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

[Pepper]

It's been nearly a year since Jonathan Luna was found dead under suspicious circumstances. Are there any new developments, or is his death still a mystery?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/04/missing.prosecutor.ap/

 

[deputylinda]

Pepper, i was just wondering about this case last week....there are very strange circumstances involved and i think there is a cover-up going on. glad you brought it up because someone wants it to go away.

 

[SoccerMom]

Pepper, i was just wondering about this case last week....there are very strange circumstances involved and i think there is a cover-up going on. glad you brought it up because someone wants it to go away.

Luna was found in the area where I live, and it's very bizarre. I've followed it because it was so strange and stuck out. Why did he got to the Philadelphia area that night? Who was the second person seen in the car with him? Could he have stabbed himself that many times? It doesn't seem possible, but that is the latest thing I read in our newspaper not too long ago. THe whole thing is just weird.

 

[Patticake]

I've been following it too and hadn't heard much so I googled his name. At least one article states that they think he committed suicide. Very strange.

I also wonder why the family has not made a bigger issue out of his death.

 

[ShowerSinger]

www.thewbalchannel.com/news/396916/detail.htmlSorry, but this link just disappeared. Nothing really new, except it did say there were no holes found in his clothing, despite the numerous stab wounds to the body. Oh, and also, that Luna had hired an attorney of his own before his demise. Maybe someone else can link this. Very, very strange.

 

[poco]

Luna was found in the area where I live, and it's very bizarre. I've followed it because it was so strange and stuck out. Why did he got to the Philadelphia area that night? Who was the second person seen in the car with him? Could he have stabbed himself that many times? It doesn't seem possible, but that is the latest thing I read in our newspaper not too long ago. THe whole thing is just weird.

I was very interested in this case, too, at the very beginning. Can't believe it has been a whole year!!! Hey soccermom - where do you live? I'm from Lancaster and will be coming up to spend the holidays with family!

 

[VespaElf]

Ive thought about this case too! Very strange how something so big just dissapeared huh? Its made me wonder why and if maybe its connected to something still under investigation!

 

[luthersmama]

US Attorney Jonathan Luna was found dead a year ago, but the case is still a mystery. Based on what they have figured out so far, he drove within a mile of my home the night he died and was found near my cousin's home. Very creepy case. This is the most informative article I have seen so far.




www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/chester_county/10339835.htm

 

[VespaElf]

Thanks for the link.
There's been a recent discussion here:http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15692
About the Luna case.

(Im from South Philly btw!)

 

[CeeJay]

So they're suggesting that he stabbed himself 36 times but had no holes in his clothes? I assume when they say "stab wounds" they were deep enough to draw blood even though they indicate many of them were "superficial". So I don't see how he could have done that without tearing or making puncture holes in his clothes. Are they also suggesting then that he undressed, stabbed himself and then redressed? Or lifted his shirt to stab himself? That makes no sense.

 

[Malini2001]

I live in Baltimore, MD. It was disclosed a few months ago that Luna hired a lawyer to look after his interests in regard to his job. Apparently, he feared he would be fired. He had confided that to someone who did not want to be named. Other prosecutors seemed to know about it. The US prosecutor is kind of a loose cannon, publicity seeking type - he resigned just a few days ago. He now admits that Luna job was in jeapordy but didn't disclose it at the time to protect his family.

Luna was involved in a robbery case in 2002 where $36,000 in cash disappeared between the courtroom and the secure evidence vault. It was stated in newspapers last year that he had either applied for a loan and cancelled it around the time the money disappeared, or had recently gotten a loan and paid it off. I'm not sure how much truth is in the newspapers, but he may have had a debt problem.

One of the most unusual points of this is that there is a 2 hr gap between the time he stopped at a rest stop and when he entered the NJ turnpike. I think he met up with somebody. But he stopped at a gas station after that and nobody saw anyone with him. I'm wondering if he was picking up prostitutes.

 

[cppweb]

They are making it go away because he probably embarrassed the dept. The feds dont like to admit wrong doings by their own people. The Feds are not americans in my view but nothing more than modern day Nazi's

 

[Tom]

Does anyone know if Luna had drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death?

Very unusual that the case has completely fallen out of the public eye.

 

[mysteriew]

Eyewitness News has learned that the U.S. inspector general will not intervene in the FBI investigation into the death of federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna, who was found stabbed 36 times in a Pennsylvania ditch on December 4th, 2003.

In a letter to Pennsylvania representative Mark Cohen, U.S. inspector general Glenn Fines says, "The Jonathan Luna case is an open matter being investigated by the FBI and we do not believe it would be appropriate for the OIG to intervene."

Cohen challenges the FBI's suicide and random murder theories. He wants a review of the way agents are handling the Luna case, their relationship with an informant who was being prosecuted for murder by Luna, allegations Luna may have been under pressure to cut the suspect a deal and whether someone connected to one of Luna's cases may have played a role in his death.

The inspector general's decision is no surprise to local attorneys, who say Cohen's letter raises the serious and troubling question of why a federal prosecutor's death investigation is still unsolved. William Buie, a former congressional liaison now in private practice, believes Cohen is on the right track. "It may seem like a stretch that the Pennsylvania gentleman is making from the Legislature. But for people working on the inside, [Cohen] is making a very good inquiry," said Buie.
http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_347215619.html

 

[mysteriew]

A federal prosecutor whose 2003 death remains unsolved was asked to take a lie detector test as part of an investigation into the disappearance of about $36,000 in evidence shortly before he was found stabbed and drowned in Pennsylvania, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Some investigators believe the looming polygraph test supports the theory that Jonathan P. Luna, a 38-year-old prosecutor in Baltimore, took his own life, the Post reported, citing unidentified sources familiar with the investigation.

FBI spokesman Barry Maddox said investigators are considering the possibility that Luna's death was suicide, a random act of violence or premeditated murder.

According to the Post, three shrink-wrapped stacks of $20 bills from a bank robbery case that Luna helped prosecute in 2002 disappeared. In the weeks before his death, Luna postponed his polygraph examination at least once, citing his workload, the newspaper said.

One source told the Post that investigators discovered after Luna's death that more than $10,000 came into his possession shortly after the evidence from the robbery case disappeared. The source said investigators could not determine conclusively how Luna obtained the money.

Many people who are thought to have had access to the missing cash, including building custodians and the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case with Luna in 2002, took polygraph tests, the Post reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051220/ap_on_re_us/slain_prosecutor

 

[Paradise]

There was just something in the paper today about him...it's pretty much the same thing in the previous post.

 

[concernedperson]

This reminds me of a case in my little hometown. The son of a prominent architect was co-habiting with a stripper from Houston. Oops, she is dead. They called it a suicide. She had 4 small caliber wounds to her chest. Now, if you were commtting suicide wouldn't you want to suffer less? Additionally, after he was cleared of any wrong doing he fled to California.

Why, would you ask? Because local drug dealers were after him. I even know where he is so why don't they? Coverups are so common it is scary.

 

[michelle]

I am from maryland and i was thinking about this case the other day to see what has been going on, its a strange one...

 

[LButler]

There is no way someone stabs themselves to death to commit suicide. I think pulling the trigger on a gun KNOWING that it would be instantaneous would be hard enough, but to stab yourself over and over until what? You pass out from blood loss, then bleed to death, you finally hit a vital organ, you think you have enough blood flowing to die? NO WAY!!

 

[mysteriew]

A Department of Justice inspector general report obtained by The Sun found "credible evidence of serious misconduct" by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Baltimore division who investigated the death of federal prosecutor Jonathan P. Luna two years ago.

The previously undisclosed report gives new insight into the frenzied first days of the unsolved Luna investigation - with FBI agents delving into the private life and mysterious death of the assistant U.S. attorney discovered dead Dec. 4, 2003, with 36 stab wounds, lying in a remote Pennsylvania creek.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.fbi08jan08,1,5905146.story?coll=bal-local-headlines