Inset: Jimmy Spurger Jr. (Dallas Police Department). Background: Apartment building on the 2300 block of North Akard Street in Dallas, Texas, where Spurger allegedly killed his wife (KDFW).
The chief investigator at a Texas public defender's office fatally stabbed his wife in the neck in their downtown Dallas high-rise apartment after he filed for divorce to end their marriage of 35 years, cops say.
Jimmy Spurger Jr., 54, is charged with murder in the death of 53-year-old Maria Spurger, according to the Dallas Police Department.
Officers responded shortly after 11 p.m. Friday to a welfare check at an apartment building on the 2300 block of North Akard Street.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by local Fox affiliate KDFW and ABC affiliate WFAA, first responders knocked on the door but no one answered. They then forced their way inside, pushing away furniture that was placed behind the door.
Inside the apartment, they discovered the victim, according to the affidavit, "lying on the couch with what appeared to be a knife lodged in her neck." Paramedics pronounced her dead.
Cops found Jimmy Spurger sitting on a bed, covered in blood, with a knife next to him. It appeared he had ingested several pills, as there were empty bottles in the kitchen, the affidavit reportedly said.
Jimmy Spurger did not respond to questions from paramedics, who transported him to the hospital for treatment.
According to KDFW, Spurger has worked for the Dallas County Public Defender's Office for more than a decade and has spent the last 11 months as its chief investigator. Most of his time at the public defender's office was in the capital murder division. Before that, he spent 20 years in law enforcement.
Judge Clay Jenkins, who oversees the office, said in a statement to WFAA that he suspended Spurger.
"Our prayers are with the family and all those impacted including our employees," Jenkins said.
Court records show that Jimmy Spurger filed for divorce in October.
He remains in the Dallas County Jail without bond.
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