3rd victim whose dismembered body was found in burning Fort Worth dumpster is identified

All three people whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning Fort Worth dumpster last month have now been identified.

The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office this week identified Maricruz Mathis, 33, as the third victim. Officials had previously identified the bodies of David Lueras, 42 and Lauren Phillips, 34.

The cause of death is listed simply as homicidal violence for all three. Court documents indicate that Lueras had been stabbed and that Phillips was strangled. Police have not said how the suspect, Jason Alan Thornburg, knew the three victims.

Thornburg, 41, faces a charge of capital murder in connection with the three deaths, and he is being investigated in connection with other slayings.

Fort Worth firefighters made the grisly discovery the morning of Sept. 22 after they were called to a dumpster fire in the 3100 block of Bonnie Drive, just south of Interstate 30.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, surveillance video showed a man park an SUV near the dumpster the previous night and dump the contents of several tubs into the bin before setting it ablaze. Police found that a similar vehicle was registered to Thornburg.

Thornburg was arrested the following week and remains in the Tarrant County jail, with bail set at $1 million. Authorities said he confessed to killing those three victims, as well as his roommate and his girlfriend.

When detectives interviewed him, he said that he believed he had been called by the Bible to commit sacrifices, according to the affidavit. He admitted killing a man and two women at the Euless motel where he was staying, and surveillance video from that location showed a man leaving Thornburg’s room and loading several containers into a Jeep.

Thornburg had previously been investigated in connection with the death of 61-year-old Mark Jewell, whose body was found in May after a gas explosion at their Fort Worth home. Thornburg admitted to cutting Jewell’s throat, uncapping a natural-gas line and lighting a candle, the affidavit says.

He also said he had “sacrificed” his girlfriend in Arizona. Tanya Begay, 36, was reported missing to police in New Mexico in March 2017; she has not been found.

Police are reviewing other unsolved homicide cases to see whether Thornburg may be connected to them.