The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday, December 13, that forty-one-year-old Jason Thornburg was indicted on capital murder charges regarding the deaths of three individuals.
On September 22, the bodies of David Lueras, forty-two years old, Maricruz Mathis, thirty-three years old, and Lauren Phillips, thirty-four years old, were all found dismembered and burning in a dumpster on Bonnie Drive in Fort Worth.
According to NBC DFW, authorities stated that Thornburg has “confessed to killing five people.” The arrest warrant states that he confessed to killing his girlfriend, roommate, and all three individuals found in the dumpster.
Police say that they were familiar with Thornburg before discovering the three bodies in the dumpster due to an incident that occurred in May. Thornburg’s roommate died in a house fire that police deemed suspicious. Police say that, at the time, they did not have probable cause to arrest him.
In September, while being interviewed, Thornburg confessed that “he had slit his roommate’s throat, then uncapped a natural gas line and lit a candle,” according to NBC DFW.
Thornburg became a suspect in the deaths of the three dismembered individuals when authorities discovered his vehicle near the burning dumpster on surveillance footage. He allegedly told the police that “he had in-depth knowledge of the Bible and believed he was being called to commit sacrifices.”
According to WFAA, the arrest warrant states that Thornburg claims that he knew the three individuals found on Bonnie Drive. He said that he met them in Euless at Mid City Inn.
During Thornburg’s interview with the police, he allegedly also claimed he “sacrificed” his girlfriend, Tanya Begay, in Arizona. Begay was with Thornburg while on a trip in Arizona and has been missing since 2017.
Thornburg was indicted by a grand jury on capital murder charges and is currently in jail. His bond was set at one million dollars.