The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office said it will pursue the death penalty for a 41-year-old man accused of killing his roommate in Fort Worth and four others.
As reported by The Dallas Express, a Tarrant County grand jury returned an indictment on February 18 for Jason Alan Thornburg, 41, for allegedly killing Mark Jewell, 61, who had been living with him.
The 41-year-old reportedly confessed to killing Jewell, whose body firefighters found in May 2021 after a gas explosion at their shared home. Thornburg told investigators that God compelled him to kill his roommate.
Even though investigators considered him a suspect at the time, they concluded that the manner of death was unknown due to the damage done by the gas explosion.
However, prosecutors seek the death penalty for Thornburg for separate and unrelated murder charges in the September 2021 death of 42-year-old David Lueras, 34-year-old Lauren Phillips, and 33-year-old Maricruz Mathis.
Fort Worth firefighters responded to a dumpster fire in the 3100 block of Bonnie Drive at about 6:15 a.m. on September 22 and discovered three dismembered bodies burning.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, surveillance video captured a dark-colored SUV pulling up next to the dumpster the night before firefighters discovered the bodies.
In the video, a man takes several tubs out of the SUV and empties their contents into the dumpster. The man later drove away in the vehicle and returned with more tubs a few hours later before setting the dumpster on fire.
Investigators determined the SUV in the video was a black Jeep Cherokee made between 2005 and 2010 with chrome accents and a roof rack.
Detectives compared the description of the SUV in the video with over 7,000 similar vehicles in Tarrant and Dallas counties and came up with a match that was registered to Thornburg.
Investigators then tracked the SUV to a motel in Arlington, where surveillance footage showed a man leaving Thornburg’s room at about 10:30 p.m. on the night of the fire.
The motel footage showed the man loading several large containers into the SUV before leaving. The man returned around 12:30 a.m. and left with another set of containers in the vehicle.
Investigators arrested Thornburg on September 27, 2021, after he allegedly admitted in an interview to killing the victims found in the dumpster because he was called to perform sacrifices.
Thornburg revealed that Lueras began staying with him in his motel room about five days before the bodies were discovered in the dumpster. He also allegedly admitted to slitting Lueras’ throat with a box cutter before dismembering him in the tub.
He added that he believed Lueras needed to be sacrificed, according to the affidavit. Thornburg also apparently admitted to killing the two women in similar sacrifices over the next two days.
Thornburg, charged with capital murder in connection with the death of the three victims, now faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
“The decision on whether or not to seek the death penalty is a crucial decision this office makes,” Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson said in a statement on May 16. She added that the death penalty is reserved for the worst kind of criminals, and seeking the punishment is fitting for the case.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Thornburg’s attorney, J. Warren St. John, said he had been anticipating the DA’s decision to seek the death penalty for his client.
Thornburg also reportedly admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend Tanya Begay, who was reported missing in 2017.
Police in Arizona arrested the 41-year-old in March 2017 following a domestic violence report in February. Begay was reported missing two days after Thornburg’s arrest.
Neighbors reported to police that Thornburg was burning items on his property days before Begay was reported missing by her mother. However, authorities did not charge Thornburg with any crime in that case because his ex-girlfriend’s body was never found. The case remains open.