Dallas Investigator Charged With Wife’s Murder

Jimmy Spurger Jr., 54, chief investigator for the Dallas County Public Defender’s Office, was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Maria Teresa Spurger, 53, at their downtown Dallas apartment. Fire-rescue crews responding to a welfare check found her dead on a couch with a knife in her neck; furniture was reportedly stacked behind the apartment door. Spurger was found nearby covered in blood with a knife and empty pill bottles, taken to a hospital after authorities suspected he had ingested pills, and later arrested and booked into jail. The couple had been married for about 35 years, and court records show Spurger filed for divorce on Oct. 26, but the paperwork had not been served. Dallas County suspended him and revoked his workplace access, while police continue investigating the circumstances and motive.