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- [00:01]
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- [00:31]
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Now streaming on Hulu. A wicked True crime.
- [00:35]
News Reporter
It was a kidnapping torture case.
- [00:37]
Daphne
A crime of greed and cruelty.
- [00:39]
Hulu Ad
The men tortured the victim by beating.
- [00:41]
Teeth
Tasing and burning him.
- [00:43]
Hulu Ad
But it didn't end there.
- [00:44]
Daphne
And this is where it gets really horrible. The guy was cutting off my roommate's penis. It was like a bad dream.
- [00:51]
Hulu Ad
This crime was horrific.
- [00:53]
Daphne
He's a psychopath.
- [00:54]
Hulu Ad
Wicked game. Devil in the desert.
- [00:56]
Daphne
This was a story about greed, sadism, evil.
- [00:59]
Hulu Ad
Now streaming only on Hulu.
- [01:04]
Flight Attendant
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- [01:48]
Teeth
What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host, Teeth.
- [01:51]
Daphne
And I'm your host, Daphne.
- [01:52]
Teeth
And you're listening to Going West.
- [01:55]
Daphne
Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well today. Now, I recently stumbled upon this case and I just, I couldn't believe how horrific some of the details were. Just as we get deeper into how this case unravels as a whole and the serial killings committed here and there is still justice that needs to be served. Particularly for Tanya Begay on the Navajo reservation, who is taken far too soon. We're going to talk about her first up in today's episode. So thank you so much everybody for tuning into this one.
- [02:26]
Teeth
Yeah, I mean, the unthinkable actions we're going to describe today were committed by someone who can only be described as the biggest piece piece of. So without further ado, get ready for this one. Alright guys, this is episode 477 of Going West. So let's get into it.
- [03:01]
Daphne
The arrest of an accused serial killer in Fort Worth may be an answer to a four year search for a missing New Mexico woman. Investigators said Jason Thornburg admitted to at least five murders when they arrested him this week.
- [03:15]
News Reporter
And we want to warn you, the details in this are disturbing. This is where police believe he killed and kept three victims and a fourth victim was killed back in May. And we're learning more, as you just mentioned, about a fifth victim, his former girlfriend. In 2017, law enforcement in Arizona and in New Mexico posted information about Tanya Beghe, the mother of who disappeared while she was driving to see family. And the information about her says that she was with her boyfriend at the time, Jason Thornburg. No one ever saw her again.
- [03:48]
Daphne
It has been four months since Jason Allen Thornburg, a self confessed serial killer with ties to Arizona was arrested. I miss her like every day. I just knew my friend was gone forever.
- [03:59]
News Reporter
Police say Thornburg dismembered and burned their bodies found inside a motel dumpster. Detectives saying Thornburg claimed God had called him to make human sacrifices through his understanding of scripture.
- [04:11]
Teeth
Tanya's sister and family members have always thought it was her boyfriend who was last seen with her.
- [04:17]
News Reporter
Families of the victims face the murderer in court today comparing him to Satan.
- [04:22]
Daphne
Calling him evil and a coward. I do believe, and it's my opinion that you are a danger to society and the only thing that you do deserve is death. Tanya Begay was born on December 20, 1980 in New Mexico to a large family on the Navajo reservation that's the Navajo Nation. She's remembered by her sisters as bubbly and full of life. And it's said that she graced the family with a silly light hearted presence. Her cousin Jackie Reynolds, who was like another sister to her, described her as quote, outgoing, funny, a strong Navajo woman, and she's remembered as a loving mother to her two children and eventually a proud grandmother. In her 30s and being someone who is very close to her extended family, Tanya was frequently the one to round up the family to get together. So even though she moved around New Mexico and Arizona multiple times, she never failed to keep in close contact with her family members. In 2017, 36 year old Tanya was dating a fellow Navajo man named Jason Thornburg. Now Tanya's best friend Melissa Bradford claims that she had a sneaking suspicion from basically the beginning that there was something sinister going on behind the facade of Tanya and Jason's relationship. But she didn't quite know what was wrong or what was going on. It's just that Jason was always off to her. Melissa met Tanya in Phoenix, Arizona when she hired Tanya to work at Restaurant Depot, which is a wholesale food service supplier. And Melissa remembered fondly, quote, we automatically clicked. She was an amazing woman and loved her kids. They last spoke a month before Tanya disappeared when Melissa actually had this eerie feeling that her friend was in danger. Melissa recalled their last conversation saying, quote, she was needing a place to get away. She wasn't herself prior to her disappearing. I knew something was going on in her relationship, but she wouldn't go into detail. She was not safe. I could hear it in her voice.
- [07:01]
Teeth
So Daphne just mentioned that Tanya had spent some time living in Arizona. But In March of 2017, 36 year old Tanya was living in Gallup, New Mexico, which is a small city on the historic Route 66 and on the edge of the Navajo reservation. And it's surrounded by red rocks and even has a cultural center there featuring many Native American cultural elements. So when this story takes place, it had a population of about 21,000 people. So a little bit on the smaller side. So that March, Tanya and her boyfriend Jason, who was also native and also 36 years old, had just gone to the tiny census designated place of Loop in the neighboring state of Arizona, which is about 50 minutes east of Flagstaff, located in the high desert amongst many buttes and canyons. And it's about a two and a half hour drive from where she lived in Gallup. So not a terribly long drive. But according to her friend Eliza, this trip was against Tanya's will. On their way back east into New Mexico, they stopped to visit Tanya's aunt in Tehachie, New Mexico for a short visit before heading back home to Gallup. So the last time she was publicly seen, she was leaving her aunt's house in Tehachie, New Mexico. And Tehachi is also a tiny census designated place and it's also on Navajo land. So picture Badlands, mesas and then some houses, a high school, some churches and a post office. That's about it. It's very, very small. And again, as part of the plan, Tanya and her boyfriend Jason were going to head back to her family's home in Gallop. So just a short half an hour south. Now, the couple said goodbye to Tanya's aunt and actually took off in her aunt's red Dodge Neon, which Tanya was borrowing at the time. She spoke to her mother on the phone that morning and let her know their travel plans. So when Tanya never made it home to Gallup, her mother started getting a Little worried.
- [08:59]
Daphne
And obviously, growing up in New Mexico, having lived in Arizona, Tanya knew both states very well, so she wouldn't have gotten lost on her way home. And like you said, her aunt only lived 30 minutes away. She knew that area. She knew gallop.
- [09:12]
Teeth
Yeah, it's just a quick little jaunt south, and then she's home. So obviously, Tanya had many friends and other family members in the area, so her family originally just wondered if maybe she had gotten caught up visiting other people on her drive home. So she didn't report her missing right away. Tanya's friend Eliza Totty remembered, at first, we were just like, okay, well, she probably just went to Phoenix or somewhere like that. She'll be back. So, originally, without knowing that she had stopped at her aunt's house yet, and just the fact that Tanya had not arrived home at her planned time, they thought that maybe she spent some extra time in Arizona, which was definitely not the case. So when she failed to return, Tanya's mother grew suspicious that she had been met with foul play. And she felt that she knew exactly who was to blame. Because just days before her disappearance, Tanya and Jason had gotten into a fight in which Jason had lobbed a coffee pot at her, which shattered, leaving her bloodied and with glass shards stuck in her face. I mean, this guy is very violent. Now, the incident was reported to the police, and she told officers that Jason had been the one to throw the coffee pot. So there was a report of this abuse.
- [10:28]
Daphne
And very important to note that there was a police report about this.
- [10:31]
Teeth
Yes, because we will circle back to it later. But Tanya had never gone off the grid for days at a time and wouldn't, according to her friends and family. Now, despite traveling with him in the days following their altercation, Tanya did press assault charges against him, but they were dropped when she failed to show up.
- [10:49]
Daphne
In court because she was missing.
- [10:52]
Teeth
Exactly. So Jason already possessed a criminal record by this point, as well as you guys can imagine, including an arrest on drug charges as well as a carjacking in Tucson, Arizona, back in 2014. But thus far, the assault would have been the most serious at this point.
- [11:09]
Daphne
Which doesn't that kind of shock you with what we're gonna bring up throughout this entire episode? I cannot believe there is not, like, animal cruelty charges from, like, age 19 or sexual assault charges on somebody. Like, this is wild to me.
- [11:24]
Teeth
Yeah. I mean, the cruelty that this guy shows throughout this entire episode, you. You would have thought that he was murdering people back in his teens.
- [11:34]
Daphne
Left and right. Criminal behavior.
- [11:37]
Teeth
Right.
- [11:37]
Daphne
Well, Tanya's mother reported her 36 year old daughter missing to three different police departments, including of course, Gallup, where her apartment was located, because she had no idea where Tanya may have actually disappeared from since she had been on this road trip. But sadly, there was no forward momentum in her case and her disappearance really wasn't taken seriously. The only development came when her aunt's car, you know, the 2004 Dodge Neon that Tanya had been driving was discovered abandoned with no sign of Tanya. I really want to know where it was abandoned, what the circumstances of that were. But that has not been publicly reported. So we don't have the information there, which feels very common in this case on Tanya's disappearance. Like so many things are either misreported or not reported at all by the media and the police, which is a huge part of the problem here. But Tanya's friend Melissa Bradford claimed that she knew as soon as she heard the news about Tanya being missing that her friend was gone. She said later, sadly, quote, I miss her like every day, you know, when you instantly feel and sense something like, I just knew my friend was gone forever. In the aftermath of Tanya's disappearance, an apathetic Jason settled in Fort Worth, Texas. So he left Arizona, he left New Mexico, just picked up and moved to a new state after Tanya went missing. And what do we always say about that, Heath?
- [13:11]
Teeth
Yeah, it's not a good look. I mean, it's crazy to me that after your girlfriend goes missing that you can just leave the state.
- [13:20]
Daphne
The girlfriend that you very.
- [13:22]
Teeth
That you threw a coffee pot at her fucking face.
- [13:24]
Daphne
Yeah. Right before she went missing. And that there was a police report made about that. And also, of course, he didn't give police any information on what he knew about her final location. You know, he didn't say, please help me find Tanya. You know, we got in a fight and she left the car like he didn't say anything.
- [13:43]
Teeth
I think that's one of the biggest red flags right there is when something like that happens, if you're not trying to invest yourself in the case of your missing girlfriend and you just decide to leave the state. Eh, they probably should look at you.
- [13:57]
Daphne
Like there's one sign and the arrow is right at ya. And by the way, no surprise either. In Texas, horrible things would continue to happen around Jason Thornburg. Now, Jason was trained as an electrician and began working as an electrician's apprentice right there in Fort Worth in August of 2020. So, you know, this is into the COVID 19 pandemic. This is three and a half years after Tanya went missing, he moved into a small house in southwest Fort Worth with an acquaintance of his named Mark Jewellery, who was about 60 years old to Jason's 40. So there was a 20 year age gap between them. Now we do have this additional perspective from one of Jason and Mark's neighbors, this woman named Kendra Morse. And she remembers that when she first met Jason, he explained to her that he was attempting to get his life back together, whatever the hell that means to him. But their relationship as neighbors, you know, between Jason and Kendra quickly turned quite contentious because during one of their first interactions, Kendra had just called the local energy company because she smelled natural gas and she was concerned about a leak in the neighborhood. Remember this? While the energy company was at Kendra's house investigating the potential leak, Jason just waltzed over there, invited himself over and offered his help around her house. He even asked her if she and her young child wanted to stay with him at his house if the issue wasn't able to be fixed properly. So this is really weird. He just comes over and essentially, I mean, let's be honest, this whole thing is a ploy to get her over to his home.
- [15:46]
Teeth
Oh, of course, absolutely. Yeah. There is no doubt about his intentions here.
- [15:51]
Daphne
Yeah. And so of course Kendra just had a weird vibe about him in general. And so this made her feel a little bit uncomfortable that he was coming on to her and saying, oh, why don't you come over to my house? This wasn't a friendly neighborhood offer. This was, there was something behind this. She could just tell. So after declining and claiming that she had a live in boyfriend, Kendra said, quote, he kind of chuckled and he goes, that's cute. I just like how you threw that in there that you had a boyfriend. So kind of put off by this, Kendra again assured him that she and her family would be just fine and recalled Jason getting irritated and snapping at her saying, no, it's fine, I get it.
- [16:34]
Teeth
Well, alternately, she remembered Jason's roommate, Mark Jewell as a thoughtful and very helpful neighbor. Despite working late night shifts, he would help her bring her trash bins out in the morning and he even mowed her grass for her.
- [16:48]
Daphne
And very nice six year old man.
- [16:50]
Teeth
Absolutely. Well, shockingly, nine months after Jason moved there on May 21, 2021, and shortly after Kendra smelled that gas, Jason and Mark's modest house located at 4505 Valentine street exploded into flames. Conveniently, this took place shortly after Jason left for work. But sadly, Mark had been home when this happened. The fire originated in one of the bedrooms. And it was there that authorities would find the remains of 61 year old Mark Jewell. Though the circumstances were suspicious, there was just not enough evidence to prove that the fire was either murder or arson. So at first this was just kind of looking like a tragic, natural event. At Mark's funeral a few days later, 40 year old Jason spoke to the crowd at Hopeworks Church in Fort Worth, Texas, telling them that Mark had become a very close friend and that the pair had frequently read their bibles together. Oh, how sweet. Well, another funeral attendee and friend of Mark's, Scott Black, attended the service as well, and he was touched by Jason's heartfelt eulogy. So he approached Jason at the memorial and offered his condolences. Saddened that Jason had lost both his house and his friend in the same awful freak accident, Scott offered his guidance as a life coach and inspirational speaker. He remembered, I told him there was a reason that he wasn't there that day. I prayed with him.
- [18:23]
Daphne
Oh, there was a reason alright.
- [18:25]
Teeth
Absolutely there was. So with that, the two men became fast friends and Jason started attending Scott's leadership training sessions. Scott and his wife even started bringing him home cooked meals just to show their support and kindness to Jason. And this guy definitely did not deserve it. So he's basically being looked at like a victim in this situation. Now, after the fire, suddenly houseless, Jason moved into a halfway house, which was the Fort Worth Transitional center, Just hoping to get back up on his feet. An employee of the transitional center claimed that Jason could be seen reading his bible every day and would lead a prayer circle for the other residents that lived there. So to those around him, he seemed like this kind, God fearing man who was a bit down on his luck, but trying to make the most of things. And no one who worked there claimed to have witnessed any violent behavior on his behalf. But obviously little did they know. However, a fellow resident of the center described Jason as, quote, a mess. Now, two months later, in July of 2021, Jason settled at the Mid City Inn in Euless, Texas, which is a northeast suburb of Fort Worth, nestled smack dab between Fort Worth and Dallas. And fellow residents remember him handing out church flyers and inviting people into his room to pray.
- [19:50]
Daphne
Important thing to remember as well. So he's just living at this motel now after the halfway and he is trying already right away to bring people back to his room. And in this situation, under the guise of come to my room to pray with me. Well, during the day, claiming he hoped to spread the word of God, Jason would Stand on street corners and pontificate to the public, preaching with a microphone, frequently asking Scott to join him. Initially, Scott was impressed by his devotion to spreading the gospel, but he now believes that this was just an act to ensnare his victims, saying he was just pure evil. I mean, Scott was so invested in helping Jason back when he thought he was a good guy that he even asked his wife if Jason could move in with them. But thankfully, she found that possibility uncomfortable and declined her husband's request. So Scott remembered, quote, my wife was the one who said that she would not feel comfortable with him living with us for some time. I wonder now if my family could have ended up being sacrificed by him. And that will make sense soon, because what's to come is terrifying. On the morning of September 22, 2021. So, four months after Mark Jewel's death and the house fire, around 6:15am West Fort Worth police were dispatched to a dumpster behind a business located in the 3100 block of Bonney Drive right there in Fort Worth, because a fire had broken out.
- [21:33]
Teeth
Yeah, I wonder if a fire had broken out somewhere.
- [21:37]
Daphne
Shut up.
- [21:38]
Teeth
That's what you sounded like.
- [21:39]
Daphne
I'm just, you know, I'm saying, hey, another fire. Isn't that suspicious? That's my isn't that suspicious Voice.
- [21:45]
Teeth
That is nice. I like the isn't that suspicious? I don't think you did isn't that suspicious.
- [21:50]
Daphne
But here's the thing. What initially looked like an accident, you know, this just looks like a dumpster is on fire. Turned way more sinister when, after the blaze was extinguished, human body parts were pulled from the ashes. Now, from security camera footage, because there was a security camera nearby, investigators were able to determine that the car that had started the fire, like the person. The person who started the fire, had a car, and that car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, 7,000 of which were registered in Tarrant county and adjacent Dallas County. So this is complicated because obviously, 7,000 is a massive number, but that is also if this person's car is registered locally, this person could have come from a different part of Texas. You know, so they're. They're really in for some work here.
- [22:42]
Teeth
Bing bong. License plate.
- [22:44]
Daphne
I mean, yeah, having that definitely would have helped, but they didn't have it. So. Wanting to know who this car belonged to, you know, obviously, to help get answers as to what had happened, detectives poured over every single Jeep Grand Cherokee that was manufactured between 2005 and 2010 whose owner lived in either one of the two surrounding counties. And after searching through thousands of records, police came across the Jeep registered to 41 year old Jason Thornburg of Euless, Texas. Jason's car matched the make, model and approximate year that detectives believe they saw on security camera footage early that morning right at the scene of the fire. So two detectives with the Fort Worth Police Department interviewed him and they quickly caught him in many, many lies and also discovered his connection to one suspicious death and one mysterious disappearance, that of the fire that took the life of Mark Jewell and the disappearance of Tanya Begay.
- [24:04]
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- [25:29]
Daphne
I got real relief with Cosentyx.
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- [26:06]
Daphne
Foreign.
- [26:17]
Teeth
On September 27th, 202141 year old Jason Thornberg was officially arrested for the murders of the three victims pulled from the dumpster. 42 year old David Lueris, 33 year old Mera Cruz Mathis, and 34 year old Lauren Phillips. Now initially the medical examiner was only able to identify the male victim due to the amount of damage done by the fire and the small weight and stature of the women. So initially police falsely announced that the other two victims were a child and a teenager. But thankfully none of them were John does or Jane does for very long. Shortly before his arrest, Jason's former neighbor, who we talked about earlier, Kendra Morse, actually called the police after her motion sensor lights continued to go off because she feared that Jason was back in her neighborhood and trying to break into her home. Even after a few months of him not even being in the neighborhood anymore, she was completely suspicious of him.
- [27:17]
Daphne
Well, yeah, I mean, going back to when she smelled the gas leak and knowing that he came right on over there uninvited and wanted to get her back to his house with her child.
- [27:27]
Teeth
And then the next door's house fucking blows up.
- [27:31]
Daphne
Yeah, his own house blows up and then now there's other murders that he's committed. It makes you wonder if he had a plan for her.
- [27:39]
Teeth
Well, after she started noticing that she felt like Jason might still be in the area, police investigated the area despite the fact that his burned out, dilapidated house had been boarded up. But they found no trace of Jason there. And soon after they were able to locate him, question him, and then subsequently arrest him. According to the arrest affidavit, Jason spoke openly of his heinous misdeeds almost as soon as he was apprehended. But the depths of his depravity went far beyond murder and arson. He explained that over the course of five days, he lured his three victims one by one into his room at the Mid City Inn. He recalled that he had allowed 42 year old David to stay with him and that he slit his throat with a straight blade before placing his body in the room's bathtub. He also slit 33 year old Mera Cruz's throat, but in a slight change to the M.O. he ended up strangling 34 year old Lauren Phillips to death. Shockingly, he admitted that he sexually assaulted Lauren's corpse after killing her and also that he cut out David's heart and consumed some of it and then severed David's penis.
- [28:54]
Daphne
So not only is he murdering multiple people, but he is dismembering them. He is mutilating their Bodies. And he's a cannibal.
- [29:05]
Teeth
And when we get into the reasons for why he's doing all these things, it's just so insane. I mean, he's totally psychotic.
- [29:13]
Daphne
Well, get this. In the same line of questioning as he's describing these horrific acts that Heath just relayed to us, he also openly admitted to killing 36 year old Tanya Begay in March of 2017 and Mark Jewell in May of 2021. In the case of Mark's murder, Jason slit Mark's throat and then uncapped a natural gas line and lit a candle, which sent their home up in flames. When it came to Tanya, after their trip to Loop and visit with her aunt, he burned her, quote, all the way down to the ashes, or so he said. Because tragically, unlike all the other victims, Jason has yet to reveal what he did exactly to Tanya and what he did with her remains. Jason's now ex friend, Scott Black, said later in disbelief. How can a man kill people and then chop them up? I noticed the darkness he had, but he was fighting it.
- [30:16]
Teeth
No, actually, Scott, he was not fighting it.
- [30:18]
Daphne
No.
- [30:19]
Teeth
And to be honest with you, if you and your wife had let him into your home, you could have potentially been victims of Jason Thornburg.
- [30:27]
Daphne
Fully. And that is why he said that quote that I read that he was like, would that have happened to me and my family? Would he have sacrificed us?
- [30:35]
Teeth
Probably, yes.
- [30:36]
Daphne
Yeah, unfortunately. So it's. It's very highly likely. Well, the motive behind each of these crimes was equally as shocking. I just used the word sacrifice. We used it earlier because Jason kind of fancied himself a missionary and claimed that he believed he was actually spreading the gospel by committing ritualistic sacrifices. He alleged that these actions brought him a, quote, sense of purpose, a sense of destiny that must be achieved, and he felt that he was called upon by God to commit them.
- [31:12]
Teeth
Oh, so God told you to cut out a man's heart and slit people's throats and cut off a man's penis? Like what in the.
- [31:19]
Daphne
Yeah, and murder your innocent girlfriend and your innocent roommate.
- [31:23]
Teeth
It's just, you know, it's really giving psychosis.
- [31:26]
Daphne
It's sick. So he told his interrogating officers that he had a wealth of knowledge concerning the Bible and believed that he had been chosen to commit the sacrifice of sinners.
- [31:38]
Teeth
So himself.
- [31:40]
Daphne
Well, of course he's not a sinner. He's doing the Lord's work.
- [31:43]
Teeth
Right.
- [31:44]
Daphne
He told officers that his final three victims, the ones who were all found in the Fort Worth dumpster blaze quote, Needed to be sacrificed. He initially wrapped David's remains in trash bags before eventually stashing them in plastic Rubbermaid tubs that he purchased. And then he began adding the remains of the two women once, you know, of course, they fell victim to him as well. He described that he knew the women casually, and it's inferred that they were also living at the motel at the time and that he maybe hired them for sex work and that this is how he was able to coax them inside his motel room. Surveillance footage in the vicinity of the dumpster showed his jeep pulling up late on the evening of September 21st and dropping the containers in the dumpster. Then early the next morning, he returned with more Rubbermaid containers, depositing the rest inside, and finally setting it ablaze, which, I mean, dude, you're caught on camera.
- [32:45]
Teeth
Also, you decided to dispose of your victims bodies in a dumpster in the middle of the city, you idiot.
- [32:52]
Daphne
Well, this also wasn't the only footage, because there was footage from the motel that also showed Jason in a full body suit, like, similar to coveralls, removing the large plastic containers from his room and loading them into his jeep. So we kind of have these two puzzle pieces put together of where he started and where he ended.
- [33:13]
Teeth
What I don't understand is why he didn't think that there was going to be security camera, like, you know, at these different locations.
- [33:21]
Daphne
Well, you know what, I wonder if he had just left the remains in the tubs and the garbage got picked up, Nobody found. Happened to find them before that happened, they would have just gone to the dump and nobody probably would have ever known that that happened at all. So I. It feels like him setting the fire is what actually got him caught.
- [33:42]
Teeth
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. He kind of like screwed himself because he started a fire that people are going to notice a dumpster is on fire.
- [33:49]
Daphne
That's like the thing you notice is.
- [33:51]
Teeth
I mean, total recklessness on his part. But thank God he did it. Now, all three of his victims from the motel room had a history of drug use. And it's pretty clear that Jason preyed upon their vulnerability to lure them into his room. Investigators believe that perhaps he offered them food, shelter, money, or maybe even drugs to get them to come inside. David Lueraz's sister, Lauren, described her brother as funny and an incredible artist. And in her victim impact statement, she said loving David also came with heartache. That's how it is when you love an addict. But shortly before his murder, he had been making an effort to reconnect with his Family that he had lost touch with. After years of drug abuse. Now preceding his murder, he moved back to North Texas, where he lived intermittently for 25 years before Jason was tied to the murders. David's cousin Aaron explained, I know that he was scared and I know that he knew somebody was after him to get him. He wouldn't tell us their names. Whoever did this definitely wanted to make an example out of him, but I know that he went over there to go hide. Now it's unclear if the person he believed was coming after him was somebody that he knew from maybe the drug trade, or if David's suspicion was unfounded paranoia fueled by his drug use. But somehow Jason managed to coax David inside his motel room as the first of his victims in this triple murder. His family wrote in his obituary, we will never forget your love, your affection, and your unique sense of humor.
- [35:30]
Daphne
Jason's next victim, Mary Cruz Mathis, was on a renewed path as of recently, actually having just separated from her husband. So she was looking forward to having a fresh start with her young son. Mera Cruz's parents, Mary and Cecil, had adopted her at nine years old. But as she got older, like Jason's other victims, she struggled with drug addiction and had even gone missing before, but always managed to resurface. Mary maintained that she would always hear from her daughter, despite the passage of time, saying, I had that little bit of a glimpse of hope. Lord, you let that phone ring and I could pick it up and hear her voice. Mary remembered also that in the past she'd call and say, yeah, I'm here, don't worry about it. I just couldn't imagine where she was. I worried every night and prayed about where she put her head. But despite her battling her addiction, her parents claimed that she always managed to help others around her and remained caring and upbeat throughout her life. For example, growing up, she volunteered with youth programs and helped out senior citizens at nursing homes. She was also described as a strong student during her youth, and her sister maintains that she was a loving and kind woman till the end of her life. Mary added sadly that her daughter, quote, just ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. Kathy Phillips says that her daughter, 34 year old Lauren Phillips, also got lost in the drug world and it consumed her. Lauren was born and raised in North Richland Hills, which is a suburb of Fort Worth, and enjoyed a very typical childhood where she danced, did gymnastics and had a plethora of friends. But Kathy remembers that Lauren's dad was very strict and that from a young Age. Lauren definitely rebelled against his controlling nature, eventually falling pregnant as a teenager and dropping out of school. At one point, Lauren's addiction reached such a low point that she exchanged her car for drugs. But once she reached her 20s, she really turned a corner. She got clean. She had a second son and devoted herself to being a present and loving parent to both of her children. She reconnected with her family as well and was able to be an active participant in her son's childhood. Then, about five years before her death, a chance reunion with a friend from her drug using days just caused her to spiral downward and her addiction flourished once again. And she also began to engage in sex work in exchange for drugs, which is something that Mera Cruz did as well. Kathy, her mother, remembered sadly, quote, she was so much out of our lives the last few years and involved in drugs that we kind of let her go a long time ago because it hurt. Hurt too much. I loved her so much. She was my whole world. At the time of her death, her two sons were in their teens. And before her murder, Lauren had been living in a Motel 6 with a friend and his girlfriend until an altercation forced her out and she relocated to the Mid City Inn, where, to her misfortune, she met the monster that was Jason Thornburg.
- [38:51]
Teeth
Well, a little bit more about Jason. Prior to his arrest for the murders, and in addition to his past drug charges, grand theft auto charge, and the assault against Tanya, Jason had racked up two more serious brushes with the law. In the years since Tanya disappeared following a charge for evading arrest with a vehicle on June 12, 2018, he was sentenced to two years in prison. In August of 2020, while sharing the house on Valentine street with another roommate whose name is Billy Hernandez, the two got into a major disagreement. Now, during this time, Jason allegedly pulled a knife on Billy and cut his throat and seriously injured him, although it didn't kill him. So despite their praise for the swift conclusion of the gruesome discovery of the bodies in the dumpster, the Fort Worth Police Department quickly fell under fire for letting the incident with Billy Hernandez slide when that may have led to Jason's arrest before. Before he had the opportunity to kill four of his five victims. And actually at Jason's subsequent trial, an officer was called to the stand and admitted that officers had failed to investigate this report and only put in two phone calls to follow up with the victim. Prosecutor Amy Allen even apologized to Billy for his treatment by law enforcement and regretted that his complaint was not taken as seriously as it should have been. Police were also criticized for not taking Tanya's disappearance seriously enough. So much so that she remained missing until he committed four more murders.
- [40:26]
Daphne
And it feels like they dropped the ball so hard on both of these. But on Tanya's case, too, like, her car had been found abandoned, or her aunt's car, but obviously the last vehicle that she was known to be driving, she had been on a road trip with her boyfriend, who was known to be abusive. And there had even been a very recent report of that incident where he hit her with the coffee pot. Like, it was such an obvious angle that Jason did something to her, and yet they didn't get him back then. And then more people died.
- [40:55]
Teeth
Oh, yeah. And assistant district attorney Kim Divinion agrees with us here, maintaining the FBI failed. Tanya Beghe, if the FBI would have arrested him back in 2017, nothing in Fort Worth would have happened, would it?
- [41:09]
Daphne
It absolutely would not have. Well, after his arrest, a Tarrant county judge ruled that there was reasonable cause to believe that Jason suffered from severe intellectual disability and or mental illness. So this would become a massive point of debate over the course of his trial and sentencing. Jason's trial began on Thursday, November 7, 2024, so only a few months before we're recording this episode. And the trial progressed quickly. The defense called Jason's uncle to the stand to describe the challenging environment Jason was born into and the adversity that he faced even before he was born. According to Jason's uncle, his mother struggled with addiction to both drugs and alcohol and was known to use and drink while pregnant with Jason, which led to partial fetal alcohol syndrome. As a child, his uncle claimed that he suffered from a great deal of abuse and childhood trauma and that he grew up in poverty on the Navajo reservation in a home without heat or running water. His defense attorney, J. Warren St. John, agreed, saying, from the get go, he was doomed in the womb. He had no chance to be the correct person. He should be, which is obviously horrible. And we see this type of situation for so many serial killers, but it's certainly no excuse.
- [42:35]
Teeth
Yeah. I mean, there are tons of people who grow up in poverty that suffered through abuse, whether physical, emotional, sexual, whatever, that don't grow up and go kill people.
- [42:46]
Daphne
Yeah. And it just. It sucks when they use that to say, oh, but it's not his fault he's like this. Okay. Well, he still is, you know, he still took the lives of five people.
- [42:55]
Teeth
Well, as we're gonna get into here in just a second, he also claims that he was trying to cover his tracks during These crimes that he was committing. So it's like, okay, he does know right from wrong because clearly he doesn't want to get caught.
- [43:09]
Daphne
Yeah. I mean, this is all just an angle on the defense. And his attorney also alleged that Jason suffered mental illness, which was now being treated with medication, and that he should be allowed a second chance, even though he killed five people. Again, five separate murders. Even if that had to be achieved from prison, because his defense team did at least acknowledge that his actions were misguided. J. Warren told the court he thought he did the right thing by committing a horrible, sinful sacrifice. It's the voices he heard which are not justified. They are evil. But he believed it was correct. I mean, that feels a little far fetched, buddy. He thought he did the right thing by committing horrible, sinful sacrifice. Come on.
- [43:56]
Teeth
Again, if he thought he was doing the right thing, he wouldn't be trying to cover his tracks.
- [44:00]
Daphne
But this is such an insensitive way to word this. Like, I don't know. I feel like he could have said something different to not say, oh, well, he thought he was doing the right thing. He was just listening to the voices.
- [44:11]
Teeth
The fuck?
- [44:12]
Daphne
But the prosecution, in turn, did not mince words when it came to Jason's heinous, heinous acts, with assistant District Attorney Kim Davignon saying the most true thing. We don't use words like cannibal because it's fun. We use words like cannibal because he ate David's heart. We don't use the word sadist because we think it's a buzzword. We use the word sadist because he had sex with Lauren's torso.
- [44:44]
Teeth
And I absolutely love that she laid it out like that.
- [44:47]
Daphne
Oh, me too.
- [44:48]
Teeth
Well, both she and prosecutor Amy Allen accused Jason and his legal team of using his childhood and mental illness as a crutch to avoid liability in the courtroom. And chillingly, Amy echoed a statement from Jason's confession saying, this is what I was talking about earlier. I couldn't use my chainsaw because that would be too loud and I would get caught. I have to use my knife. I can't carry out the bodies like that. That would be too obvious. I need to get my car back. I need to go buy some bins and load them up into my car. As far as his defense's flimsy story that he needed to sacrifice his victims for some sort of religious endeavor, Amy said, y'all, I have seen better scientific methods. In a TikTok personality quiz, the words I'm seeing something are Just things that he says when he's about to get in trouble or when there's about to be a trial or when there's about to be a jury of people that he needs to convince that there's something wrong with him and to spare his life. And you know what's also really stupid here is that the defense basically said, oh, well, you know, he has a mental illness. He's taking medication for this. But the prosecution also cited the fact that David was making weapons in his prison cell even after his confession and arrest. So he was definitely not being a well behaved inmate, that's for damn sure. Amy added, quote, imagine what he's capable of with a lifetime of nothing to do but plan.
- [46:20]
Daphne
While his defense team did have him evaluated by a psychiatrist who diagnosed him as clinically psychotic, which is what you called him earlier, Keith. You called him psychotic, right?
- [46:30]
Teeth
I did.
- [46:31]
Daphne
Well, you're right, he is. And the defense even presented images of his brain that supposedly depicted the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome as a result of his mother's drinking while Jason was in utero. Also, after an assault in 2002, he was apparently left with a traumatic brain injury in addition to the damage from drugs and alcohol. So there's just layer upon layer upon layer of shit not being right upstairs. His defense team also confirmed that he had an IQ of 89, which is on the lower side of average. But ultimately, the defense failed to make a strong enough case that he should not at least be held accountable for his horrific actions. Thus, on November 20, 2024, 44 year old Jason Thornburg was found guilty. Guilty of capital murder. And on December 4, he was sentenced to death for the murders. In tearful victim impact statements, family members of Tanya, David, Lauren and Mera Cruz spoke to the court and to Jason. Multiple family members of the three victims, you know, the. The final three took this stand to deliver seething words for Jason and the repercussions of his horrific crimes. Maricruz's sister said to the court, maricruz has a family that loved her and will forever remember her for the loving, kind person that she was. The pain that you've caused by killing my sister doesn't just go away. The pain stays in our hearts. I hope that you receive forgiveness in heaven, because I, personally, I don't think I can do it. The only thing that you do deserve is death. Tanya's cousin, Jackie Reynolds, spoke on behalf of Tanya's family, telling Jason how cruel it was to withhold the location of her remains.
- [48:25]
Teeth
I mean, obviously this just shows how evil he continues to be. The fact that he's killed all these people, he's got all these victims, and he can't even tell Tanya's family where her remains are.
- [48:37]
Daphne
Yeah. And the fact that she's the only one. We know everything else you're saying you killed her. We know you killed everybody else because you said you did that, too. There's also evidence and all you have to do. Like, it'd be one thing if he said, I didn't do that. And we know that he did, and he just wasn't admitting it. But you're admitting it, but not really. You're not going into it. Why? Like, what's the point of that?
- [48:57]
Teeth
Yeah, why admit it if you're not going to tell the full truth?
- [49:00]
Daphne
It's almost like that's part of his evil self. He. He's almost maybe enjoying the fact that he has something else over them, that he has this secret of where Tanya is. Yeah, it's, you know, really proves how evil he continues to be, like you said. Well, reading from a note penned by Tanya's sisters, Jackie said, quote, whatever you tried to accomplish with sacrifice didn't work. In the end, you are just a man. Nothing powerful, nothing but a murderer.
- [49:31]
Teeth
Boom. I love that. I love that quote. Because she's basically just saying, you thought you were doing God's work, but at the end of the day, you're just a man and a shitty ass killer.
- [49:41]
Daphne
Yeah, you're a man. And a shitty man at that. And she also added, quote, you gave our Navajo nation a bad name. You may have had a bad upbringing, but other people have, too. And you don't see them killing people.
- [49:53]
Teeth
Double boom.
- [49:54]
Daphne
Despite awaiting death, Jason continues to refuse to reveal the whereabouts of Tanya's allegedly burned remains. But her family still holds out hope of finding her and being able to lay her to rest properly. Her aunt Edith said, we still need to bring her home. We never had a funeral. We don't know where she's at. Until then, there won't be justice or closure. If you have any information about Tanya Begay's murder, please call the Gallup Police Department at 505-722-22-2. Foreign thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West.
- [50:46]
Teeth
Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. And if you want to see photos from this case and all the other cases that we've covered on this show, head on over to our socials. We're on Instagram @goingwestpodcast. And we're also also on Facebook.
- [51:00]
Daphne
Yeah. Sadly there's not a ton of photos associated with this case because many of the victims don't have photos available on the Internet. I don't know what that's about, but we will post the ones that we can find all across our socials. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. God, what a horrific, horrific person Jason Thornberg is.
- [51:18]
Teeth
Yeah, he is such an evil, evil person and he's right where he belongs.
- [51:22]
Daphne
And what is he?
- [51:24]
Teeth
A piece of shade?
- [51:25]
Daphne
Thank you guys. We will see you on Tuesday. We love you. What day is it? Oh yeah, Tuesday. Happy Valentine's Day.
- [51:33]
Teeth
Happy Valentine's Day to everybody. Daphne and I are going to go see Hard Eyes.
- [51:37]
Daphne
Woo.
- [51:38]
Teeth
Like a scary horror movie.
- [51:40]
Daphne
It's a slasher. We're so excited. I think it looks really fun.
- [51:43]
Teeth
I think it looks good too.
- [51:44]
Daphne
So we'll let you know how it goes.
- [51:46]
Teeth
Hopefully you guys have a very safe and lovely Valentine's Day and we will see you guys on Tuesday day.
- [51:51]
Daphne
Big smooches from us.
- [51:53]
Teeth
All right guys. So for everybody out there in the.
- [51:56]
Daphne
World, don't be a stranger.
- [52:42]
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Daphne
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