Post by Scumhunter on Mar 18, 2015 23:28:34 GMT -5
Authorities have been baffled by the death of Washington-DC area Prosecutor Jonathan Luna for over 10 years. The case was aired on the December 13th, 2003 episode of AMW. (it was only 10 days after the homicide, so it must have been a breaking news type segment)
Below is the archive description of his case:
What Happened On December 3, 2003?
On December 3rd, 2003, Jonathan Luna worked late, putting the final touches on a plea bargain agreement he had to present in federal court the next morning. But around 11:30 p.m., Jonathan left his office. Soon after, the young man who worked major crime cases suddenly became one himself.
Much of what happened over the next six hours remains a mystery. But here's what investigators have learned: Luna was on the move that night. First, he motored north up I-95. His car was recorded passing through several toll booths.
Records show Luna made a couple of pit stops along the way. In Newark, Delaware, he copped a couple hundred dollars from an ATM. From Delaware, he moved into Pennsylvania, passing near Philadelphia. He stopped in King of Prussia around 3 a.m. and purchased gas. But, he used his credit card, not the cash he'd withdrawn. Investigators don't know where Jonathan went next, but they know where his journey ended.
Federal Prosecutor Found Dead
Just before sunrise, a passerby discovered Jonathan Luna's Honda Accord seventy miles from Baltimore on the side of the road in the heart of Pennsylvania's Amish country, smeared with blood inside and out. He'd been stabbed 36 times and drowned.
From the looks of the inside of his car, someone launched a vicious attack on him, and he fought back. He may have wounded his killer, because investigators found a second blood type in Jonathan's car. But, investigators haven't had any new leads and need your help to find Jonathan Luna's killer.
Before I get to my thoughts one detail that should be mentioned is that it seems the case most talked about in regards to Luna's death is probably just as controversial today as it was back then:
On September 26th, a jury convicted a defendant by the name of Nacoe Brown in a string of bank robberies.
The evidence present during trial was tens of thousands of dollars seized from a safe in the apartment of Brown’s accomplice. It had been packaged in three heat-sealed, see-through plastic containers. Dollar bills in one; stacks of $5s in another. A third container had $10s and $20s. One day during trial, an FBI special agent wheeled the unmarked cash into the courtroom on a cart.
After a jury found Brown guilty Sept. 26, 2002, one of the packages of money — the one with the $10 and $20 bills — went missing. About $36,000.
Rumors circulated around the federal courthouse that Luna may have had substantial credit-card debt, leading some to question whether he had something to do with the missing cash.
This has led some to speculate that Luna was not murdered and committed suicide- he was set to take a polygraph test in regards to the missing cash.
The Lancaster County coroner's office, who performed the autopsy, has stated in unambiguous terms that they rule Luna's death as a homicide due to the nature and type of the wounds.Luna left his glasses, which he needed to drive, and his cell phone on his desk. He had called defense attorneys earlier in the night saying he would fax over documents that night but they never arrived. The pool of blood in the back seat would suggest Luna was in back and someone else was driving.
Thoughts? I believe Luna was murdered. If you really want to kill yourself, you're probably going to want to do it in the quickest and least painful way possible. I don't think stabbing yourself 36 times is the way you want to go out. Not to mention, there was a second blood type found in the car. This was a brutal death, and it's a shame that if Luna was murdered, which he was in my opinion, his name is being dragged through the mud when he's the victim.
Inmates wanting to hire someone to kill the guy that put them in jail is nothing new. We see this on true-crime tv shows all the time. However, usually it leads to an undercover sting operation, the hitman is really an acting Detective, and the plot is foiled.
It might be Luna's unfortunate bad luck that this time an inmate got someone to actually commit this attack.
It's one theory of mine, but quite honestly, this case is just as baffling today as it was back in 2003.
web.archive.org/web/20120131130538/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=25790#brief
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/a-decade-later-prosecutor-lunas-death-still-a-mystery/2013/12/10/211e2ab8-f563-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_story.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Luna
Admin Note #1: According to online articles, anyone with information on this case should call local authorities or Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4-PA-TIPS.
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