Latest news with #CourtofCriminalAppeals
Daily Record
27-06-2025
- Daily Record
Cannibal killer mutilates bodies, eats heart, cuts off penis then sets victims on fire
Jason Thornburg, 44, was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of the gruesome murders of three people in Tarrant County, Texas, and he also confessed to two other killings A 44 year old man has been handed a death sentence in Tarrant County, Texas after being found guilty by a jury of the horrific murders of three individuals. In addition to executing the savage killings, he also dismembered his victims and set their bodies alight. Over a seven-day period in September 2021, Jason Thornburg took the lives of David Lueras, 42, Maricruz Mathis, 33, and Lauren Phillips, 34, later claiming the trio needed to be sacrificed for religious purposes. During the lengthy trial, chilling details emerged about what transpired at the Mid City Inn in Euless. The three victims were separately lured into the room Thornburg was renting and subsequently murdered. The killer slit the throats of two of the victims and strangled Phillips before sexually violating her lifeless body. He also consumed part of David's heart and severed his penis, reports the Mirror US. Once the victims were dead, Thornburg dismembered their bodies in the motel bathtub and stashed their remains in rubbish bags under the bed. In the early hours of September 22, the murderer transported their body parts, which he had stored in plastic storage tubs, to a dumpster on Bonnie Drive in Fort Worth. He deposited the remains inside the dumpster, ignited them and then fled the scene. Firefighters were summoned to the blaze and extinguished the fire, where they discovered the victims' burnt bodies. Law enforcement caught Jason Allen Thornburg after footage showed his Jeep Grand Cherokee near the dumpster he set ablaze with bodies inside. He even meticulously returned the tubs used to transport the bodies to the shop they were purchased from, demonstrating a chilling level of detachment. At the trial, evidence of events at the motel convinced the jury of Thornburg's ongoing threat to society, leading them to sentence him to death after just five hours of deliberation. As the verdict was declared, Thornburg remained silent. Following the conviction, the trial judge declared: "Therefore, Jason Allen Thornburg, you have been adjudged by a jury to be guilty of capital murder. And the juror has answered the special issues making it mandatory that your punishment be death. Therefore, this court sentences you, Jason Allen Thornburgh, to death." The ruling and death sentence are automatically referred to the Court of Criminal Appeals for review. If confirmed, Thornburg will await execution in state custody, a process that can span several years on death row. Astoundingly, upon his arrest for the motel slayings, Thornburg reportedly admitted to authorities his involvement in two additional murders. Thornburg is alleged to have confessed to law enforcement that he murdered his 61 year old flatmate, Mark Jewell, who died in a suspicious house explosion in May 2021, and his ex-girlfriend Tanya Begay in Arizona back in 2017. Firefighters discovered Jewell's body following a gas explosion at the Fort Worth residence. Begay vanished in March 2017 after last being seen with Thornburg. According to Fox 4 reports, the FBI still considers the case open as her body has never been found.
Daily Mirror
27-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
Man ate victim's heart and chopped off penis after killing him
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Jason Thornburg, 44, has been sentenced to death in Texas after he was found guilty of the brutal murders of three people and carrying out gruesome acts on their bodies A 44 year old man has been handed a death sentence in Tarrant County, Texas after being found guilty of the horrific murders of three individuals by a jury. Not only did he commit the savage killings, but he also mutilated his victims and set their corpses alight. Over a seven-day period in September 2021, Jason Thornburg took the lives of David Lueras, 42, Maricruz Mathis, 33, and Lauren Phillips, 34, later claiming the trio needed to be sacrificed for religious purposes. During the lengthy trial, chilling details emerged about the events at the Mid City Inn in Euless. The three victims were separately lured into the room Thornburg was renting and subsequently murdered. The killer slit the throats of two victims and strangled Phillips before violating her lifeless body. He even consumed part of David's heart and severed his penis, reports the Mirror US. After the victims were dead, Thornburg dismembered their bodies in the motel bathtub and stashed their remains in rubbish bags under the bed. In the early hours of September 22, the murderer transported the body parts, which he had kept in plastic storage tubs, to a skip on Bonnie Drive in Fort Worth. He dumped the remains in the skip, ignited them and drove off. Firefighters were summoned to the inferno and put out the fire, where they stumbled upon the victims' burnt bodies. The authorities homed in on Thornburg after CCTV footage showed his Jeep Grand Cherokee near the scene when the bodies were dumped and set aflame. In a chilling act, he meticulously cleaned and returned the containers to the shop where they were purchased. The evidence presented at trial, including chilling details of the events at the motel, led the jury to conclude that Thornburg posed a continuing threat to society, resulting in a death sentence. The jurors took a mere five hours to agree unanimously, with Thornburg remaining quiet as the judgement was delivered. Following the verdict, the presiding judge stated: "Therefore, Jason Allen Thornburg, you have been adjudged by a jury to be guilty of capital murder. And the juror has answered the special issues making it mandatory that your punishment be death. Therefore, this court sentences you, Jason Allen Thornburgh, to death." An automatic appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals will scrutinise the conviction and death sentence; if confirmed, Thornburg awaits execution under state custody. Death row inmates often wait years before their execution is actualised. In a startling twist, upon his arrest for the motel slayings, Thornburg allegedly admitted to police involvement in two additional homicides. Thornburg is alleged to have confessed to law enforcement that he murdered his flatmate, 61 year old Mark Jewell, who perished in a suspicious home explosion in May 2021, and his ex-girlfriend Tanya Begay in Arizona back in 2017. Firefighters discovered Jewell's body following a gas explosion at their Fort Worth residence. Begay vanished in March 2017 after last being spotted with Thornburg. As reported by Fox 4, the FBI still considers the case unresolved as her body has yet to be found.
Irish Daily Mirror
24-06-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Cannibal killer who ate heart of victim and chopped off his penis
A 44 year old man has been handed a death sentence in Tarrant County, Texas after being found guilty by a jury of the horrific murders of three individuals. In addition to executing the savage killings, he also dismembered his victims and set their bodies alight. Over a seven-day period in September 2021, Jason Thornburg murdered David Lueras, 42, Maricruz Mathis, 33, and Lauren Phillips, 34, later claiming that the trio needed to be sacrificed for religious purposes. During the lengthy trial, details emerged about what transpired at the Mid City Inn in Euless. The three victims were separately brought into the room Thornburg was renting and subsequently killed. The killer slit the throats of two of the victims and strangled Phillips before sexually assaulting her dead body. He also consumed part of David's heart and severed his penis, reports the Mirror US. Once the victims were deceased, Thornburg dismembered their bodies in the motel bathtub and stored their remains in rubbish bags under the bed. In the early hours of September 22, the murderer then transported their body parts, which he had stored in plastic storage tubs, to a dumpster on Bonnie Drive in Fort Worth. He placed the remains inside the dumpster, ignited them and drove off. Firefighters were summoned to the blaze and put out the fire where they discovered the victims' burnt bodies. Law enforcement nabbed Thornburg for placing the bodies in the dumpster and igniting it, thanks to CCTV footage showing his Jeep Grand Cherokee nearby at the crucial time. He chillingly returned the containers used to the shop they were purchased from after meticulously cleaning them out. The jury, swayed by the damning evidence presented during the trial, including the gruesome details of the motel incident, concluded that Thornburg posed an ongoing threat to society and handed him the death penalty. The decision was reached swiftly by the jury in just five hours, with Thornburg remaining silent as the verdict was delivered. Following the verdict, the presiding judge declared: "Therefore, Jason Allen Thornburg, you have been adjudged by a jury to be guilty of capital murder. And the juror has answered the special issues making it mandatory that your punishment be death. Therefore, this court sentences you, Jason Allen Thornburgh, to death." Thornburg's conviction and death sentence are automatically reviewed by the Court of Criminal Appeals. If confirmed, he will stay under state custody until his execution is enacted. Death row inmates often wait years before their execution date is set. In a startling twist, upon his arrest for the motel slayings, Thornburg shockingly admitted to police his involvement in two additional murders. Thornburg is alleged to have confessed to law enforcement that he murdered his 61 year old flatmate, Mark Jewell, who died in a suspicious house explosion in May 2021, and his ex-girlfriend Tanya Begay in Arizona back in 2017. Firefighters discovered Jewell's body following a gas explosion at the Fort Worth residence. Begay vanished in March 2017 after last being seen with Thornburg. According to Fox 4 reports, the FBI still considers the case open as her body has never been found.
The Hill
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Texas AG Paxton would get expanded powers to target elections under new law
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) would gain the right to investigate elections in Democratic districts under a new bill passed by the Texas Senate on Tuesday. H.B. 5138 now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) desk, where it joins H.B. 45, which gives Paxton broad new powers to fight 'human trafficking.' Put together, the new bills would give his office the ability to investigate alleged trafficking or election fraud in any jurisdictions — regardless of the wishes of local communities or the elected district or county attorney. Paxton has long used allegations of human trafficking to target nonprofit groups that provide aid to recent migrants. If Abbott signs the elections bill, Paxton — who has announced his intentions to primary incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) next year — would get new powers to prosecute alleged election crimes anywhere in the state, something state courts have denied him. In 2021, the Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) ruled that Paxton could only get involved in local elections if asked to by a district or county attorney, as The Texas Tribune reported, a ruling that Abbott explicitly criticized last year. That CCA ruling created a structural problem, however, for the faction of Texas Republicans, including Paxton, that has long insisted that election fraud is rife in Texas' Democrat-run jurisdictions. That didn't stop Paxton's office from raiding Democratic activists — and the candidate herself — during last year's race for a tightly contested state House district after the Democratic incumbent stepped down. The Republican in that race, former Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin, ultimately won in a campaign that cited Paxton's investigation into his opponent, Cecilia Castellanos, as evidence of her malfeasance. Up until Tuesday's bill passage, however, the attorney general's ability to investigate local candidates like Castellanos was limited to those jurisdictions where he could find a district or county attorney to partner with — a requirement that HB 5138 would free him of. Paxton has long conflated migration and election fraud. In one notable case from last year's election, Paxton insisted Democrats had secret plans to 'illegally register noncitizens to vote in our elections,' a claim that originated in a friend-of-a-friend story on Fox News that local Republican county officials later debunked. Democrats' plan was to 'tell the cartels, 'Get people here as fast as possible, as many as possible, we're not going to make them hide anymore — we'll get them placed in the right states,'' Paxton told conservative talk show host Glenn Beck last year. 'They want to fix the election so that we have a one-party country that we can't fix.' During last year's election, Paxton also sued Bexar and Harris Counties, two of the state's largest Democratic strongholds, for voter registration drive which he claimed aimed to register noncitizens to vote.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas lawmakers pass bill to improve state's junk science law
The Brief House lawmakers approved a bill to clarify Texas' junk science law. If approved, low-income defendants would be entitled to an attorney and the Court of Criminal Appeals would be required to issue a written opinion on denied appeals. Critics of Texas' junk science law say that it isn't working as intended with its current language. AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas House on Thursday approved changes to the state's "junk science" law. The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. On Thursday, lawmakers advanced a bill that would make changes to the law that were suggested during an out-of-session House committee meeting. What we know Under House Bill 115, low-income defendants would be entitled to an attorney in junk science appeals. The bill would also require the Court of Criminal Appeals to issue a written opinion when a junk science appeal is denied. The bill would also require the court to consider cases that might not meet procedural requirements. A 2024 report from civil rights group Texas Defender Service showed that 38% of appeals to the court citing junk science were rejected on a procedural basis. The bar for granting relief would also be lowered to allow relief if there's a reasonable likelihood that the conviction was based on discredited science. Critics of the law say its current wording essentially forces the convicted person to prove complete innocence. The changes were among those sparked both by the Texas Defender report and the death row case of Robert Roberson. What they're saying "In reality, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals's implementation of the statute has shown inconsistency in application, a disregard for discredited scientific methods, a heavy investigative burden for people seeking relief (especially people without counsel), and a striking absence of relief in capital cases—meaning that potentially innocent people will be executed," Texas Defender said in their report. What's next The bill now heads to the Senate, but with the legislative session winding down, it is unknown if it will be heard. Texas lawmakers made headlines in October after they petitioned to delay Roberson's execution, stating the science behind his execution doesn't hold up. Roberson was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in Palestine, Texas in 2002. He took her to the emergency room with a high fever, where medical staff determined her condition was consistent with shaken baby syndrome. Roberson's attorneys have challenged that diagnosis, calling it "junk science." They say Nikki died from natural causes, likely undiagnosed pneumonia. A coalition of lawmakers and the lead detective on the case have argued the science supporting Roberson's death sentence doesn't hold up. The Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a subpoena on the day before Roberson's scheduled execution on Oct. 17 for the death row inmate to testify at a hearing about his case. The Supreme Court paused the execution that night to review the committee's request. An opinion from the Texas Supreme Court in November said that the committee should be allowed to hear his testimony, as long as a subpoena does not block an inevitable execution. Roberson did not appear at subsequent House committee meetings after the attorney general's office opposed the efforts to bring him to the Capitol building. The Office of the Attorney General told the State Supreme Court that doing so would present security and logistical concerns. Some relatives of the 2-year-old have criticized lawmakers for delaying Roberson's execution. The backstory Texas' junk science law was the first of its kind in 2013 and a model for other states across the country, according to legal experts. California, Connecticut, Michigan, Nevada and Wyoming have similar "junk science" statutes, but it has not been studied how successful they are at overturning death penalty convictions. The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. At the time, it was hailed by the Legislature as a uniquely future-proof solution to wrongful convictions based on faulty science. No one facing execution has had their sentence overturned since the junk science law was enacted in 2013, according to the Texas Defender Service report. In the last 10 years, 74 applications have been filed and ruled on under the junk science law. A third of applications were submitted by people facing the death penalty. All of them were unsuccessful. Of the applications that led to relief, nearly three-quarters were for convictions related to DNA evidence, despite making up less than half of all applications. The Source Information on House Bill 115 comes from the May 14, 2025, House session. Information on Texas' junk science law comes from previous FOX 4 coverage. Information on the rates of granted relief comes from a report by civil rights group Texas Defender Service. Backstory on Robert Roberson comes from previous FOX 4 coverage.
