What Interviewing a Suspected Serial Killer and His Victims Taught One Man About Empathy.

"The first time he called, I was home with family on a Saturday afternoon in 2022. I asked if he had time later to continue our conversation. “Yeah, I have nothing planned,” he laughed."

It was a funny line. His name was Billy Chemirmir, and he was in the Dallas County jail awaiting trial on eighteen counts of capital murder.

In this candid and honest episode, this journalist talks to the honest reality and emotional turmoil of following the case of a Serial Killer and meeting his victims families for over 6 years. Talking about what this taught him about relationships and human behaviour this makes for an eye-opening story.

"I’d spent years devoted to telling my readers about the mental and emotional scars these murders created. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t give Chemirmir a chance to comment on his own case. I believed the evidence against him was strong, but I’ve been wrong before. I’d approached his victims with care and empathy. I had to try to offer him the same."

Chemirmir was serving his sentences in an East Texas prison when, one year ago on September 19, he was stabbed and beaten to death by his cellmate. He bled out overnight on the prison floor. His body wasn’t found until the next morning. While the killer is gone, the trauma he left behind lingers. Our guest explains that he could never understand what he was thinking as he killed his victims but through empathy and patience, he asked those who do understand to help him explain the consequences of that trauma to others—to tell their stories, with care and compassion.

My guest does announce his identity towards the end of the show and tells us about his own podcast unveiling the entire case as a crime drama podcast, The Unforgotten. I have started listening to it already and highly recommend it:

You can find the podcast on all the major platforms, but here's a good sharable link: link.chtbl.com/TheUnforgotten

You can find out more about our guest at charliescudder.com

The Texas Monthly story that introduced me to my guest is here: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-serial-killer-trial-victims-empathy/

#empathy #journalism #ethics #serialkiller #murder #prison