've got my assistant here. She's trying to. But I'm here live. I'm not a cat. I can see that. Which honestly gets me every time. I remember covering courts. Well, really covering anything at that time was rife with those kind of technical errors and zoom snafus. But in criminal trials, when a defendant's guilt or innocence is at stake, there were serious questions about whether a virtual trial was even constitutional. How could you ensure that the jury was paying attention to testimony with social media and all kinds of other distractions just a click away? How could you be sure that those jurors had reliable WI fi access and that a key witness's testimony wasn't dropped? What about the defendant's access to reliable Internet or the ability to cross examine a witness effectively if they're on the other end of a computer? But at the same time, what about a defendant's right to a speedy trial? Wouldn't delays infringe on that Sixth Amendment right? Death penalty cases in particular, were thrown into limbo by the pandemic, while other, smaller cases managed to resume virtually. There were too many constitutional concerns. With something as high stakes as capital punishment, there was no guarantee to a fair trial. With the Many pandemic related restrictions in place at courthouses across the country because the punishment is so extreme. There are a lot of guardrails on how American courts use the death penalty. It's a two part trial where at first jurors hear evidence to decide if the defendant is guilty, whether or not they committed the crime. Then if the jury does return a guilty verdict, they enter a penalty phase where prosecutors try to prove that the convicted defendant should be put to death. In Texas, it's not about how heinous the crime was, but instead, prosecutors must prove three very specific questions. First, jurors must decide that the defendant intentionally killed the victim. Second, they must decide that there is a likelihood that the defendant will continue to commit violent acts even while in prison. And finally, they must decide that there are no significant mitigating factors like mental illness that would preclude a death sentence.
- [14:55]
Brandon Garrett
You can't just decide that question based on the number of victims or what happened during the murders, but you have to also ask about the defendant, mental illness, medication. Is this the worst of the worst defendants, not just the worst of the worst acts. That's how death penalty law is structured.
- [15:12]
Charlie Scudder
That's Brandon Garrett. He's a professor of law at Duke University and director of the Wilson center for Science and Justice. He's done a lot of research on the use of the death penalty in the United States.
- [15:24]
Brandon Garrett
Some of these cases can be quite confounded, where you have individuals that do horrific things precisely because of illness that they aren't wholly to blame for.
- [15:35]
Charlie Scudder
Texas was once the death penalty capital of the U.S. in 2000, the state executed 40 inmates, but that number has slowly declined in the years since. Last year, Texas carried out eight executions. And fewer people are going to death row, too. In the past decade, Texas juries have handed out an average of four death sentences annually, down from nearly 50 in 1999.
- [16:00]
Brandon Garrett
Texas used to be the nation's leader in death sentences, and now it is absolutely not. And that's true across Texas, but it's also true across other states that used to be known for imposing the most death sentences. But there's really just a trickle of death sentences anywhere in the country.
- [16:16]
Charlie Scudder
The reasons for this drop in executions, Garrett says, fall into a few main categories. For one, it's expensive. The cost not just of execution, but the lengthy prosecution and appeals process on death cases can run up a major bill for county taxpayers. It can be decades after a capital murder conviction before an execution is carried out. And all the while, lawyers on both sides have to shepherd the case through the courts. Which brings up another problem. It's time consuming. Lawyers have to research the defendant's mental history and entire past to see if there are any mitigating factors that may be caused for or against execution. In the lead up to Shamir mir's trial, Cruzeau even said that because he was in his 60s, he didn't expect to live long enough to see Shamir mir executed if he was given the death penalty. Then there's the ethical problems with capital punishment, Especially in an era where DNA evidence shows just how often the justice system can convict the wrong defendant. Plus, in Texas, there's another option. In 2005, Texas legislators passed a law that made the automatic punishment for a capital murder conviction life in prison without the possibility of parole. Only in cases where prosecutors choose to seek the death penalty is it considered by a jury. In other words, a defendant convicted of capital murder in Texas will die in prison regardless. Here's Garrett again, the death penalty expert.
- [17:48]
Brandon Garrett
It takes so many years for a case to proceed to an execution. I think many prosecutors have decided, you know, is it really worth it to put the victims through that, to have everyone wait 20 years for an execution date? A life without parole sentence provides certainty much faster, which the victims often appreciate, too. There are many more victims, families that say they don't want to go through a capital trial. But then also all the aftermath where there are different challenges, execution method challenges, just waiting for execution dates to be set. The victims have to sort of revisit the case time and time again over decades. And there isn't that same process involved with a life without parole sentence, for better or for worse.
- [18:30]
Charlie Scudder
So when Dallas county district attorney John Cruzeau decided to seek the death penalty against Shamirmer, those were the hurdles that his team would have to clear. They'd have to research Shamirmer's past. And because he was a Kenyan immigrant, that would mean flying overseas in the middle of a global pandemic. It would also mean the county would have to front the bill for shemirmer's public defender to go to Kenya, too, so he could ask questions of friends and family members, look for clues, and see if there were any mitigating factors. Plus, Shamirmer was, by all accounts, a model inmate. He kept to himself. He was quiet. He was polite. Prosecutors would have to show the jury that he posed a threat to other inmates and prison guards, and there just wasn't any evidence to prove that. So in the summer of 2021, just a few months before the trial was set to begin, Cruzeau arranged a video call with all of the victims families. One of those families recorded the conversation and shared it with me. This is the first time that it's been played publicly.
- [19:34]
John Cruzeau
So anyway, as I said, I'm John Curzo. I'm the district attorney for Dallas county. And first of all, I want to extend on my behalf and on behalf of this office, condolences for your losses. The issue is, where are we going forward? Are we going to pursue a death penalty or not? And I'm going to get to the point, and that is that we're going to try him not for death, but to convict him on more than one case. So we get convictions that in case one is reversed for some reason that we cannot foresee or some mistake, and these happen in these cases by the judge or whatever, that we can be certain that we don't have to go back and try to retry a case again and put everybody through the trauma of that. We anticipate we'll get two convictions. We anticipate that we'll get two life sentences. There will be life sentences without parole. He will never see the light of day, and we can go on from him.
- [20:33]
Charlie Scudder
When Crusoe asked for questions, the first was about whether reversing course would eliminate any leverage the prosecutors would have in trying to get Shamira to admit to his crimes. Glenn Fitzmartin, Cruzeau's felony trial bureau chief, who would lead the prosecution, said he already tried that.
- [20:50]
News Anchor
Is there any way we can. Taking this off the table affects your leverage, and you guys are the experts.
- [20:56]
Brandon Garrett
I'm not going to criticize.
- [20:57]
News Anchor
I know what you're. I know what you're asking. And we've tried that. That tactic. And so I have met with his lawyers on a number of occasions. I actually met with. We all met with Mr. Shamir Mayor and I explained to him what we were planning on doing and laid out, you know, how much proof we have. But he is. He is not budging. There is no budge whatsoever in that.
- [21:22]
Charlie Scudder
In those meetings, Fitzmartin said that even in private, Shamir Mir was steadfast in his claims of innocence, a position he had maintained since the evening of his arrest.
- [21:32]
News Anchor
It would have been, you know, obviously easier for everyone if he would just have pled guilty to all of these cases and then told us anything else. I mean, that was kind of an original deal that I told most of you all if I would hear that from him, that I would come back and talk to you about us working a deal out with him doing it this way. I know that, that I can get a trial of this nature in faster because there is no punishment phase to the trial. So the things we're talking about going to Kenya or the things we're talking about dealing with his mind or his brain or any kind of mitigating circumstances does not matter at this point in time because there's only one possibility. It's either he's, you know, he's getting a life without parole or nothing. And the luxury that I have. And what Mr. Chamir doesn't understand, I don't think is I'll go forward on every one of these until he is locked up for the rest of his life.
- [22:23]
Charlie Scudder
I mean, that's just the way it is here. Another victim's family member asks about the prosecutor's plan for trying additional cases. What I understand you to say is you're going to. Let's say the first one gets a conviction and the second one doesn't.
- [22:38]
John Cruzeau
Then you will go to your third.
- [22:40]
Charlie Scudder
Choice and try them again until you get two convictions actions. And if C does, then you'll go to D. Fitz Martin, the lead prosecutor under Cruiseau, answers first.
- [22:50]
News Anchor
I've never thought along the lines of me losing a case, so I didn't actually ask Judge what he thought about that. I mean, not to sound egotistical, the answer is yes.
- [23:00]
John Cruzeau
We are not going to stop until we have two convictions on him. And it doesn't matter. We don't anticipate that he's going to get a not guilty on any of these cases. But if he does or some lesser offense because of some circumstance, we cannot anticipate, okay, we're going to go forward until we get two life without parole sentences.
- [23:22]
Charlie Scudder
It's clear that the prosecutors planned for two speedy verdicts of guilty. There's no way they could have expected what happened next. Sometimes when a defendant like Billy Shamirmere is charged with a lot of crimes, the judge will decide to bundle up the charges and try them all at the same time. It can save time and money and avoid the need for a lot of repeat testimony early on. Long before the trial was initially scheduled to begin, the judge in the case, Raquel Rocky Jones, decided that the case would not be tried as a bundle. Instead, each would need to be prosecuted individually. This isn't uncommon. Each crime was committed individually, so it would need to be prosecuted individually because it had the strongest evidence. Prosecutors decided they would first try Shamir mir in case F1875401, the indictment number assigned to the murder of Liu T. Kim Harris. Federal rules about evidence also ban prosecutors from bringing in evidence of other crimes when trying to prove the guilt of a defendant. In other words, jurors in the Shamirmer case would be allowed to hear evidence about just one case, not the dozens he'd been accused of. In fact, if Cruiseau had decided to seek the death penalty, many of those evidentiary rules would be altered when the case reached the punishment phase. But since the automatic sentence from a guilty verdict would be life without parole, those other cases would need to be hidden from the jury. But the federal rule against showing that evidence, known as 404 B, has an exception. Prosecutors can ask judges to allow evidence if it proves motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident. With that limited window, lead prosecutor Glenn Fitzmartin chose to include details about two other cases. First, he wanted to tell jurors about Mary Bartel, since her story explained how police caught him. Fitzmartin also wanted to include the case of Mary Sue Brooks, since security camera footage showed Shamirmere following both Kim and Sue at Walmart just a few hours before they were found dead. Fitzmartin argued that that would prove to jurors that Shamir Mir had a common plan in killing both women. The start of the trial in November 2021 was unusual for several reasons. On the first day of jury selection, news broke that Shamir Mir's lead defense attorney, Philip Hayes, had been arrested for solicitation of prostitution. He ultimately pled guilty to that charge in exchange for probation. Some of the potential jurors had seen the news, so Hayes decided not to attend the trial. His second chair, Kobe Warren, would lead Shamirmir's defense. The trial would also have a litany of COVID era protocols that made it unlike a normal Capitol murder case. The jury would be socially distanced in the gallery, not the usual jury box, meaning there was no room for the public, usually just family members and journalists to view the proceedings. The judge agreed to a livestream feed that would be broadcast online for the reporters to watch in the hallway and for the families of Shamirmir's victims to watch in a room in the district attorney's office a few floors above the courtroom. Also, the attorneys, judge, witnesses, and jurors would need to be masked. The prosecutors used clear plastic face shields, and witnesses were allowed to remove their masks after they had been sworn in. But for the first few days of testimony, Shamir Mir wore a blue disposable face mask, leading to several cases of mistaken identity, like this moment with Detective Paul Martinez, who you've heard from already.
- [27:14]
News Anchor
At some point in time, were you aware of the arrest of Mr. Schmier?
- [27:18]
Charlie Scudder
Yes.
- [27:19]
News Anchor
Do you see Mr. Schmidt courtroom I.
- [27:22]
Charlie Scudder
See somebody that could be. Of course, permission may take his mask off.
- [27:27]
News Anchor
Yes.
- [27:28]
John Cruzeau
The individual to my right with the blue mask that you pull down with.
- [27:33]
Charlie Scudder
The glasses, I believe it's still Shamirmere with the mask on. Witnesses asked to identify Shamir Mir also pointed to his tie choice. In every day of the multiple trials, Shamir Mir wore a wide tie with zebra stripes. Fitzmartin presented the evidence in the order that police discovered it, which meant an overlapping timeline that jumped from case to case. It was confusing to hear it laid out that way in court, even for those of us who knew the case inside and out. Unfortunately, the woman who had survived Shamimir's attack and helped identify him to police was unable to attend the trial after Shamir Mir had attacked her. Mary Bartelle's recovery was slow and her health never really completely rebounded. She died in February 2020, nearly two years after her attack. But before her death, Mary gave sworn testimony on a video recording, which jurors watched on the first day of the trial. We played you a little bit of this testimony in the first episode. But she had much more to say about that morning.
- [28:37]
Shannon Dion
You know, they say, before you open the door, ask, who is it? Well, if it's one of my neighbors, they're probably as deaf as I am. And I would never know who was at the door. So anyway, the door was opening inward and my eyes were just fixated on these green rubber gloves that I saw. I knew instantly when I saw those two green rubber gloves. Number one, I should not have opened the door. Number two, my life was integrated.
- [29:21]
Charlie Scudder
Danger immediately. He was inside her apartment and he.
- [29:26]
Shannon Dion
Said, don't fight me, lie on the bed. So I did as he said because I knew I could not overpower him physically. He just smashed toe mart over my face and my chest and I just couldn't breathe.
- [29:52]
Charlie Scudder
The next day, jurors heard from Richard Rinehart, Kim Harris son in law, the widower of her daughter, Lone.
- [29:59]
Gregory Rushin
What kind of person was she?
- [30:00]
John Cruzeau
She was a very fun person, very, very humorous, very generous.
- [30:09]
Charlie Scudder
The defense hardly put up a case. Kobe Warren, the second chair, asked few questions and called no witnesses. This also isn't terribly uncommon. Shamirmer's team used a strategy that relies on the state's burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty. In our justice system, the defense does not need to provide any evidence if the State fails to prove its case, the jurors are instructed to acquit. And that's what the defense was hoping for. The prosecution unintentionally did allow Shamir Mir an opportunity to give his side of the story, though. After his arrest, police officers from Dallas and Plano interviewed Shamir Mir for hours. For the jurors, Fitzmartin played video of the interview of Shamirmere sitting in a room at Dallas police headquarters, calmly and consistently claiming that he was innocent. He said that he did buy and sell jewelry as a hobby. He said that he had just bought Kim Harris jewelry box from someone he met online. Here's Fitz Martin asking Dallas police detective Brian Tabor about Shamir Mir's alibi. The.
- [31:12]
News Anchor
The story that he was giving you, did you buy any of that story at all?
- [31:16]
Gregory Rushin
I did not believe anything that he was telling me, especially, you know, just his timeline between what he did and how he met people. You know, I never believed that the.
- [31:26]
John Cruzeau
People existed, that he's bringing up the accounts that he was going back to.
- [31:32]
Gregory Rushin
He was starting to want to give.
- [31:34]
Charlie Scudder
Any kind of details, and that would.
- [31:35]
John Cruzeau
Have been earlier in the day. So, yeah, of course I didn't believe.
- [31:38]
Charlie Scudder
Anything he was saying. It's impossible to guess how long a jury will take with any given case. Sometimes a difficult case will come back within minutes. Sometimes a very straightforward one will take days. But when the jury got this one on a Thursday afternoon, it seemed like it would be over and done with fairly quickly. I waited in the hallway outside the District Attorney's office with the families of the victims. We discussed the evidence. What new details surprised us, what we thought would be key elements for jurors to consider. But as time dragged on, one question kept coming up. What's taking so long? What could they be talking about? 1 hour passed. 2. 3. In the early evening, the judge sent the jurors home for the night with instructions to return and continue deliberations first thing in the morning. That morning, we thought maybe they just needed a night to sleep on it. One quick vote, and we'd have a verdict. There was quick word, but it wasn't a verdict. Just before 10am the jury foreman sent a note to the judge. One juror will not deliberate from her vote, the note said. The judge sent a note back telling the jury to continue until they reached a unanimous verdict an hour later. We are hopelessly deadlocked 11 to 1. The judge told them to continue just before lunch. We remain deadlocked 11 to 1. After additional deliberation, we perceive no Change. Then the judge drafted what's called an Allen charge, also known as a dynamite charge. It's basically a final come to Jesus moment for juries that seem unable to reach a decision and particularly encourages jurors in the minority to reconsider their position. Defense attorneys often object and did in this case, saying that such charges put undue pressure on jurors to ignore any doubts they may have about the evidence against a defendant. Judge Jones charge was firm but stopped short of encouraging that loan holdout to reconsider. This is Judge Jones reading her new instructions to the jury.
- [33:49]
J
Members of the jury, if this jury finds itself unable to arrive at a unanimous verdict, it will be necessary for the court to declare a mistrial and discharge the jury. The indictment will still be pending and it is reasonable to assume that the case will be tried again before another jury at some future time. Any such future jury will be impounded in the same way. This jury has been impounded and will likely hear the same evidence which has been presented to this jury. The questions to be determined by the jury will be the same questions confronting you. And there is no reason to hope the next jury will find these questions any easier to decide than you have found them. A considerable amount of time and effort has been expended in bringing this case before you.
- [34:35]
Charlie Scudder
Judge Jones told the jurors that it was their duty to consult with each other and consider each other's views. She said their goal still was to reach a just verdict.
- [34:45]
J
With these additional instructions, you are requested to deliberate in an effort to arrive at a verdict that is acceptable to all members of the jury. If you can do so without doing violence to your conscience. Do not violate your conscience, but continue to deliberate. And it's signed by me. Judge Raquel Rockley Jones, presiding judge of the 203rd Judicial District Court.
- [35:08]
Charlie Scudder
Just one hour after that Allen charge the jury had another note.
- [35:12]
J
We remain at an impasse with no hope of resolving to this verdict deadlocked 11 to 1 and is signed by the foreperson of the jury state do you have response in thank you and.
- [35:36]
Gregory Rushin
Respectfully once again on behalf of Mr. Shamir may we remove this court for this child at this point. This is the fourth I believe total note and the third consecutive note juries stating that they're 11 to 1 deadlock and that it impacts and unable to reach the bar move this point. It's only fair in the interest of justice in state speak but m would.
- [35:57]
Brandon Garrett
Have under.
- [36:00]
J
So based on all the notes and all the information received, the court will find a mistrial as a per or a hungry has occurred with a deadlock.
- [36:11]
Charlie Scudder
1121Amistrial. It was shocking for all of us. For the families, of course, it was a horrible delay, an extension of their stay in the purgatory of the courthouse. For me, it was an unexpected end to an excruciating week. I'd arrived every day at the courthouse before dawn and left long after dark, after the newspaper's deadline each night. I was tired, overworked. Covering murder trials gavel to gavel is always tough, and I'd committed so much extra time to this case. In particular, I'd prepared for an end to this story. Either Shamirmu was guilty or not guilty, but for it to be neither. I was perplexed and exhausted and just wanted to be done with it. I'd thought about writing a book about the case, or maybe making a podcast like this one. But after the mistrial, I packed up all my notebooks and files and put them away. I wanted to move on, find a news story to work on, stop wasting time on this case. Then one morning a few weeks later, my phone rang. Hello? This is a collect call from Billy.
- [37:27]
Shopify
An incarcerated individual at Dallas County Jail.
- [37:33]
Charlie Scudder
Billy Shamirmir was ready to talk. Next time on the Unforgotten. Unnatural Causes the Unforgotten is a Free range production. Season 2. Unnatural Causes is created, written and hosted by me, Charlie Scudder. Our producer is Wes Ferguson. Associate producer is Monika Watkins. Audio, editing, engineering, mixing and mastering by Austin Sisler at Eastside Studios in Austin, Texas. Theme song and sound design by AJ LeGrand. Wes Ferguson is the executive producer at Free Range. Special thanks to the Dallas Morning News and the Division of Journalism at Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts.