On Wednesday, a Texas court sentenced a man who had admitted to killing a missing woman in Arizona to death for the murder and dismemberment of three others.
Last month, a Tarrant County jury convicted Jason Thornburg, 44, of capital murder in the murders of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33. In 2021, Fort Worth police discovered their bodies in a smoldering dumpster. According to his arrest warrant, Thornburg confessed to the police about the deaths.
“He is evil,” prosecutor Amy Allin told the jury.
According to Thornburg’s arrest warrant, he also admitted to killing his roommate and lover.
Mark Jewell, 61, the roommate, died in a house fire earlier that year. Tanya Begay, Thornburg’s lover and a Navajo woman from Gallup, New Mexico, went missing after traveling to Arizona with Thornburg in 2017.
According to the arrest warrant, he told authorities that he had a thorough understanding of the Bible and that he felt compelled to “make sacrifices.”
Begay’s sister told WFAA that they still do not have closure after the sentencing because her body was never recovered.
“We still need to get her home.” “We never had a funeral,” Edith Tsoie explained. “We don’t know where she’s at; until then, there won’t be justice or closure.”
Thornburg’s attorney argued that his insanity should render a verdict of not guilty.