www.justiceforchandra.com

[peripeteia]

The condition of Luna's body prompted investigators to examine whether the killing was the result of a personal conflict, The Baltimore Sun said. Two law enforcement sources said Sunday that Luna's genital area was severely wounded, with one source describing the injuries as consistent with beating and bruising, The Sun reported.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-07-prosecutor-death_x.htm

This article also points out pooling of blood on the back floor boards and that Luna drowned.
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

U.S. prosecutor fatally shot, stabbed


By Matthew Cella and Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIME



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.
His boss, U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio, said preliminary evidence points to murder, but he did not say if authorities believe the killing is connected to any case on which Mr. Luna was working.
"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."
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft pledged that "all appropriate resources will be dedicated to investigating this matter."
"Today, we learned of the tragic death of District of Maryland Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Luna," Mr. Ashcroft said in a statement. "On behalf of the entire United States Department of Justice, I express our deepest condolences to Jonathan's family, colleagues and friends."
Prosecutors in Mr. DiBiagio's office notified the FBI's Baltimore field office yesterday morning after Mr. Luna failed to appear for court.
Mr. Luna got a phone call Wednesday night at his home in Elkridge, Md., and left the house about midnight, a federal law-enforcement official told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. His wife reported him missing.
Since Monday, Mr. Luna had been prosecuting Baltimore rapper Deon Lionnel Smith and his one-time associate, Walter Oriley Poindexter, for running a violent drug ring, in part from their Baltimore-area recording studio. They were accused of heroin distribution and conspiracy.
U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr., who was presiding over the case, said yesterday that Mr. Luna had reached a plea agreement with the defense team Wednesday afternoon and that all the parties were expected to appear yesterday morning to enter the agreement.
Smith and Poindexter entered their guilty pleas at 11:30 a.m. — about 21/2 hours before Judge Quarles was notified that Mr. Luna's body had been found. The pair remained in custody last night.
Smith's attorney, Kenneth Ravenell, said Smith agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of heroin and to possession of a firearm for the purposes of drug trafficking. Poindexter agreed to plead guilty to three counts of distribution of heroin to a government witness. Conspiracy charges against the men were dropped.
"It's a shock," Mr. Ravenell said. "For all of us who knew him, it's a shock."
Court papers say Smith and Poindexter profited from a violent heroin business that operated from various locations in the Baltimore area. The records say Poindexter sold the group's heroin under the name "9-11" and he used violence to protect turf and maintain loyalty within the group.
Poindexter, known by the nickname "Fella," also was accused in the January 2001 killing of Alvin "L" Jones over what authorities said was Poindexter's belief that Mr. Jones had burglarized one of the drug group's stash houses. Poindexter had not been charged in that killing.
Last year, Mr. Luna was the lead prosecutor in a case involving Eric Bennett, the leader of a violent crack-cocaine outfit known as the "Old York & Cator Boys," named for the Baltimore neighborhood where Bennett grew up.
Bennett, Solomon Jones and Tavon Bradley pleaded guilty about a week after trial began in January 2002. Bennett also admitted ordering a series of violent acts to further his narcotics-trafficking enterprise, including several shootings and assaults.
Mr. Luna, who grew up in the Bronx, attended Fordham University and the University of North Carolina law school. He was an associate of the Washington law firm of Arnold and Porter in 1993 and 1994 before becoming a staff attorney with the Federal Trade Commission's general counsel office from 1994 until 1997. He then worked as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., before coming to Baltimore.
Mr. Luna was married and had two children.
The FBI's phone line for tips is 410/265-8080.
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20031204-103756-4737r.htm

/Quote

This is the article I was referring to that stated Luna had been shot.

It seems in my walk through cyberland about Luna, I learned the following

That his genitalia trama was consitent with being kicked in the groin, well which is it, tortured sexually or kicked.

Shot in the head, now it is hit in the head.

There are two 2 hour periods that are not accounted for.

There is thought that Luna may not have been driving, surely forensics would be able to tell this, and if there was blood spatter on the ticket for the toll, and it was Luna's, says that luna was already injured someway, and would he have been driving. It would seem to me that along the creek mud prints should have been able to tell them who was at the scene of the crime? The steering wheel would have had to have been wipped clean, as there sounds like there might have been traces of blood on the wheel, the impression of gloves would be able to be lifted from the wheel. There was blood down the right side of the car and fender, there was pooling of blood in the right back seat. It appears that likely he was in the back seat and someone pushed his car over the embankment, Luna stumbled out and into the water, or was dumped there by others?

Wow there is some really poor reporting in this case, no surprize to us dealing over time with Chandra's case and others. This is indeed a mystery. Then there is the whole story surrounding the time the FBI spent investigating one of thier own...Love and LUNA, now there is a title for a book.

Go figure
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

Another source who spoke on condition of anonymity said there were personal items in Luna's office that one "would have expected him to be taking home had he been leaving to go home for the evening." The source declined to describe the items.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104963,00.html

p.s. sounds like this might have been his brief case?

It is stated that Luna received a blow to the right side of his head in one article...if he was in his car, and someone high jacked it, he'd have received the blow to the right side of his head.

A two hour missing time twice, wonder if Luna was picking up a trick and something went bad. Sure seems like Luna had a habit that cost alot of money, or that he was being blackmailed, and having a little action on the side. There is a huge drain of money somewhere and doesn't seem like he was spending it at home, as already his wife would make a fair salary. Something is not right with his finances as he sounds like he is a workaholic, which would leave him little time to spend it...

My guess is that horseracing the numbers bookie kind of stuff. But there is a good possibility that he was being blackmailed in some form. I get the vib that Luna was in for the ladies when I had a boo at his picture, although that comment don't count for much, just a hunch.

It appears as though there is evidence of Luna looking for Ladies in cyberspace, although it is stated that someone might have been using his name????
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3969959/

In this article it is pointed out that Luna paid cash for a toll booth when he had a pass? This seems curious, previously during the evening he used his card?

Was someone else driving by this time?????
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

Timeline of slain prosecutor case


The Associated Press
3/12/2004, 6:58 p.m. ET


(AP) — Timeline of stops made by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna in the hours before his death:


From Our Advertiser





Dec. 3, 2003:

_ 11:38 p.m. Luna's vehicle departs the U.S. Courthouse in Baltimore.

_ 11:49 p.m. Luna's vehicle passes through Fort McHenry Tunnel Toll Plaza in Baltimore, northbound on Interstate 95.

Dec. 4, 2003:

_ 12:28 a.m. Luna's vehicle continues northbound and passes through the Perryville Toll Plaza in Maryland.

_ 12:46 a.m. Luna's vehicle passes through the Delaware Line Toll Plaza.

_ 12:57 a.m. Luna's debit card is used at an ATM at JFK Plaza in Newark, Del.

_ 2:37 a.m. (Approximate time) Luna's vehicle gets on the New Jersey Turnpike at Exit 6A, from Route 130.

_ 2:47 a.m. Luna's vehicle enters the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Exit 359, the Delaware River Bridge.

_ 3:20 a.m. Luna's debit card is used at a Sunoco gasoline station, King of Prussia, Pa., to purchase gas.

_ 4:04 a.m. Luna's vehicle exits the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Exit 286, the Reading/Lancaster interchange.

_ 5:30 a.m. Luna's body is discovered off Dry Tavern Road in Denver, Pa.

___

Source: FBI


Copyright 2004
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

Prosecutor May Have Killed Self
Monday March 08, 2004 6:51am

Investigators probing the death of a Baltimore federal prosecutor are increasingly thinking he may have committed suicide.

The Washington Post says homicide has not been ruled out in the December fourth death of Jonathan Luna. And some investigators don't buy the suicide theory.

But with no solid leads on a suspect, the investigative team is hard-pressed to come up with another scenario.

Luna's body was found in a creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with his partially-submerged car was nearby. He had drowned, and was also stabbed 36 times.

But many of the wounds were superficial, and some forensic experts say they could have been self-inflicted. It's also believed Luna's own pocket knife - which was recently recovered - was the weapon used in the stabbings.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0304/131034.html
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

Posted on Thu, Feb. 12, 2004





FBI Probes Complaint About Prosecutor

BRIAN WITTE

Associated Press


BALTIMORE - An FBI agent has complained about the way she was questioned in the case of a slain federal prosecutor, and the bureau said Thursday it's looking into the matter.

The FBI's assistant director for public affairs, Cassandra Chandler, said no conclusions have been reached in the internal investigation. In a statement, she said the conduct under review was "process oriented."

Agents were interviewed because they had been involved in cases with prosecutor Jonathan Luna in Baltimore, according to a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

CBS News, citing anonymous sources, reported Wednesday that the agent who complained had referred several cases to Luna.

The agent was questioned about her private life, ordered to turn over her private computer for a search and was asked if she had been having an affair, CBS reported. The agent denied the implication and protested the questioning.

Chandler said Thursday that the CBS report "contained numerous inaccuracies," but she declined to be specific.

Numerous government employees, including FBI agents and assistant U.S. attorneys who worked with Luna, have been interviewed in the investigation. More than 600 leads have been explored, Chandler said.

"The focus never has been on any one person in the government and none was ever considered a suspect," she said. "In fact, there are no suspects at this time."

Family members and friends have said they believe Luna's death was connected to his job. He had prosecuted drug dealers, bank robbers and child molesters.

But investigators have not found any evidence of a link to his work and have been probing Luna's personal life, including asking questions about a possible girlfriend or financial problems.

Luna, 38, was found dead facedown in a Pennsylvania creek on Dec. 4, a few miles from Denver, Pa. The married father of two young boys had been stabbed 36 times. His 2003 Honda was found idling nearby.


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/7940768.htm

/qoute

It will be interesting to follow Love's Trail, the outcome of the investigation and Love's side of the story. Odd she hasn't made more
of a stink...maybe it is not easy being a whistle blower in the FBI, or for that matter anywhere?!



It seems that Luna may have been a type to blow whistles, he certain was a champion in moving things forward for the poor and underprivledged, just where did he go wrong. Was the fight too much in his personal life, that he sought comfort in other places to forget, that did his personal problems and the comforts he sought lead to his death.
Was he being blackmailed, and where his payment was due did he stopped off to have some fun? Or was he spending all his money once he got there? Was he paying an informant/s? Was there a witness he was hiding that he would visit, and getting a little action on the side? What in the Heavens was he doing? Was someone else driving his car. Was someone else with him?
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

http://www.mapquest.com/mqproxy/3fddf776-000b5-02667-cdbcf36b
this follows the route that Luna took that night, and there is an aerial view listed on the site below, and this place is deep into Amish country.

check this time line out
http://pages.prodigy.net/kris.baker/luna.html
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[rd]

I can think of two reasons to buy a toll pass instead of using the car's electronic pass: one, another driver didn't know about the electronic pass or two, Luna didn't want an electronic record of where he was driving.

Given that he drove this so frequently gas station cashiers along the way remember him, yet no one who knows him knows where he was going or why he was going there, it seems he was up to his keister in something.

rd

[jane]

Agreed - sounds like he was up to his keister in something. My guess is that someone powerful is also involved in that something - otherwise, why would we be hearing talk of suicide?
_________________
"There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known."
Christ

[peripeteia]

Jane a suicide theory in this case sounds alittle far fetched, however it is obvious that something went badly and if he drowned it might have been accidential but someone gave him the fatal wounds, and how did he come to be in the back seat and too he receive a blow to his head, and groin. These hardly sound like self inflicted wounds.

If indeed this man did kill himself in this fashion, then he certainly must have been into pain, and sounds like he would have had to pay someone to beat him up first or after being beaten he drove to this place to fall into what must be a very shallow brook, or creek, as the aerial view shows no creek that is real obvious.

This road where he was found is very off the beaten track, it looks as though he or someone went there for a specific reason, just no cause to go to a place like this. Although it is stated that a turn off with all night resturants, motels and bars are close by, well they can't be that close as this looks like heavy duty farm country.

This case puts me in mind of the movie, Witness. This would have been filmed near there in Penn. Amish country. Very odd the circumstances of this case and his late night drive, almost like he was doing the circuit, looking for a good time. Credit card records from previous trips in the last six months to this area might be revealing and as well as a paper trail where he spent his money.

Yup i agree, sounds like a whole kettle of fish, but suicide does not seem the likely cause of death. This remains to be seen...kate
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[peripeteia]

email this print this
Posted on Wed, Dec. 10, 2003





Probe in death of prosecutor returns to Montco area

By Oliver Prichard and Jeff Shields

Inquirer Staff Writers


Less than three hours before his death in central Pennsylvania, federal prosecutor Jonathan P. Luna stopped at a King of Prussia service station to buy gas for his car and a second vehicle, according to a station attendant.

Luna, 38, of Elkridge, Md., was found about 5:30 a.m. Thursday in rural Brecknock Township, stabbed 36 times and drowned in an icy creek. His bloodstained Honda Accord was idling nearby.

Investigators have zeroed in on a Sunoco service station at the King of Prussia service plaza off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

An attendant at the station, Moustapha Balde, said late last night that Luna seemed calm as he bought gas shortly after 3 a.m. the day he was killed.

Later, Balde said, after FBI agents had visited the station, it became clear from sales records that Luna had used his credit card to pay at the pump for his car and also a second vehicle.

Then he walked into the A-Plus convenience store alone, Balde said, and bought soft drinks.

"He was just very calm," Balde said. "He must have been with people, but I don't think he knew they were going to kill him."

Investigators could not be reached for comment last night on Balde's account of a second car.

Luna, a married father of two, was due in federal court in Baltimore that morning to present guilty pleas for two aspiring rappers in a high-profile heroin-trafficking trial.

But investigators, have focused on Luna's personal life in looking for a motive in the killing.

Federal and state investigators have followed Luna's trail from Baltimore to Delaware to Pennsylvania in an effort to learn where he went and whom he encountered along the way.

Authorities also visited the station Thursday to review surveillance videotapes and sales receipts taken from 2:30 to 4:30 a.m., manager Haji Omarzai said.

King of Prussia may have been Luna's last recorded stop. Investigators already have requested records from the service stations at the Delaware Travel Plaza, south of Exit 3 on Interstate 95 in Newark, Del., where Luna reportedly first stopped on his trip north.

Manny Dominguez, manager of the Exxon station at that rest stop, said he turned over surveillance videotapes to the FBI on Friday that covered the period beginning around 1 a.m. "They wanted to see if there was anything to see on the videos," Dominguez said.

Investigators also have subpoenaed toll records and surveillance videos from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

The most direct route between Newark and King of Prussia would have taken Luna north on I-95, then north on I-476 through the Mid-County interchange in Plymouth Township. He would then have traveled west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, stopping at the King of Prussia Service Plaza on his way to Lancaster County.

Lancaster County Coroner Barry Walp said Luna died from a combination of stab wounds to the chest and neck, some of which were deep enough to cause internal bleeding, and from drowning in the creek.

Though the Baltimore Sun had reported that Luna had suffered wounds to his genital area that suggested a crime highly personal in nature, a source familiar with the autopsy said Luna showed only light bruising, which would be consistent with a kick to the crotch during a struggle.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7454618.htm

/quote

It sounds definative in this article about the second vechicle being involved. I've read other versions where the information was sketching.
late
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.

[rd]

That is absolutely new information here, kate. First time I heard he bought gas for another car besides his. What in the world is a Washington DA who has to be in court in the morning doing driving north and west in Pennsylvania in the middle of the night, and unconcerned?

Very strange, but new details keep coming out. Maybe something will make sense of this.

rd

[rd]

I was struck by how this prosecutor disappearance reads much like Luna's disappearance first started out. These missing prosecutors are not women but I follow intimidation of prosecutors closely due to Chandra's case not being investigated early on with some indication of prosecutorial influence on stopping it.

rd

from www.cnn.com (fair use)

Police search for Pennsylvania prosecutor
Car found but no sign of missing man
Sunday, April 17, 2005

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- With helicopters and road patrols, police searched across central Pennsylvania on Saturday for a prosecutor who was reported missing after he failed to return home from a drive the day before.

Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar, 59, had taken Friday off from work and said during a cell phone call at about 11:30 a.m. that he was heading toward Lewisburg on Route 192 in Union County, police said.

He did not return home that night and has not called his home or office since then, authorities said Saturday. There has been no activity on his cell phone or credit cards.

State police found Gricar's red-and-white Mini Cooper on Saturday evening in a dirt parking lot on the outskirts of Lewisburg, but found no sign of the missing man, Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said. The owner of an antiques store across the street said Gricar may have been in his shop earlier in the day, Dixon said.

Dixon said there were no signs of foul play but state police were processing the car for evidence.

"Right now we can't find any certain case that stands out that we believe would cause any problem," Dixon said earlier Saturday.

Authorities said they did not know if Gricar had any medical issues, although he had been working hard lately and had told others that he felt tired.

Police said Gricar was last seen wearing a blue fleece-type jacket, jeans and sneakers.

Pennsylvania authorities issued a bulletin to six neighboring states and used a state police helicopter Saturday to search the area northeast of State College.

Gricar, the county's district attorney for 20 years, recently decided not to seek a sixth term and said he planned to retire in December at age 60. He inherited a part-time office when first elected in 1985 but campaigned successfully to make the job full-time.

Among the more high-profile cases Gricar handled was the prosecution of a 21-year-old woman who opened fire with a hunting rifle on Penn State's campus in 1996, killing one person and wounding a second.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

[rd]

bringing this up for background.

rd