Death penalty sought in Texas for man who admitted killing 5
May 16, 2022, 3:09 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors in Texas said Monday that they will seek the death penalty for a man who authorities have said confessed to killing five people, including three whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning dumpster last year.
The Tarrant County district attorney’s office said they’ve filed the paperwork to seek the death penalty for Jason Thornburg, 41. He was arrested in September on a charge of 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.
During an interview with police, Thornburg confessed to killing those three as well as his roommate and girlfriend, according to his arrest warrant.
Thornburg also faces a charge of murder in the death of his roommate, 61-year-old Mark Jewell. He was found dead in a house fire last May.
Tanya Begay, a Navajo woman from Gallup, New Mexico, went missing after taking a trip to Arizona with Thornburg in 2017.
In March, Thornburg was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, assault with intent to commit murder and assault resulting in serious bodily injury in the March 2017 slaying in the Navajo Nation of person listed as T.T.B., according to an indictment filed in U.S. district court for the district of Arizona.
Thornburg remained jailed in Fort Worth on over $1 million bond. His attorneys did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Monday.
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