Closing arguments in the punishment phase of Jason Thornburg’s capital murder trial began Wednesday in Tarrant County.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A jury determined a man convicted of killing and dismembering three people whose bodies were found burning in a Fort Worth dumpster more than three years ago should be sentenced to death.
A jury convicted Jason Thornburg of capital murder for the September 2021 killings last month, rejecting an argument from Thornburg’s attorneys for Thornburg to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Closing arguments in the punishment phase of the trial began Wednesday morning after 14 days of testimony in the Criminal District Court No. 3 in Tarrant County.
Thornburg was arrested in 2021 after the bodies of the victims were found in west Fort Worth on Bonnie Drive. The victims were identified as David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Reyes-Mathis, 33.
According to an arrest warrant, Thornburg knew and met the victims at the Mid City Inn in Euless and confessed to his involvement in their deaths. He also “went into intimate details” about how he killed them, according to the warrant.
The warrant stated Thornburg claimed he was being called to commit sacrifices and that he was also involved in two other separate killings, one in Texas and another in a different state.
Prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty against Thornburg in 2022 and his is the first death penalty case tried in Tarrant County since 2019.