Man who was often seen reading the Bible in a Texas town lured 3 people to his motel room and 'sacrificed' them, say police

• Jason Alan Thornburg has been charged with the killings of three people.
• He allegedly invited them into his Texas motel room and then dismembered their bodies.
• Thornburg told police that the killings were "sacrifices" and confessed to two other murders.

A religious man from Euless, Texas, who was often seen reading the Bible, was arrested on Monday night in connection with the deaths of three people whose dismembered bodies were found in a burning dumpster, The Washington Post reported.

Jason Alan Thornburg, 41, who was also known to talk about God and expressed a desire to help people, has been charged in the killings of three people - a 42-year-old man and two unnamed women - and allegedly admitted to past murders of two others, NBC DFW reported.

According to an affidavit seen by The Washington Post, Thornburg invited David Lueras into his motel room at the Mid City Inn on September 17. Thornburg told investigators that he believed that Leuras should be "sacrificed" and proceeded to cut his throat, dismember his body, and place his remains in plastic storage bins.

About two days later, court documents say, Thornburg decided that a female acquaintance visiting his motel room also needed to be sacrificed. The affidavit says that, once again, Thornburg cut his victim's throat and dismembered her body.

Another two days passed before Thornburg set out to kill a new victim, the affidavit says. He strangled a female visitor after trying to stab her initially and also dismembered her body, The Washington Post reported.

Thornburg then transported the remains to a dumpster on the outskirts of Fort Worth and set them on fire, according to police.

Lueras was identified by his tattoos, and the two other victims have been identified but not publicly named.

During a police interview, according to the affidavit, Thornburg allegedly confessed to the killings and referred to them as "sacrifices."

He also confessed to killing an ex-girlfriend in Arizona and sacrificing his roommate in May, the affidavit says.

NBC DFW reported that detectives said that Thornburg had been a person of interest in the death of his 61-year-old roommate, but that officials didn't have probable cause to arrest him. Charges will be filed for this murder imminently, Fort Worth police told The Washington Post.