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Dallas County Public Defender's Chief Investigator Charged with Murder in Wife's Stabbing Death
Jimmy Harold Spurger Jr., 54, who leads the investigative division for the Dallas County Public Defender's Office, was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder after his wife, Maria Teresa Spurger, 52, was found stabbed to death in their downtown Dallas apartment. He is being held without bond.
DALLAS â The chief investigator for the Dallas County Public Defender's Office was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of his wife inside their downtown apartment, according to court records.
Jimmy Harold Spurger Jr., 54, was booked into the Lew Sterrett Jail on a first-degree murder warrant signed by Magistrate Jessica Warren. He is being held without bond.
The arrest followed a welfare check Friday night at an apartment in the 2323 block of North Akard Street. Dallas Fire-Rescue responders arrived around 10:40 p.m., knocked, and received no answer. They forced entry after finding furniture pushed against the door to block access.
Inside, first responders found 52-year-old Maria Teresa Spurger unresponsive on a couch with a knife lodged in her neck. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers found Spurger sitting on a bed in the bedroom, covered in blood, with a small knife beside him, according to an arrest affidavit. Multiple empty pill bottles, also covered in blood, were found in the kitchen.
Spurger did not respond to initial questions from first responders. Police, suspecting he had ingested multiple pills, took him to Methodist Central Hospital.
Court documents show Spurger filed for divorce from his wife on Oct. 26, 2026. The couple had been married for approximately 35 years. Investigators have not publicly released a motive.
Spurger had led the public defender's Investigative Division for the past 11 months. Before that, he spent more than 13 years with the office, primarily in its Capital Murder Division. His career in law enforcement spans more than two decades, including a decade supervising investigations in the Child Abuse and Family Violence Division for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.
The case has shaken the local legal community, where Spurger was a familiar figure in the public defender's office, an agency that represents indigent defendants in Dallas County. His arrest raises immediate questions about the leadership of the office's investigative operations, though county officials have not commented publicly on his employment status.
Dallas police are asking anyone with information to contact Detective C. Johnson at 214-671-3584 or chanesia.johnson@dallaspolice.gov.