Man, 29, Sentenced for Killing Girlfriend, 16, Minutes After She Knowledgeable Him They Had been ‘Over for Good’

A Tarrant County jury gave Jason Thornburg, 44, the demise penalty this week for what he often known as the “human sacrifices” of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33.

He moreover reportedly confessed to murdering his girlfriend, 36-year-old Tanya Begay, and his 61-year-old roommate, Mark Jewell; though he was indicted for Jewell’s murder, he wasn’t charged with the demise of Begay, whose physique has not been recovered and whose case stays open.

In September 2021, the Fort Worth Fireplace Division responded to a dumpster fireside outside of a enterprise on Bonnie Dr.; after extinguishing the flames, they found three our our bodies burned and “carefully dismembered.”

Later that month, Thornburg was arrested and additional particulars had been revealed.

Speaking at a press conference, Fort Worth Homicide Unit Sgt. Joe Loughman talked about they picked up the trail by reviewing security footage near the dumpster, recognizing a 2005-2010 black Jeep Grand Cherokee. Cross-referencing the guidelines of seven,000 owners inside the area, “a well-recognized establish to our office received right here up, a gentleman named Jason Thornburg,” Loughman talked about.

Police knew the establish in reference to an investigation into the suspicious fireside demise of Jewell — his then-roommate — in May, nevertheless they didn’t have potential set off to arrest him on the time.

Surveilling the car, they discovered Thornburg was staying on the Mid Metropolis Inn Motel in Euless; reviewing the security digicam there, they observed a customer on the night time time of the fireside “exiting a room carrying plastic bins, with what we think about to be physique parts of our victims,” making numerous journeys backwards and forwards to the Jeep.

When officers approached him, he agreed to come back again voluntarily. On the station, Loughman talked about, Thornburg admitted to his involvement inside the three murders and “went into intimate factor as to how he devoted his crime.” He moreover allegedly admitted to killing Jewell, along with Begay.

In accordance with the arrest affidavit, Thornburg talked about Lueras confirmed up at his motel room 5 days sooner than the our our bodies had been discovered. Believing Lueras needed to be “sacrificed,” Thornburg talked about he slit his throat and dismembered him inside the bathtub. He talked about he initially stashed the stays in trash baggage, sooner than buying Rubbermaid-type tubs to retailer them in.

Two days later a woman he knew, whom he described as “a extremely small Hispanic female”, turned up on the motel room. He “sacrificed” and dismembered her within the equivalent vogue. Two days after that, one different female he knew turned up. He talked about he initially tried to stab her nevertheless lastly wanted to strangle her.

When requested about Jewell’s demise, he talked about he moreover “sacrificed” him by slicing his throat. He talked about he then uncapped the pure gas line and lit a candle inside the room. Requested if he had carried out one other sacrifices, he knowledgeable investigators he’d moreover killed his girlfriend in Arizona.

The affidavit components out that the one method they’d been able to decide Lueras was on account of the letters “UERAS” had been nonetheless seen on a giant once more tattoo, and resulting from a penis implant recovered from the stays.

The horrifying particulars continued to come back again out all through his trial, every all through testimony and in closing statements from the prosecution.

Thornburg allegedly admitted to consuming just a few of Lueras’ coronary coronary heart and chopping off his penis, along with sexually assaulting Phillips’ corpse.

“We don’t use phrases like cannibal, on account of it’s gratifying. We use phrases like cannibal on account of he ate David’s coronary coronary heart. We don’t use the phrase sadist on account of it’s a buzz phrase, we use sadist on account of [Thornburg] had intercourse with Lauren’s torso and he decrease off David’s penis,” talked about prosecutors in closing statements, per FOX 4.

“We use the phrase sadist on account of he’s the type of one who would have intercourse with Lauren with the our our bodies of Maricruz and David beneath that mattress,” they added. “He might be aroused in a second the place there are two our our bodies beneath his mattress.”

The safety, within the meantime, argued he suffered from schizophrenia and must be found not accountable by reason behind insanity.

“He thought he did the exact issue by committing a horrible sinful sacrifice. It’s the voices he heard which aren’t justified. They’re evil in a way, nevertheless he believed it was proper,” talked about the safety. “That’s so bizarre. So bizarre. Nevertheless see, that’s what he believed. He believed his sacrifices had been proper, and everyone knows, as residents, it’s not proper.”

“It’s a should to resolve as jurors, can we execute someone who’s psychotic on the time they did one factor? It’s a should to ask your self, can we execute someone who’s delusional? Is that what we’re about as a civilized society?” they requested.

Beneath Texas regulation, demise sentences are routinely appealed.