Fort Worth police arrested a man they say killed and dismembered three people

By Kay Jones, CNN

Police in Fort Worth, Texas, arrested a man on Monday for allegedly killing and dismembering three people and then putting their bodies in a dumpster and setting it on fire.

Police said Jason Alan Thornburg, 41, admitted to killing a man and two women in a hotel room over the course of approximately five days and then disposing of their bodies in a dumpster before eventually setting the dumpster on fire, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Fort Worth police asked for the public’s help last week in helping identify who had committed the killings, after discovering the three bodies that had been “burned and heavily dismembered and there were “body parts unaccounted for.” Police previously thought one of the victims was a child and the other was a young teenage girl.

One victim had been identified as 42-year-old David Lueras, who was “known to frequent the Dallas area” and “has some ties” to nearby communities, police said last week, adding the condition of the bodies made the identification process difficult.

Thornburg told police that he had an “in-depth knowledge of the Bible and believed that he was being called to commit sacrifices,” according to the affidavit.

During his interview with police, Thornburg also admitted to killing two other people, which he also viewed as “sacrifices,” according to the affidavit. One of the victims was his girlfriend, the affidavit said, who had been reported missing.

Thornburg is currently being held in jail in Tarrant County, Texas, on a $1 million bond, police said in a Tuesday news conference. Court records have not been posted at this time and it’s unclear if he has an attorney yet.

Fort Worth police say the investigation is still ongoing.

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