Jason Thornburg

Last updated
Jason Alan Thornburg
Born (1980-08-27) August 27, 1980 (age 44)
Arizona, U.S.
Conviction(s) Capital murder (x3)
Criminal penalty Death
Details
Victims3 confirmed, 2 self-confessed
Date2017–2021
Location(s) Texas, Arizona
Imprisoned at Polunsky Unit

Jason Alan Thornburg (born August 27, 1980) is a Native American convicted serial killer who was charged in December 2021 with the dismemberment and murders of David Lueras, Lauren Phillips and Maricruz Mathis, in Fort Worth, Texas. Thornburg additionally confessed to murdering his girlfriend, Tanya Begay, in Arizona in 2017 and his former roommate, Mark Jewell, in Texas in May 2021. [1] [2]

Contents

During the investigations and trial for the 2021 Fort Worth murders, Thornburg testified that he committed the triple slayings for ritualistic sacrifices, and even engaged in cannibalism. Thornburg was found guilty of all three counts of capital murder on November 20, 2024, and sentenced to death on December 4, 2024. [3]

2021 Fort Worth murders

Over a one-week period in September 2021, Jason Alan Thornburg had murdered three people before he dismembered their bodies at a local inn in Euless, Fort Worth, Texas. [4]

Thornburg, then an electrician's apprentice, reportedly had the thought of "commit sacrifices" to God through his reading and interpretation of the Bible, which served as a motivation behind the murders he committed. Although the exact date of the murders was not revealed publicly, it was speculated that the first murder happened at some point between September 15 and 17. Thornburg first killed 42-year-old David Lueras, who shared the same room as Thornburg; Thornburg himself had resided at the inn since July 2021. Thornburg was said to have slit the throat of Lueras before he chopped up the body into pieces, and he also ate a part of Lueras's heart. [5] [6] [7]

During the next four days after the murder of Lueras, Thornburg would murder two more women, 34-year-old Lauren Phillips and 33-year-old Maricruz Mathis. According to Thornburg, he killed one of the female victims by slitting her throat two days after the murder of Lueras, and another two days after he killed the first female victim, he targeted the other by strangling and stabbing her to death. Similarly, each time after killing the women, Thornburg butchered up their corpses and kept their body parts in a storage bin. [8] He also engaged in cannibalism by consuming some of the women's body parts, and even engaged in sex with the corpse of Phillips before dismembering it. [9] [10]

By September 22, 2021, after committing the three murders, Thornburg brought the body parts to a nearby dumpster, and set a fire to dispose of the body parts. The fire itself alerted the residents and authorities, and it would lead to the arrest of Thornburg. [11]

Arrest and confession

Capture

The bodies of the three victims were found on September 22, 2021, when the police responded to a report of a fire breaking out at a dumpster nearby the place Thornburg was staying. [12]

At the first stage of investigations, the police were able to identify David Lueras, but they failed to immediately identify the corpses of the two female victims, both of whom they believed to be a child and teenager at first before discovering they were both adult females. Thornburg was arrested on September 27, 2021, five days after the discovery of the bodies. [13] [14]

In October 2021, before the authorities identified Lauren Phillips's remains, her mother filed a criminal complaint against Thornburg, presuming that her daughter, who was survived by two sons, was killed by Thornburg after befriending and staying with Thornburg in the inn itself. [15] That same month, a Tarrant County judge ordered Thornburg to undergo a pre-trial psychiatric examination to determine if he suffered from a mental illness or intellectual disability. [16]

In December 2021, three months after his arrest, 41-year-old Jason Thornburg was formally indicted by a grand jury in Texas for three counts of capital murder. Under Texas state law, the sentence for capital murder was either the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. At the time of Thornburg's indictment, the police successfully identified the two female victims. [17] [18]

In May 2022, prosecutors in Texas announced that they would seek the death penalty for Thornburg relating to the September 2021 Fort Worth murders. [19] [20]

Confession of other murders

During his detention for the Fort Worth murders, Thornburg, who assumed sole responsibility for the serial murders, additionally confessed to two more murders, one in Arizona in 2017 and another in May 2021. Like the Fort Worth serial murders in 2021, Thornburg had similarly committed them for sacrificial purposes. [21]

The victim of the 2017 case was Thornburg's 37-year-old girlfriend, Tanya Begay, a Navajo woman from Gallup, New Mexico who went missing in March 2017, [22] after she last went on a trip with Thornburg to Arizona and never returned. [23] It was alleged that sometime between March 3, 2017, and March 13, 2017, Thornburg had killed Begay at an unknown location within the Navajo Nation in Arizona. For the murder of Begay, Thornburg was formally indicted by the Arizona state authorities for one count of first-degree murder, one count of assault with intent to commit murder, and one count of assault resulting in injury. The case remains open for investigations as of 2022. [24] [25]

The May 2021 case's victim was 61-year-old Mark Jewell, a former roommate of Thornburg who died in a house fire in Fort Worth, Texas. Thornburg had confessed to slitting the throat of Jewell, uncapped a natural gas line and lit a candle, which led to the fire that supposedly killed Jewell (the cause of death was inconclusive). After this confession, Thornburg was separately indicted by another grand jury on February 18, 2022, for charges of murder and arson for the death of Jewell. [26] [27] Prior to his arrest for the September 2021 serial murders, Thornburg was listed as a suspect for Jewell's murder but due to insufficient evidence, he was not arrested up until the occurrence of the serial killing. [28]

Death penalty trial

On November 7, 2024, Jason Thornburg stood trial before a Tarrant County jury for the 2021 Fort Worth murders, with Judge Douglas A. Allen presiding the trial. [29] The defence counsel of Thornburg argued that Thornburg should be found not guilty by insanity due to his delusional beliefs perpetuated by religion and mental illnesses, [30] although the prosecution argued otherwise that Thornburg was legally sane and cited his actions of disposing of the bodies and evading capture, calling him a manipulator capable of methodically covering his tracks and destroying evidence to evade justice. [31]

On November 20, 2024, Thornburg was found guilty of all three counts of capital murder by the jury. [32] The prosecution sought the death penalty for Thornburg, citing all the aggravating factors behind the murders and added that he would be a continued danger to society and other prisoners, since Thornburg was caught making weapons while in prison. They also discredited the defence's claims of mental illnesses, describing it as Thornburg's excuses to deflect blame from himself. Assistant District Attorney Amy Allin called out Thornburg for his depraved indifference to life and described him as a "evil" psychopath. [10] [33]

The defence, on the other hand, submitted that Thornburg suffered partial fetal alcohol syndrome as a result of his mother's drinking and drug addiction while she was pregnant with Thornburg, as well as a moderate traumatic brain injury arising from a 2002 assault incident, and they stated that his mental responsibility had been affected by these above factors. They added that Thornburg had been deluded into thinking that he rightly sacrificed the victims for religious reasons due to his mental conditions, which they claimed could still be addressed by rehabilitation and treatment. For this, they pushed for Thornburg to be sentenced to life in prison without parole rather than death. [33]

On December 4, 2024, the jury returned with their verdict, unanimously sentencing Thornburg to death for all the murders of Lueras, Phillips and Mathis. [34] [35] Thornburg is currently incarcerated on death row at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit since the end of his trial. [36]

Death sentences in Texas are automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, with inmates being entitled to a post-conviction appeal and a federal habeas appeal thereafter; the average duration between being sent to death row and the imposition of the sentence is 11.22 years. [37] [38]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Suff</span> American serial killer on death row

William Lester Suff, also known as The Riverside Prostitute Killer and The Lake Elsinore Killer, is an American serial killer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Shulman (serial killer)</span> American serial killer

Robert Yale Shulman was an American serial killer who murdered at least five young women in Hicksville, New York from 1991 to 1995. Convicted and sentenced to death for one of the murders and to life imprisonment for the others, his death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he died in prison in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hayes (serial killer)</span> American convicted serial killer

Robert Tyrone Hayes is an American serial killer who was convicted of three murders in the Daytona Beach, Florida, area between December 2005 and February 2006. DNA tests have also linked him to a fourth murder committed in March 2016. In addition, he remains the prime suspect in the murder of another woman in December 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodney Alcala</span> American serial killer (1943–2021)

Rodney James Alcala was an American serial killer and convicted sex offender who was sentenced to death in California for seven murders committed between 1977 and 1979. He also pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 25 years to life for two further murders committed in New York. He was also indicted for a murder in Wyoming, although the charges filed there were dropped. While Alcala has been conclusively linked to eight murders, the true number of victims remains unknown and could be as high as 130.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Madison</span> American serial killer and sex offender

Michael Madison is an American convicted serial killer and sex offender from East Cleveland, Ohio who was known to have committed the murders of at least three women over a nine-month period in 2012 and 2013. He was arrested and charged with the crimes in 2013 and was sentenced to death in 2016.

Juan Ramon Segundo Meza is an American serial killer and rapist convicted of the 1986 murder of Vanessa Villa, 11, in Fort Worth, Texas. Segundo was arrested in 2005 after his DNA profile was found to match semen collected from Villa's crime scene. He received the death penalty in 2006. Between 2005 and 2010, Segundo was also linked by DNA to three unsolved murders that occurred in the Fort Worth area in the mid-1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Lee Green</span> Executed American serial killer

Ricky Lee Green was an American serial killer who murdered at least four people in Texas between 1985 and 1986, at least two of which were killed with the help of his wife, Sharon. Convicted of all four murders and sentenced to death in one case, Green was executed at the Huntsville Unit in 1997.

Juan David Ortiz is an American serial killer and former Border Patrol agent who murdered four sex workers in Texas in September 2018. He was caught and arrested after a potential victim escaped and alerted police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Atatiana Jefferson</span> 2019 police manslaughter of a woman in Fort Worth, Texas

Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, a 28-year-old black woman, was fatally shot inside her home by a police officer in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, in the early morning of October 12, 2019. Police arrived at her home after a neighbor called a non-emergency number, stating that Jefferson's front door was open. Police body camera footage showed officers walking outside the home with flashlights for a few minutes then one officer yells, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!", while discharging his weapon through a window. Police found a handgun near Jefferson's body, which according to her eight-year-old nephew, she was pointing toward the window before being shot. On October 14, 2019, Officer Aaron Dean, the shooter, resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department and was arrested on a murder charge. On December 20, 2019, Dean was indicted for murder. Jefferson was black and the officer who shot her is white, prompting news outlets to compare Jefferson's shooting to the September 2018 murder of Botham Jean in nearby Dallas.

Jorge Avila-Torrez is an American serial killer and rapist. A resident of Zion, Illinois, Avila-Torrez murdered two girls who lived in his neighborhood in 2005 and later murdered a female Petty officer in 2009 at Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall. He was sentenced to death by the federal government for that crime as well as receiving a 100-year sentence for the Illinois murders. On December 23, 2024, President Joe Biden issued a commutation to 37 out of the 40 inmates on the federal death row. Avila-Torrez's federal death sentence was commuted by President Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Chemirmir</span> Kenyan-American convicted murderer (1972–2023)

Billy Kipkorir Chemirmir was a Kenyan murderer and suspected serial killer accused of the murders of at least 18 elderly women in Dallas, Texas, United States, and its surrounding suburbs. Chemirmir was indicted for 22 murders and convicted of two. Civil suits were also filed accusing him of two other similar murders. In September 2023, Chemirmir was killed in prison.

Timothy Lane Gribble was an American murderer, rapist and self-confessed serial killer who admitted to raping and strangling three women across Texas between 1985 and 1987. Sentenced to death on two occasions for one of the murders, Gribble was executed at the Huntsville Unit in 2000.

Curtis Don Brown is an American serial killer and rapist who raped and murdered three women around Arlington and Fort Worth, Texas, between 1985 and 1986, though he is suspected of up to 18 murders. Convicted of one murder in 1987, in 2009 he was convicted of the two additional murders from 1985, based on results of DNA profiling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Wickline</span> Executed American serial killer

William Dean Wickline Jr., known as The Butcher, was an American career criminal and later serial killer linked to at least three violent murders committed in West Virginia and Ohio from 1979 to 1982. Convicted of killing the latter victims, whose bodies were never found, Wickline was sentenced to death and subsequently executed in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reginald Perkins</span> Executed American serial killer (1955–2009)

Reginald Perkins was an American serial killer and sex offender who was executed in Texas for the December 2000 murder of his stepmother. He was also linked with DNA to the murders of two women in Fort Worth in 1991, and he is suspected of killing a further three women in Ohio in the early 1980s.

On March 26, 1984, in the U.S. state of Georgia, 23-year-old Robert Dale Conklin, a resident of Illinois who was then out on parole for armed robbery and burglary, murdered his homosexual lover, a 28-year-old lawyer named George Grant Crooks, by stabbing him to death with a screwdriver. He then chopped up Crooks's body into pieces and disposed of the parts. Conklin was found guilty of murdering Crooks and sentenced to death on June 16, 1984. Conklin was incarcerated on death row for about 21 years before he was executed via lethal injection on July 12, 2005, after he lost his plea for clemency.

The murder of Jackie Vandagriff occurred on the night of September 13, 2016, in Grapevine, Texas. Jackie Vandagriff, a 24-year-old student from Texas Woman's University, was brutally killed by Charles Dean Bryant, a 30-year-old fitness trainer. This case drew widespread attention due to the shocking nature of the crime and the subsequent trial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Lawayne Nelson</span> American convicted murderer on death row in Texas

Steven Lawayne Nelson is an American convicted murderer on death row for the 2011 murder of 28-year-old Arlington pastor Clinton "Clint" Dobson in Texas. Nelson was found guilty of murdering Dobson by smothering him to death during a robbery bid at an Arlington church on March 3, 2011, and therefore sentenced to death on October 16, 2012.

References

  1. ↑ "'Evil' cannibal killer who slaughtered three and ate human heart in 'ritual sacrifice' given death penalty". The Mirror. December 6, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Who is Jason Thornburg? Texas cannibal serial killer sentenced to death". CBS News . December 4, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Tarrant County jury sends man convicted of killing, dismembering 3 to death row". The Dallas Morning News . December 4, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Texas Man Killed and Dismembered 3 at Motel, Police Say". The New York Times . October 1, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Texas man admits to 5 killings, felt compelled to sacrifice". The Independent . September 28, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Affidavit: Accused Killer Jason Thornburg Says Slayings Were Human Sacrifices". CBS News . September 28, 2021.
  7. ↑ "'Did you eat anybody?' Suspect in Euless motel killings says he took a bite of man's heart". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . November 12, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Texas man admits to 5 killings, felt compelled to sacrifice". Associated Press . September 28, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Cannibal serial killer cleaned and returned to shop containers he used for storing body parts". The Mirror. December 7, 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Jury hands down death penalty for Jason Thornburg, convicted of gruesome Tarrant County slayings". NBC DFW. December 4, 2024.
  11. ↑ "3 dismembered bodies found in burning Texas dumpster". Associated Press . September 28, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Dismembered bodies of 3, including child, found in burning Texas dumpster". NBC News . September 25, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Three dismembered bodies, including a child, found in burning Texas dumpster". CNN . September 25, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Police find three burned and dismembered bodies in dumpster fire". The Independent . September 25, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Mother Of Lauren Phillips, A Victim Of Suspected Serial Killer Jason Thornburg, Talks With CBS 11". CBS News . October 5, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Tarrant County Judge Rules Accused Serial Killer Jason Thornburg Must Undergo Mental Illness Examination Before Trial". CBS News . October 21, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Man indicted after 3 bodies found in burning Texas dumpster". Associated Press . December 14, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Accused Fort Worth Serial Killer Jason Thornburg Indicted For Capital Murder Of Multiple Persons". CBS News . December 15, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Death penalty sought in Texas for man who admitted killing 5". Associated Press . May 16, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Death penalty sought in Texas for man who admitted killing 5". The Independent . May 16, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Man convicted of killing and dismembering 3 people in Texas is sentenced to death". ABC News. December 4, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Haunting stories behind missing posters of Native women". Associated Press . September 4, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Relative: Girlfriend of slaying suspect missing since 2017". Associated Press . September 30, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Texas man who confessed to killing girlfriend in AZ sentenced to death for murders of 3 others". AZ Central. December 6, 2024.
  25. ↑ "The search for Tanya Begay: Months after accused serial killer claims he sacrificed his girlfriend in Arizona, FBI says her case remains open". 12News (Arizona). February 3, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Man charged in 3 Texas deaths indicted in roommate's slaying". Associated Press . February 18, 2022.
  27. ↑ "Man charged in 3 Texas deaths indicted in roommate's slaying". The Independent . February 19, 2022.
  28. ↑ "Police had connected suspect to another Fort Worth fire death before dumpster killings". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . September 28, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Trial begins in Tarrant County for alleged serial killer Jason Thornburg". CBS News . November 7, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Serial killer who 'sacrificed' three people and left bodies in dumpster sentenced to death". The Independent . December 5, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Serial killer who 'sacrificed' three people and left bodies in dumpster sentenced to death". The Dallas Morning News . November 20, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Suspected serial killer Jason Thornburg convicted for grisly Fort Worth murders, faces death penalty". CBS News . November 20, 2024.
  33. 1 2 "Jury determines cannibal serial killer who burned bodies in Fort Worth dumpster should die". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . December 6, 2024.
  34. ↑ "Man convicted of killing and dismembering 3 people in Texas is sentenced to death". Associated Press . December 4, 2024.
  35. ↑ "Texas Man Who Killed and Dismembered 3 Is Sentenced to Death". The New York Times . December 4, 2024.
  36. ↑ "What to know about the death penalty and death row in Texas". The Dallas Morning News . October 17, 2024.
  37. ↑ "When will Texas serial killer Jason Thornburg be executed? It could take decades". CBS News . December 5, 2024.
  38. ↑ "Death Row Information". tdcj.texas.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.