Cannibal Serial Killer Jason Alan Thornburg Sentenced to Death for Gruesome 'Human Sacrifices'

A Tarrant County jury gave Jason Thornburg, 44, the death penalty this week for what he called the "human sacrifices" of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33.

He also reportedly confessed to murdering his girlfriend, 36-year-old Tanya Begay, and his 61-year-old roommate, Mark Jewell; though he was indicted for Jewell's murder, he wasn't charged with the death of Begay, whose body has not been recovered and whose case remains open.

In September 2021, the Fort Worth Fire Department responded to a dumpster fire outside of a business on Bonnie Dr.; after extinguishing the flames, they found three bodies burned and "heavily dismembered."

Later that month, Thornburg was arrested and more details were revealed.

Speaking at a press conference, Fort Worth Homicide Unit Sgt. Joe Loughman said they picked up the trail by reviewing security footage near the dumpster, spotting a 2005-2010 black Jeep Grand Cherokee. Cross-referencing the list of 7,000 owners in the area, "a familiar name to our office came up, a gentleman named Jason Thornburg," Loughman said.

Police knew the name in connection with an investigation into the suspicious fire death of Jewell -- his then-roommate -- in May, but they did not have probable cause to arrest him at the time.

Surveilling the vehicle, they discovered Thornburg was staying at the Mid City Inn Motel in Euless; reviewing the security camera there, they saw a guest on the night of the fire "exiting a room carrying plastic bins, with what we believe to be body parts of our victims," making a number of trips back and forth to the Jeep.

When officers approached him, he agreed to come voluntarily. At the station, Loughman said, Thornburg admitted to his involvement in the three murders and "went into intimate detail as to how he committed his crime." He also allegedly admitted to killing Jewell, as well as Begay.

According to the arrest affidavit, Thornburg said Lueras showed up at his motel room five days before the bodies were discovered. Believing Lueras needed to be "sacrificed," Thornburg said he slit his throat and dismembered him in the bathtub. He said he initially stashed the remains in trash bags, before obtaining Rubbermaid-type tubs to store them in.

Two days later a woman he knew, whom he described as "a very small Hispanic female", turned up at the motel room. He "sacrificed" and dismembered her in the same fashion. Two days after that, another female he knew turned up. He said he initially tried to stab her but ultimately had to strangle her.

When asked about Jewell's death, he said he also "sacrificed" him by slicing his throat. He said he then uncapped the natural gas line and lit a candle in the room. Asked if he had performed any other sacrifices, he told investigators he'd also killed his girlfriend in Arizona.

The affidavit points out that the only way they were able to identify Lueras was because the letters "UERAS" were still visible on a large back tattoo, and because of a penis implant recovered from the remains.

The horrifying details continued to come out during his trial, both during testimony and in closing statements from the prosecution.

Thornburg allegedly admitted to eating some of Lueras' heart and cutting off his penis, as well as sexually assaulting Phillips' corpse.

"We don't use words like cannibal, because it's fun. We use words like cannibal because he ate David's heart. We don't use the word sadist because it is a buzz word, we use sadist because [Thornburg] had sex with Lauren's torso and he cut off David's penis," said prosecutors in closing statements, per FOX 4.

"We use the word sadist because he's the kind of person who would have sex with Lauren with the bodies of Maricruz and David underneath that bed," they added. "He can be aroused in a moment where there are two bodies under his bed."

The defense, meanwhile, argued he suffered from schizophrenia and should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

"He thought he did the right thing by committing a horrible sinful sacrifice. It's the voices he heard which are not justified. They are evil in a way, but he believed it was correct," said the defense. "That is so bizarre. So bizarre. But see, that's what he believed. He believed his sacrifices were correct, and we know, as citizens, it's not correct."

"You have to decide as jurors, do we execute someone who is psychotic at the time they did something? You have to ask yourself, do we execute someone who is delusional? Is that what we're about as a civilized society?" they asked.

Under Texas law, death sentences are automatically appealed.