A 41-year-old Texas man arrested Monday in connection with the murder and dismemberment of three people, whose remains were found in a burning dumpster also confessed to killing two others as part of a biblical sacrifice, NBC News reports.
Jason Alan Thornburg killed three people in Fort Worth last Wednesday and put the dismembered corpses of a man and two women in a dumpster before lighting it afire. Police searched surveillance footage and found a Jeep frequently near the scene where the dumpster was located. They then searched available registration records and found Thornburg owned a similar vehicle. Thornburg had been a suspect in a Fort Worth murder from earlier this year, but investigators didn’t have enough evidence to charge him.
Police then tracked Thornburg to a motel in a neighboring town. Surveillance footage there showed him repeatedly picking up garbage bags, presumably holding body parts, from the motel to take to the dumpster.
After arresting him, Thornburg confessed to killing the three people found in the dumpster as well as to the additional Fort Worth murder he was suspected of. He also surprised detectives by confessing to a fifth murder that happened out of state.