Man confesses to murder of three people found in burning Texas dumpster

A suspect has confessed to the three dismembered bodies found in a burning dumpster last week – along with two other killings, police said on Tuesday.

Jason Alan Thornburg, a 41-year-old apprentice electrician, admitted his involvement in the deaths of the three people found in the burning dumpster early Wednesday in Fort Worth, police told reporters at a press conference.

Police Chief Neil Noakes said horrific triple homicide crime scene “not something no one should ever have to see” while praising investigators for arresting suspect within a week .

“It was shocking, it’s disturbing and we knew it was essential to bring someone to justice in this matter,” Noakes said.

Homicide Sgt. Joe Loughman said firefighters found the three dismembered bodies after they extinguished the burning dumpster near a business in the 3100 block of Bonnie Drive. Police said the victims initially appeared to be a child, a young woman and a man, but investigators have since identified them as two women and a man.

The male victim has been identified as David Lueras, 42, known to frequent the Dallas area and with ties to Euless, where Thornburg was arrested on Monday for the capital murder of several people, Loughman said.

CCTV from the scene led investigators to a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by the suspect, later identified as Thornburg, requesting all information regarding the 2005-2010 models in Dallas and Tarrant counties.

After reviewing the list of over 7,000 vehicles, Thornburg’s name emerged. He was known to the department due to an investigation into a suspicious death in May, Loughman said.

The cops had no probable reason to arrest Thornburg in this case, but managed to track his Jeep Cherokee to a residence in Arlington. Investigators then located him at a hotel in Euless, where they received CCTV showing a guest exiting a room at the Mid City Inn with trash cans containing suspected body parts of the victims, Loughman said.

“This subject made several trips to and from this location to add additional items to the back of his car,” Loughman said.

Thornburg left the residence in Arlington Monday afternoon and was greeted by Fort Worth detectives who asked him to speak to them. He agreed to an interview and admitted his involvement in the deaths of the three victims inside the dumpster.

Thornburg gave “intimate details” of how he killed the victims, which Loughman said he could not provide due to the ongoing investigation.

Thornburg also admitted to having already committed a homicide in May and having killed another woman in another state. Loughman declined to provide further details, saying authorities in the anonymous jurisdiction should provide more information.

A search of the motel room where Thornburg was staying is underway, Loughman said. Thornburg was subsequently charged with several counts of capital murder and arrested without incident in Euless. He remains in custody on $ 1 million bail at Tarrant County Jail.

Lueras had stayed with Thornburg at the Mid City Inn for several days before the murder, but he only knew the female victims “by chance,” said Loughman, who declined to provide a motive for the murders.

“I really couldn’t get into the psyche of someone who is capable of doing this,” Loughman said.