U.S. prosecutor fatally shot, stabbed

Washington Times ^ | Dec 5, 2003 | Matthew Cella

[Rennes Templar]

A federal prosecutor who failed to show up in a Baltimore courtroom to seal a plea deal in a drug conspiracy case against a local rap performer was found yesterday fatally shot and stabbed in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania State Police found the body of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna at 5:30 a.m. in a stream bed about six miles northeast of Lancaster, Pa. Mr. Luna, 38, had suffered gunshot wounds and multiple stab wounds to the neck. His car was found nearby.

[Mark was here]

"Let there be no doubt that everyone in law enforcement, local police, state police, the United States Marshal's Service, ATF, FBI, are united," Mr. DiBiagio said during a brief news conference in Baltimore. "We will find out who did this, and we are dedicated to bringing the person responsible for this tragedy to justice."

Where are all these outraged people when cops kill people in a "Oops wrong house raid"? Quiet as a church mouse they are. One dead prosecutor is a small price to pay for all the revenue the WOD provides government workers.

[Hildy]

I just find it so odd that the first thing you would come up with is dirty business on the part of the Prosecutor. I mean he was a PROSECUTOR, by all accounts a really, really good guy. If I'm wrong, I will do a mea culpa big time, but I don't think I am.

[AdamSelene235]

Screw free-speech. All rappers should be locked up and their mouths duct-taped.

Ashcroft, is that you?

No Ashcroft would try to argue such behavior was the very intent of 1st Amendment.

[John W]

Disturbing Details Released in the Murder of a Baltimore Prosecutor

Dec 5, 2003 7:08 pm US/Eastern
Baltimore, MD (WJZ) New details are released Friday about the shocking murder of a Baltimore-based federal prosecutor. Investigators say Jonathan Luna was stabbed 36 times and drowned after he was placed in a creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Authorities released the new information while trying to reconstruct the final hours of Luna's life. Investigators also said Luna's silver 2003 Honda Accord was found running by a well company worker Thursday morning. They also say it was smeared with blood on the driver's side door and front fender. According to a Lancaster County forensic pathologist, Luna suffered a traumatic wound to the right side of his head, and his stab wounds were shallow and could have been caused by a penknife. FBI investigators have not said what they think the motive was behind Luna's murder.

[cajungirl]

This is so peculiar. The perps reportedly got a really good deal out of him so why kill him? I too suspected that this guy was into something else that got him killed and not because of his race. Years ago in Baltimore a highly respected states attorney was murdered. He was married, had kids and was a neighbor. He had gone cruising and picked up a male who killed him, everyone was shocked. Even people with good jobs, good reputations sometimes are more than meets the eye. It just doesn't seem like a hit by criminals, don't they like shoot their victims or cut them up and throw them in the river. Who knows but it is very perplexing. I feel bad for him and his family.

[cajungirl]

This man was a US Attorney. They don't go running around alone in the middle of the night meeting perps,,he was not a detective or anything.

[John W]

"One dead prosecutor is a small price to pay for all the revenue the WOD provides government workers."

Nice.Presuming you won't be sending condolences to the family?

[cajungirl]

US Attorneys work for us, they prosecute people who break the law. The death of anyone who serves the public dealing with criminals is an outrage to all of us, unless of course one is busy breaking the law or rationalizating the breaking of the law.

[cyborg]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031205/D7V8DDVG0.html

update

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

I find it so odd that the first thing you would assume is that people suspect that their is something strange in this story because he is black. What does him being black have anything to do with the fact that the story is strange?

[csvset]

A "large pool of blood" was on the floorboard in front of the car's passenger's seat, and money and cell phone equipment were found scattered throughout the interior, the affidavit said.

No weapon was recovered, but the stab wounds were superficial or shallow and could have been caused by a penknife, Lancaster County, Pa., coroner Dr. Barry Walp said Friday. According to the search warrant affidavit, there was also a "traumatic wound" to the side of Luna's head.

Luna still had his wallet with identification and cash, Walp said. He said the 38-year-old assistant U.S. attorney was dressed in a business suit and overcoat.

Strange. I'll rule out robbery, unless there was some information perhaps a file that was taken from him, somehow I doubt that. I'd say he knew his attacker and was caught off guard. I'd guess that he didn't carry a firearm, which as a US Atty, I found curious, 'cause, you know you're bound to have some folks who would want to have you bumped off. Just my 2 cents worth.

[cyborg]

If I was in his line of work, a 9mm would be my best friend.

[Hildy]

I think it's strange that the first thing someone would think about is that it's something the Prosecutor is into. That's all.

[Mark was here]

I am just as sorry for the family of the deceased, as the government workers are sorry for killing other innocent victims of their WOD enterprise.

The ball is in their court, get it? They set the standard. They play cowboy and kill people and say whoops! If they were truly sorry, they would cut out all their Rambo / Swat tactics. They don't, because they are not sorry, it puts cash in their pockets.

[Mark was here]

US Attorneys are busy destroying the intent of the constitution, for a buck. They are increasing the size of the federal government, taking over things that should be handled by the states. What they are doing is immoral, if you believe in the constitution. Just like a NAZI prison guard made a decision, so do these guys. They personally profit, career wise by pursuing the WOD.

I think your attitude is silly, implying anyone who doesn't worship the so called "public servants" is a busy breaking the law or rationalizing breaking the law. The Deceleration of Independence says we have a duty to defy and change a government that is out of control.

I think it is bad for prosecutors who enforce normal laws get wracked, absolutely. Those who engage in the WOD, are really just engaged in a war on liberty. Unless you can show me in the Constitution, where the founding Fathers gave up their right to treat their health with out permission of a government agent, (look real close at the 10th amendment for a clue). Some one involved in a war against liberty gets wracked, and I am supposed to care?

[cajungirl]

So you reserve to yourself the right to decide whether a dead man deserved it or not depending on how you view his job and the law. I wonder why you are so het up on the war on drugs,,you ought to read the history of the guys this man was trying to put away before you see them as some sort of martyrs to an overreaching federal government. These guys were thugs and criminals and killers. Not your preferred quiet peace loving marijuana smokers. The people this guy put away in the course of his work for us include some pretty bad dudes. I am from Baltimore and know what these gangsters are. You may ennoble them and rejoice in the death of a man on the right side of the law, but pardon me if I don't join you.

[Mark was here]

Really I don't rejoice in anyone's death. How can I say this tactfully... I prefer to save my crocodile tears for others. Or put it this way, I feel just as bad for this guy as the cops feel for someone they kill in a wrong house raid.

The war on drugs is more than a war on dope heads. It is a war on citizens ability to treat their own health with out permission from the government. I believe the government was created by the people to do certain things set up in the constitution, with all other rights, reserved to the people. I include the ability to treat my own health as one. If you support the war on drugs you don't. The war on Drugs leads to such things as a girl being kicked out of school for a year, for one Advil.

The war on drugs is more than an attack on "your preferred quiet peace loving marijuana smokers". I could care less about pot smokers rotting their brains out, they are dopes. I do not know why you would say I preferred them. The war on drugs affects everyone who has to pay a government agent for permission to buy any drug.

[cajungirl]

What drugs in particular are you talking about that the WOD makes a difference to you in taking care of health {I am using a generic "you" and am not asking about a personal health thing}. Are you talking about the federal regulation of prescription of narcotics? The FDA process? The requirement that physicians prescribe certain drugs? Medicinal marijuana? Suicide drugs? I tend to be a libertarian in terms of prescription drugs, most of them ought to be over the counter.

[John W]

"The war on drugs is more than a war on dope heads. It is a war on citizens ability to treat their own health with out permission from the government."

"The day before his death, Luna had worked out plea deals with attorneys for two men accused of running a violent heroin ring from a rap studio. He also had recently prosecuted a man who plotted to burn down a home to force six Mexican men out of a neighborhood and three men involved in a violent crack distribution network. All the defendants entered guilty pleas."

The heroin and crack health treatments have been under siege by this man.

[cajungirl]

Ditto what you said. Luna had put some bad guys away. That area of Baltimore where these thugs operated is a blue collar neighborhood becoming gentrified. These thugs have been a terror in there for years. How anyone thinks what he did was a threat to any of us is beyond me.