Dallas police arrested Jimmy Spurger Jr., 54, on a murder charge after a fatal stabbing on North Akard Street, the department said Sunday. Spurger worked as an investigator for the Dallas County Public Defender’s Office, his county biography states.
Officers answered a health and welfare call in the 2300 block of North Akard Street around 11:13 p.m. Friday. Investigators determined that someone the victim knew had stabbed her. Dallas Fire-Rescue pronounced 53-year-old Maria Spurger dead, police said.
Dallas County jail records show authorities booked Jimmy Spurger on November 7. The record lists a murder charge under warrant number F2677230. Police described the charge as a first-degree felony.
Maria Spurger was his wife, FOX 4 reported, citing an arrest affidavit. The outlet’s account says responders forced their way into the apartment, found furniture blocking the door and discovered her on a couch with a knife in her neck. Officers found Spurger in a bedroom with blood on him and a small knife nearby.
Dallas police announced the arrest after the Friday night stabbing, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Spurger spent more than 20 years in law enforcement before joining the public defender’s office, his county biography states. During his final decade in law enforcement, he supervised investigations in the Child Abuse and Family Violence Division of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
At the public defender’s office, he worked primarily on capital murder defense cases. He examined evidence, interviewed witnesses and developed mitigation information for defense teams, according to the biography.
Police continue to investigate the motive and circumstances of the stabbing under case number 163978-2026.
