A convicted cannibal serial killer who dismembered victims for “sacrifices” was given a death sentence

Jason Alan Thornburg, a Texas man who confessed to eating pieces of one of his victims and was found guilty of killing three people for sacrifice, was given the death penalty.

Thornburg, 44, was convicted by a jury on November 20 of the heinous killings of Maricruz Mathis, 33, Lauren Phillips, 34, and David Lueras, 42. Authorities found the three victims’ mutilated bodies burning in a dumpster in September 2021.

A judge indicted Thornburg for their killings in December. He acknowledged the killings in his arrest warrant, along with the alleged killings of his 36-year-old girlfriend Tanya Begay and his 61-year-old roommate Mark Jewell.

On December 4, Thornburg was informed of his fate.

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Before the trial started, prosecutors requested the death penalty. In 2022, Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson said that one of the most important decisions our office makes is whether to pursue the death penalty.

For the worst offenders, we save the death penalty. In this instance, it is only fitting that we pursue the death penalty.

Particularly horrific were the killings of the three victims connected to Thornburg’s conviction. Thornburg stated in the probable cause affidavit that he believed he was being called to make sacrifices and that he had a thorough understanding of the Bible.

The murderer in the case of David Lueras, who had been lodging with Thornburg in a motel room at the Mid City Inn in Euless, Texas, in the days before his murder, claimed that he thought David should be sacrificed.

After slitting David’s throat, he proceeded to dismember him in the bathtub. Thornburg bought Rubbermaid tubs to put the remains in after initially concealing them in trash bags in his room.

Two days later, Maricruz Mathis showed up in his hotel room, where her mutilated body was placed in containers. Two days later, Lauren Phillips showed up, but Thornburg told police that after trying to knife her without success, he strangled her.

During the trial, KDFW, a local Fox affiliate, disclosed even more unsettling information, such as Thornburg’s admission that he had cut off Luera’s genitalia and eaten a portion of his heart. Additionally, he acknowledged that he had sexually assaulted Phillip’s body.

Additionally, he cleaned the containers he used to hold the body parts of his victims and sent them back to the original retailer.

Thornburg acknowledged to authorities in an affidavit that both Jewell and Begay were sacrificed, even though their cases were distinct. Thornburg was charged with Jewell’s murder. The body of Begay has never been found.

Amy Allin, the prosecutor, told the jury during closing arguments that he is a psychopath. He is malevolent. He stands for the kind of evil that we would prefer to think is absent from our neighborhood. We would want to think that we are not bringing up our kids in a world where people like Jason Thornburg are real.

We like to think that the Bible is not a weapon in our culture and that a serial killer cannot take advantage of your weaknesses. However, that evil will persist as long as Jason Thornburg is in the world.

The defense team for Thornburg tried to claim that their murderous client didn’t chose to be that way and was destined in the womb. They told the jury that he confessed to the dreadful murders because he believed that by making a terrible, immoral sacrifice, he was doing the right thing.

He heard voices that weren’t justified. Even if the voices he heard were somewhat malevolent, he still thinks they are right. That is really strange. So strange. But see, that’s what he thought. As citizens, we know that his sacrifices were wrong, even though he thought they were.

The jury unanimously found Thornburg guilty and sentenced him to death after less than five hours of discussion.

The families of the victims had the chance to speak with Thornburg after his punishment.

According to Lauren Dunphy, David Luera’s sister, “He killed our loved one through terrible and unimaginable deeds, which are evil in and of themselves.” They were planned, vicious, gory, twisted, repeated, and hidden. These were especially wicked acts.

The wickedness of these deeds is only made worse by what we know about Jason’s motivations. Hearing the Bible perverted to excuse such horrible acts has been really upsetting.

Maricruz Mathis’ sister, Norma Harris, claimed that the grief she and her family experienced upon the loss of a loved one was intolerable. She went on, “I hope you’re forgiven in heaven.” I don’t think I’m capable of it.

Deborah Curry, the aunt of Lauren Phillips, declared, “You have committed the ultimate blasphemy against God.” You labor for Satan, even though you say you’re performing God’s work.

You have shattered every virtue that God has given you, and you consciously filled your soul with the works of Satan by brutally and cowardly killing our beloved from behind while they were sleeping at night for your own gratification.

One of Thornburg’s attorneys, J. Warren St. John, expressed his disappointment with the sentencing to The New York Times. Thornburg’s punishment is automatically appealed under Texas law.

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