Prosecutor In Rap Case Murdered - Update

[DudeAsInCool]

Asst. U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna was stabbed, officials say; DiBiagio: 'We will find out who did this'; Lawyer was to conclude drug conspiracy case against local rap artist today

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By Bill McCauley • Sun Staff • December 4, 2003, 8:24 PM EST

A prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore was found stabbed to death early this morning in a field in Brecknock Township, near Lancaster, Pa., according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Jonathan P. Luna, 38, of Elkridge, was supposed to be in court in Baltimore today for the fourth day of a trial of a rap artist on a drug conspiracy charge, the U.S. Attorney's office in Baltimore said.

Thomas M. DiBiagio, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, asked the public at an afternoon news conference to provide any help it can in solving the crime.

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

People are urged to call 410-265-8080 today with any information. Tomorrow they can also call 443-436-7772.

Luna got a phone call Wednesday night at his home in Elkridge and left the house about midnight, said a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity. His wife reported him missing.

Luna's body was discovered about 5:30 a.m. Thursday behind the parking lot of a water-well drilling company in Brecknock Township, according to township police officer Keely Johnston.

A car was also discovered near the body, Johnston said. An employee of the drilling company discovered the corpse and called 911, initially telling police that it looked like a fatal car accident, Brecknock Township Police Chief Edward W. Karcher said.

The facility, Sensening & Weaver Well Drilling, is not far from a Pennsylvania Turnpike exit and is about 70 miles northeast of Baltimore.

In a statement earlier today, DiBiagio said: "We commend his dedication to the interests of justice over the last four years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the district of Maryland. His death is a tragic loss to us all. Our heartfelt prayers are with his family."

Attorney General John Ashcroft also issued a statement today saying "all appropriate resources will be dedicated to investigating this matter."

FBI spokesman Barry Maddox said, "We were notified this morning of his disappearance and we immediately responded to the U.S. Attorney's office and began coordinating efforts with the local police and the U.S. Marshals Service to try to determine his whereabouts."

Luna had been handling the case against Baltimore rap singer Deon Lionnel Smith and his one-time associate, Walter Oriley Poindexter.

Federal authorities charged Smith, 32, and Poindexter, 28, this year with heroin distribution and conspiracy. They accused them of running a violent drug ring, in part from a recording studio they operated in Hampden under the name Stash House Records.

The trial began Monday. Three days into the case, Luna and the defense attorneys began negotiating a plea deal, which they reached about 5 p.m. Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr., 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. Smith's attorney, Kenneth Ravenell, said conspiracy charges against the men were dropped.

All the parties were expected to appear this morning to enter the agreement, but Luna was not present, the judge said. Two other prosecutors told Quarles they were "out of touch" with Luna and that the FBI had begun looking for him.

Quarles described Luna as a "wonderful young man, responsible, charming and highly intelligent. He had genuine trial skills as a lawyer and juries loved him."

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.

Quarles said Luna was married and had two children.

Maryland federal public defender Jim Wyda said the news of Luna's death was "devastating."

"Everybody thought that he was a wonderful person. People here admired him and liked Jon very much," Wyda said. "Part of the devastation here is that he has a wife and two young kids."

Christian White, a deputy general counsel with the FTC, said Luna was a "fine attorney and a great person. He was a very outgoing and hardworking guy. He was a delight to work with. It's just a big shock and a very sad, terrible thing."

Sunspot.net/The Associated Press contributed to this article.

[DudeAsInCool]

This case is getting uglier:

Dec 5, 2:05 PM (ET)

By BRIAN WITTE

(AP) Slain federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna is shown in this undated photo released by the FBI. Luna...

Full Image

BALTIMORE (AP) - A federal prosecutor was apparently "brutalized with multiple stab wounds" and put in a creek while still alive before eventually drowning, a Pennsylvania coroner said Friday.

Jonathan Luna was stabbed 36 times, a federal law enforcement source told The Associated Press.

Luna's vehicle was smeared with blood on the driver's side door and front fender and was running when a well company worker discovered it early Thursday behind the company's parking lot, according to a search warrant affidavit a Pennsylvania State Police investigator filed later that day. Luna's body was found in the creek nearby.

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.

Authorities had yet to determine a motive behind Luna's killing, a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday. The official said investigators were interviewing people connected with past cases Luna prosecuted, as well as friends and associates, but no immediate promising leads had come up.

Among the last people to talk to Luna before he was killed was a defense lawyer who had spent the day working out a plea agreement for a client Luna was prosecuting.

Arcangelo Tuminelli, an attorney for Walter Oriley Poindexter, 28, said he saw Luna at 6 p.m. Wednesday after they had reached an agreement.

Full ImagePoindexter and aspiring rapper, Deon Lionnel Smith, 32, were accused of dealing heroin and running a violent drug ring from their Stash House Records studio. Both pleaded guilty Thursday, Smith to distribution of heroin and a weapon charge, and Poindexter to distribution of heroin to a government witness.

Luna, 38, was found dead Thursday morning in the creek behind a well-drilling company about 70 miles from Baltimore, police said. His car was nearby.

Tuminelli said Friday that Poindexter was interviewed by the FBI on Thursday night, and Smith had consented to be interviewed. Both men were behind bars at the time of the killing.

"They were interested in if he had any information that might shed some light on Jonathan Luna. Not surprising to me, he had absolutely no info that would be of help to them," Tuminelli said. "I believe that this has nothing to do with my client or Mr. Smith or the case (Luna) was working on."

Luna had recently prosecuted other cases, as well, including three men involved in a violent crack distribution network in Baltimore area, and a man who plotted to burn down a home to force six Mexican men out of a neighborhood.

(AP) The body of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna was discovered here in this creek, Thursday,...

Full ImageInitially, there were conflicting reports on Luna's whereabouts on the last night of his life.

A federal law enforcement official, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity, said authorities had determined Luna left his home early in the evening for his office to work on papers in the plea bargain. He disappeared after leaving his office around midnight, the official said.

Tuminelli said he got a call from Luna's cell phone at 9:06 p.m., according to his caller ID.

"We spoke for about five minutes, and he told me he had pretty much completed the written plea agreement for Mr. Smith and now he had to do Mr. Poindexter," Tuminelli said. "He wanted to make sure that he didn't have any mistakes in what we had agreed to."

He said Luna told him he had to go home, but that he would go back to the office later. It was unclear where Luna was when he called, he said.

Full Image"I assumed he wouldn't get back to the office until 10 p.m.," Tuminelli said. "I assumed there would be a fax at my house of the agreement by about midnight."

The fax never came, Tuminelli said.

Records showed that Luna was in the federal courthouse as late as 11:30 p.m., according to a source who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The source said personal items were left 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.

FBI spokesman Barry Maddox said agents were working at the crime scene Friday.

"We're definitely going to pursue this thing aggressively and will continue to do so," Maddox said.

Luna, who had two children, was known as a champion of the disadvantaged, and often wrote letters to the editor on behalf of minorities and the poor.

U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr., who presided over the drug case, described him as a "wonderful young man, responsible, charming and highly intelligent. He had genuine trial skills as a lawyer and juries loved him."

Attorney General John Ashcroft called it a "tragic death."

"I express our deepest condolences to Jonathan's family, colleagues and friends," Ashcroft said. "We share his family's grief and will provide any support and assistance to help them through this difficult time."

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Associated Press Writers Pete Yost in Washington, D.C., Wiley Hall and Foster Klug in Baltimore and Mark Scolforo in Brecknock Township, Pa., contributed to this report.

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