MD MD - Jonathan Luna, 38, Baltimore, 4 December 2003

[ilovewings]

When it is all said and done, it looks like we will never know what really happened to Luna unless somebody spills the beans,. I do not believe he committed suicide --

 

[chinacat67]

I listened to the very informative Podcast and feel very strongly that the FBI and others know a lot more about this murder than they are willing to admit to ----( and to me there is no question this is a murder- he had defensive wounds for goodness sakes). Sounds like Luna got himself into quite a pickle with that case he was handling, but I do not believe for one second he committed suicide. Oh the intrigue!

That's the connection I was mulling, not any similarity in crime mo. Old cases involving drug crimes, FBI and BPD are being re-opened. The type of cases, Luna worked on...

MOO

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[cnmccarthy]

Just read the whole thread and wow this case screams cover up to me IMO. The one possibility I thought of for him to up and leave, pull cash out, and drive to a random far away location was if someone called him with pertinent information about the case (or blackmail saying they knew he took the money) but told him to tell no one who he was meeting, to come alone and leave anything that could be tracked behind (his cell), and that he/she wanted to be paid for the info. Somewhere in the meeting something went wrong and he ended up dead. I still don’t understand why the fbi could still continue forward not investigating his murder (which according to the above paragraphs was confirmed by a real pathologist IIRC?) IMO. Bizarre case!

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Just read the whole thread and wow this case screams cover up to me IMO. The one possibility I thought of for him to up and leave, pull cash out, and drive to a random far away location was if someone called him with pertinent information about the case (or blackmail saying they knew he took the money) but told him to tell no one who he was meeting, to come alone and leave anything that could be tracked behind (his cell), and that he/she wanted to be paid for the info. Somewhere in the meeting something went wrong and he ended up dead. I still don’t understand why the fbi could still continue forward not investigating his murder (which according to the above paragraphs was confirmed by a real pathologist IIRC?) IMO. Bizarre case!

DiBiagio was covering something up. He was covering up that he was trying to get rid of Luna. It is in the second article linked in my previous post.

As for the tracing, he had EZ Pass on his car and his route was traced, because he took toll roads. Luna took a round about and traceable route to where he ended up.

Luna went from Baltimore, north on I-95, drove through Delaware, crossed the Delaware River at some point and went into New Jersey. He then crossed the Delaware again near Florence and hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike north of Philadelphia.

Doing that would take about 2 hours (+/- 15 minutes), and 130 miles. He was found some distance from there, outside of Denver, PA, about another 45 miles, and 50 minutes. Had he gone north on I-83 and turned east of US Route 30 at York, then taken US Route 222 east, it would have taken him about 1 hour 40 minutes, the distance is 95 miles. I think the only place where he could have been traced by using EZ Pass was while he was still in Baltimore.

If he was meeting someone at the site where he was found, he took a roundabout way that was more traceable. If he wanted to be traced, he could have taken his cellphone and used it.

He stopped for gas in King of Prussia (along the Turnpike) and at least one person saw him alive, IIRC.

 

[cnmccarthy]

DiBiagio was covering something up. He was covering up that he was trying to get rid of Luna. It is in the second article linked in my previous post.

As for the tracing, he had EZ Pass on his car and his route was traced, because he took toll roads. Luna took a round about and traceable route to where he ended up.

Luna went from Baltimore, north on I-95, drove through Delaware, crossed the Delaware River at some point and went into New Jersey. He then crossed the Delaware again near Florence and hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike north of Philadelphia.

Doing that would take about 2 hours (+/- 15 minutes), and 130 miles. He was found some distance from there, outside of Denver, PA, about another 45 miles, and 50 minutes. Had he gone north on I-83 and turned east of US Route 30 at York, then taken US Route 222 east, it would have taken him about 1 hour 40 minutes, the distance is 95 miles. I think the only place where he could have been traced by using EZ Pass was while he was still in Baltimore.

If he was meeting someone at the site where he was found, he took a roundabout way that was more traceable. If he wanted to be traced, he could have taken his cellphone and used it.

He stopped for gas in King of Prussia (along the Turnpike) and at least one person saw him alive, IIRC.

It definitely is strange (the route). It leads me to believe what I believed before that the person he was meeting said no cell and he sneakily found a way for himself to later be traced so his loved ones could find him sooner if things turned south...or it wasn’t him driving.

Does any other article point to why his boss hated him so much?

I still don’t get why everyone but the fbi says homicide (iirc they agreed it was and then later on retracted their statements?).

This case bugs me and I wish we had more to go on. How can a federal agency give a reason as weak as “ he wanted his coworkers to feel sorry for him so he stabbed himself over 30 times”. IF that were the case I feel he’d do this much closer to home and in a different way. But we’ll probably never know.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

It definitely is strange (the route). It leads me to believe what I believed before that the person he was meeting said no cell and he sneakily found a way for himself to later be traced so his loved ones could find him sooner if things turned south...or it wasn’t him driving.

Does any other article point to why his boss hated him so much?

I still don’t get why everyone but the fbi says homicide (iirc they agreed it was and then later on retracted their statements?).

The only group that says homicide is the Lancaster County Coroner's Office. So it is basically them vs. the FBI.

Some of it was political. Luna was a fairly liberal Democrat. DiBiagio was a Republican and was appointed by a Republican President. I think he was close to the Republican governor of MD, at one point.

Some of it may have been job performance. Luna made some mistakes in that case, that, while not criminal (as the podcast suggested), would be sufficient fire him, and could lead to disbarment or suspension of his license.

This case bugs me and I wish we had more to go on. How can a federal agency give a reason as weak as “ he wanted his coworkers to feel sorry for him so he stabbed himself over 30 times”. IF that were the case I feel he’d do this much closer to home and in a different way. But we’ll probably never know.

I think you can ask this question: "How can someone be stabbed more than 30 time, and not be restrained." There would be evidence of the restrains; if Luna were left for dead, why bother to remove them? It is the flip side of the same coin.

If Luna did inflict those wounds, it might not have been a suicide attempt, or an attempt at sympathy. I could see him staging an attack on himself in order to say, **My job has become too dangerous. I'm resigning and going into private practice.**

It is clear that his job was in jeopardy, rightly or wrongly.

 

[cnmccarthy]

The only group that says homicide is the Lancaster County Coroner's Office. So it is basically them vs. the FBI.

Some of it was political. Luna was a fairly liberal Democrat. DiBiagio was a Republican and was appointed by a Republican President. I think he was close to the Republican governor of MD, at one point.

Some of it may have been job performance. Luna made some mistakes in that case, that, while not criminal (as the podcast suggested), would be sufficient fire him, and could lead to disbarment or suspension of his license.



I think you can ask this question: "How can someone be stabbed more than 30 time, and not be restrained." There would be evidence of the restrains; if Luna were left for dead, why bother to remove them? It is the flip side of the same coin.

If Luna did inflict those wounds, it might not have been a suicide attempt, or an attempt at sympathy. I could see him staging an attack on himself in order to say, **My job has become too dangerous. I'm resigning and going into private practice.**

It is clear that his job was in jeopardy, rightly or wrongly.

100% agree!

 

[chinacat67]

Hmmmm... again.... anyone sense a pattern?

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...ean-suiter-death-benefits-20171205-story.html

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[gsue415]

Thanks for the clarification on the time.

It is interesting to learn that he was acting normally-
"not under duress" as he withdrew cash
and got gas on his way to Lancaster.

It sounds like he was heading there to meet
someone not knowing what terrible fate was
to befall him when he arrived.

I keep coming back to prostitution off turnpike.. maybe a male? Would account for physical aspects of crime,the lies he told and being able to carry him to water

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I keep coming back to prostitution off turnpike.. maybe a male? Would account for physical aspects of crime,the lies he told and being able to carry him to water

The area was rural and still is; it is Amish country. The car was found behind a well digging company; the area around it is farmland.

A prostitute would have had walked out of the area. I really cannot picture a prostitute cutting across cornfields.

 

[cutter99]

It is not that rural. There is plenty of traffic on that road. Having lived and worked in that area at that time, I am speaking first hand.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

It is not that rural. There is plenty of traffic on that road. Having lived and worked in that area at that time, I am speaking first hand.

It is rural. In 2003 it was almost totally farmland or woodlots. You go through there at night and really can't see anything because there are no light.

Attached is a current view.

The car was behind the drilling company. The Baptist church and houses along Lauschtown road were not there in 2003. I think there was a farmhouse along there, but that was it. I think both businesses on either side were there, but they were all closed.

None of the houses in the area of "Keep'em in Stitches" were there; even the road wasn't there. The wooded area was just a wood lot.

The site is in Brecknock Township, which had about 6,700 residents in 2003. The township has grown about 9-10% since then.

 

[cutter99]

As someone who has lived there and driven the road extensively, it was not and is still not that rural. You might be surprised.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

As someone who has lived there and driven the road extensively, it was not and is still not that rural. You might be surprised.

Even today, there is a cow pasture across the road from where the car was found. At the time, there were about four residences within 1000 feet. Two were farmhouses. The road was not major, and it is not a feeder road; there are no streetlights along the road. That meets my definition of rural.

The only thing that surprises me, a bit, is how much the area has grown in the last 15 years.

 

[cutter99]

If you live in a very suburban area, you might think it is rural. It is not. I have been at the well drilling office and the area around it as i lived there for over 10 years. There is plenty of traffic in the area. Most of PA does not have street lights. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

If you live in a very suburban area, you might think it is rural. It is not. I have been at the well drilling office and the area around it as i lived there for over 10 years. There is plenty of traffic in the area. Most of PA does not have street lights. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

I grew up in a town with a population of 650. Some of the people I went to high school with are farmers. This is rural; there are working dairy farms there. It is close to several towns, but the area around the site is rural.

It has been almost 15 years, and the area has grow up a bit. In 2003, even looking 1,500 feet from where the car was found, there were fewer than 10 residences. Several of those were on the opposite side of the Turnpike.

Of the residences that were there, only one might have had a line of sight view of where the car was found. It would still be almost 700 feet away.

 

[cutter99]

Here are today’s Google Earth views of the area where Jonathan Luna was found. I guarantee you that the majority of the buildings in these screenshots where there at the time of his murder. Lived there, know the area well, and yes, I am a hog and cattle farmer. Lancaster County has not been a remotely rural wild area for many, many years.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

First, I did not say "rule wild." I said "rural." Yes, there are farms, where people live. There were a few homes, including farm houses.

There were buildings, but not residences. The drilling company, the construction company to the north of it, and sawmill to the south were there, but not residences. Between 3 and 6 AM, they were empty. (The builders may have expanded since 2003.)

In the southeast corner of your first photo, there are about half a dozen buildings, a farm house, a barn, and outbuildings. There is one residence. Across the road, another farm house, singular.

The road to the north, which interests Dry Tavern Road, is Lauschtown Road. One the north side, to the west of the intersection, there are 4 houses and a Baptist church. None of those were there.

One the south side, only the first house, after passing the the builders, was there. The house in the woods wasn't there and I don't recall the other house there.

Finally, in the second photo, there is a trailer court. It was not there 15 years ago.

"Rural" does not mean "wilderness," but it certainly wasn't, and isn't, suburban or urban.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

I read on CN2000 that the investigators have found the pen knife that made the injuries on Luna's body. They are now investigating the possibility of suicide. I don't buy suicide.

He got Vince Fostered.
MOO

 

[ilovewings]

actually it is more like Rebecca Zahau--- rush to judgement- suicide, when there seems to be evidence that he was murdered. It bothers me to this day that we will never know the truth about Jonathan Luna. It seems there are some cases that those with power don't want the truth to come out for whatever reason.