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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Texas prosecutors said Monday they would seek the death penalty for a man who authorities say confessed to killing five people, including three whose dismembered bodies were found in a dumpster on fire last year.
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said it filed the paperwork seeking the death penalty for 41-year-old Jason Thornburg. He was arrested in September for capital murder in the deaths of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33. Their bodies were found in a burning dumpster in Fort Worth.
FILE – This undated file photo provided by the Fort Worth Police Department shows Jason Thornburg. On Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, a grand jury in Fort Worth, Texas returned a capital murder indictment against Thornburg, who authorities say confessed to killing five people, including three whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning dumpster earlier this year. . (Fort Worth Police Department via AP, file)
During a police interview, Thornburg confessed to killing these three people as well as his roommate and girlfriend, according to his arrest warrant.
Thornburg also faces a murder charge in the death of her roommate, Mark Jewell, 61. He was found dead in a house fire last May.
Tanya Begay, a Navajo from Gallup, New Mexico, disappeared after a trip to Arizona with Thornburg in 2017.
In March, Thornburg was indicted by a grand jury for first degree murder, assault with intent to murder and assault causing grievous bodily harm in the March 2017 killing in the Navajo Nation of a person listed as TTB , according to an indictment. filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
Thornburg remained imprisoned in Fort Worth on bail of over $1 million. His lawyers did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Monday.
