Fort Worth man confesses to Biblical killings after dismembered bodies found in dumpster

Jason Alan Thornburg Fort Worth Texas man confesses to killings after dismembered bodies found in dumpster in Biblical sacrifice ritual. 

A Texas man has confessed to the murders of three dismembered bodies found inside a burning dumpster last week as well as two other homicides, police said Tuesday.

Jason Alan Thornburg, a 41-year-old electrician’s apprentice, admitted his involvement in the deaths of the three people found in the burning dumpster early Wednesday in Fort Worth, police said at a news conference.

Police Chief Neil Noakes said the triple homicide crime scene was ‘not something anyone should ever have to see’ while praising investigators for arresting a suspect within a week.

‘This was shocking, it’s unsettling and we knew bringing someone to justice in the case was paramount,’ Noakes said.

Homicide Sgt. Joe Loughman said firefighters found the three dismembered bodies after responding to a call of a burning dumpster near a business in the 3100 block of Bonnie Drive. Police said the victims initially appeared to be that of a child, a young female and a man, but investigators have since identified them as two women and a man.

Other homicides

The male victim was identified as David Lueras, 42, a criminal felon known to frequent the Dallas area and having ties to Euless, where Thornburg was arrested Monday on a charge of capital murder of multiple persons, Loughman said.

Video surveillance from the scene led investigators to a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by the suspect, later identified as Thornburg, by requesting all information regarding 2005-2010 models in Dallas and Tarrant counties.

Once reviewing the list of more than 7,000 vehicles, Thornburg’s name came up. He was known to the department due to a suspicious death investigation from May, Loughman said.

Cops had no probable cause to arrest Thornburg in that case, but managed to track his Jeep Cherokee to a residence in Arlington. Investigators then located him at a hotel in Euless, where they got video surveillance showing a guest exiting a room at the Mid City Inn with bins containing suspected body parts of the victims, Loughman said.

‘That subject made multiple trips to and from that location to add additional items to the back of his car,’ Loughman said.

Thornburg left the residence in Arlington Monday afternoon and was met by Fort Worth detectives who asked him to speak with them. He agreed to an interview and admitted his involvement in the deaths of the three victims inside the dumpster.

Thornburg gave ‘intimate details’ as to how he killed the victims according to KXAS-TV. 

Called to commit sacrifices

The outlet cited Thornburg telling police he had an in-depth knowledge of the Bible and was called to commit sacrifices, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Thornburg also admitted to killing his Fort Worth roommate, 61 year old man, Mark Jewell in May and that he killed a former girlfriend in Arizona. The medical examiner’s office was not able to determine Jewell’s cause of death at the time due to an explosion in the home. Though Thornburg was investigated at the time, officials said they didn’t have probable cause to arrest him.

A search of the motel room where Thornburg was staying is ongoing, Loughman said. Thornburg was later charged with multiple counts of capital murder and arrested without incident in Euless. He remains held on $1 million bond at the Tarrant County jail.

Lueras had been staying with Thornburg at the Mid City Inn for several days prior to the killing, but he only knew the female victims ‘casually,’ Loughman said, who declined to provide a motive in the slayings.

‘I really couldn’t even go into the psyche of someone that is able to do this,’ Loughman said.

Thornburg has a prior conviction of evading arrest and was released on parole in 2020.