The chief investigator for the Dallas County Public Defender's Office has been charged with murder in the stabbing death of his wife, after firefighters forcing their way into the couple's Uptown Dallas apartment for a welfare check found her dead on a couch and found him sitting on a bed in another room, covered in blood, Dallas police said.

Source: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Jimmy Spurger Jr., 54, was arrested following the death of his wife, Maria Spurger, who was found with stab wounds inside a residence in the 2300 block of North Akard Street, according to Dallas police. Officers responded to the residence shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday, November 6, for a health and welfare check, police said. The motive and the circumstances surrounding the stabbing remain under investigation.

Source: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

The fullest account of what responders found comes from the arrest affidavit, obtained by FOX 4 Dallas and reported by the San Angelo Standard-Times. Dallas Fire-Rescue was called to the apartment at about 10:40 p.m. for a welfare check. Crews got no response to repeated knocks, and when they got the door open they found furniture placed in the way in a manner the affidavit describes as intentionally blocking the door from being opened.

After clearing the way, first responders swept the apartment and found Maria Spurger lying on a couch with a knife lodged in her neck, according to the affidavit. She was declared deceased at the scene. Continuing the search, crews found Jimmy Spurger sitting in the bedroom, covered in blood, and he did not respond to crews who tried to talk to him. Fire-Rescue then left the apartment and called in the Dallas Police Department.

Officers arrived at about 11:13 p.m. and confirmed the locations and conditions of both people, the affidavit says. Officers noticed a small knife next to the suspect, and several empty pill bottles covered in blood in the kitchen. No one else was found inside the apartment. Rescuers removed Spurger and took him to Methodist Central Hospital, and investigators said they were unable to question him because he may have ingested multiple pills, according to the affidavit.

Booked Saturday and held without bond

Jail records show Spurger was booked into the Dallas County Jail on Saturday, November 7, on a murder charge and is being held without bond. Murder is a first-degree felony in Texas. On Sunday, Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said he had ordered the county employee suspended and his access revoked, in a statement posted on X. 'I instructed Administration to place the employee on suspension and remove his access,' Jenkins said, as reported by NBC 5.

Spurger's job makes the case extraordinary inside Dallas County's justice system. According to the Dallas County Public Defender's Office website, he had served as chief investigator for the past 11 months, responsible for supervising, training and overseeing the professional development of the office's investigative staff — the people who gather evidence for the defence in criminal cases, including capital murder cases. His professional biography said he had more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, specialising in homicide investigations, and had also served with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. As of Sunday morning, his profile still remained on the county website, NBC 5 reported.

Divorce filed eleven days before the killing

Documents obtained by NBC 5 from Dallas County court records show Spurger was listed as the petitioner in a divorce filing dated October 26, with Maria Spurger named as the respondent — less than two weeks before the killing. Court documents obtained by WFAA likewise showed the couple had filed for divorce last month, and one published account of the court records said a November 3 entry indicated Maria Spurger had not yet been served with the papers. Published accounts describe the couple as married for roughly 35 years. Reports differ slightly on Maria Spurger's age: the affidavit-based reporting gives 52, while NBC 5, citing police, gave 53.

What happens next

Dallas police say the investigation is still active and they have not publicly released a motive. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective C. Johnson of the Dallas Police Department at 214-671-3584. In Texas, a first-degree felony murder charge carries the possibility of a life sentence if a defendant is convicted, and felony cases in Dallas County proceed through a grand jury and the criminal district courts — a process that will now run with the unusual complication that the accused spent his career inside the county's own defence and prosecution offices. His suspension means the Public Defender's Office must also account for the cases its investigative unit handled under his supervision, though the county has not announced any review of past cases.