Jason Thornburg was working as an apprentice electrician when he committed a truly horrifying crime.
The then 44-year-old butchered three people before dismembering his victims and even eating one of their hearts before setting their bodies alight in a desperate bid to cover up his twisted crimes.
In a chilling explanation to authorities when he was finally arrested, Thornburg claimed he had been told “by God” to carry out the horrifying murders as a “human sacrifice”.
Over a seven-day period in September 2021, Thornburg took the lives of David Lueras, 42, Maricruz Mathis, 33, and Lauren Phillips, 34, before carving up their bodies in the bathtub of a motel in Fort Worth, Texas.
The killer slit the throats of two of his victims and strangled Lauren before violating her lifeless body. He even ate part of David’s heart and cut off his penis. Thornburg also ate parts of Lauren and Maricruz.
View 3 ImagesJason Thornburg was found guilty of capital murder(Image: CBS Texas)
After dismembering his victims in the bath, he then stored their body part in bin bags and plastic storage tubs under his bed before moving them to a skip in Fort Worth.
After setting his victims alight, Thornburg drove off and it was only when firefighters were called they found the human remains.
CCTV showed Thornburg’s Jeep Grand Cherokee close to the horror scene firefighters had found and the net started to close around him. Before his arrest the sick killer had carefully cleaned the tubs he used to store his victims and even returned them to the shop he had bought them from.
Initially, police struggled to identify Thornburg’s two female victims, Lauren and Maricruz. While officers were trying to determine who two of the three victims wereLauren’s mum filed a criminal complaint against her killer.
View 3 ImagesThe inn where Thornburg carried out the killings(Image: CBS Texas)
She had suspicions her daughter, who had two sons, had been killed by Thornburg after she had become his friend and been staying at the inn where the murders took place with him.
It was the final piece in the jigsaw police needed and Thornburg was arrested.
His trial finally started in November 2024 with his defence team arguing he should be found not guilty due to insanity. However, the prosecution argued Thornburg was legally sane, as shown by the way he had disposed of the bodies and avoided arrest for several days.
On November 20, 2024, Thornburg was found guilty on all three counts of capital murder with the jury unanimously sentencing him to death, taking just five hours to reach their verdict.
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Following the verdict, the presiding judge stated: “Therefore, Jason Allen Thornburg, you have been adjudged by a jury to be guilty of capital murder. And the juror has answered the special issues making it mandatory that your punishment be death. Therefore, this court sentences you, Jason Allen Thornburgh, to death.”