Cannibal Serial Killer Sentenced to Death, as Prosecutors Describe His Chilling Methods

Content warning: This article contains disturbing descriptions of violence.

A Texas man who murdered, dismembered and burned the bodies of three people — and admitted to eating part of the remains of one victim — has been sentenced to death, prosecutors said.

Jason Thornburg, 44, was found guilty by a Tarrant County jury of capital murder for the brutal 2021 killings that took place over seven days in Euless, Texas, a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release shared on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

Prosecutors said Thornburg killed David Lueras, 42, Maricruz Mathis, 33, and Lauren Phillips, 34, in September 2021 because he believed they “needed to be sacrificed for religious reasons.”

Thornburg lured each victim, separately, to a room he was renting at the Mid City Inn, where he slit the throats of Lueras and Mathis, per the release. Authorities said he strangled Phillips and sexually assaulted her dead body. Prosecutors also noted that Thornburg ate a portion of Lueras’ heart and cut off his penis.

After the killings, Thornburg dismembered their bodies in the motel bathtub, then stored their remains in trash bags under his bed, according to the release. On Sept. 22, 2021, Thornburg took the victims’ remains, which were now in plastic storage tubs, to a dumpster, where he set them on fire and drove away, prosecutors said.

Firefighters responded to the dumpster fire and extinguished it, and police tracked down Thornburg as the suspect based on a video that captured his Jeep Grand Cherokee in the area at the time of the dumpster fire, the release states.

Assistant District Attorney Kim D’Avignon described Thornburg as “methodical and sadistic,” adding, “Hurting people is something he likes to do,” per the release.

Prior to the killings, Thornburg was seen reading the bible in a chair outside his motel room, prosecutors said, with A.D.A. Amy Allin noting that he’s “familiar with scripture” and used it as “his weapon of choice” to get “vulnerable people to lower their guard.”

According to the release, police said Thornburg also confessed to killing two other people — his roommate Mark Jewell in May 2021 and his girlfriend Tanya Begay in Arizona in 2017. The New York Times reports Thornburg was indicted in connection with both murders in early 2022, but the cases are still ongoing.

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In court, Thornburg’s defense attorneys argued their client should be found not guilty by reason of insanity and claimed he had schizophrenia, according to the Times. But the jury wasn’t convinced, and Thornburg was found guilty last month before ultimately being sentenced to death. A sentencing date has yet to be set, per the outlet.

The families of the three victims faced Thornburg in court at his sentencing this week, with Phillips’ aunt comparing him to “Satan,” adding he is a “liar, thief and a murdering coward,” according to local Fox 4.

Lueras’ sister called Thornburg’s actions “horrific and unspeakable,” while Mathis’ sister said she won’t ever forgive him, per the outlet.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.