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Law

Prosecutor's dad believes killing linked to job

Authorities seek clues in Luna's personal life

Jonathan Luna's body was found Thursday in rural Pennsylvania.
Jonathan Luna's body was found Thursday in rural Pennsylvania.

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Investigators are probing many aspects of Luna's life for clues.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna was found stabbed to death in a Pennsylvania river.
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U.S. Attorney Tom DiBiagio discusses Luna's death.
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BIOGRAPHY
NAME: Jonathan P. Luna
AGE: 38
EDUCATION: Fordham University and the University of North Carolina law school.
EXPERIENCE: Raised in New York, Luna 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 served as assistant district attorney in Brooklyn before becoming assistant U.S. Attorney in Baltimore.
FAMILY: Wife and two children.
QUOTE: "We will find out who did this and we are dedicated to bringing the person responsible for this tragedy to justice." -- U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio.
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Maryland
Pennsylvania
Baltimore (Maryland)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Authorities investigating the torture-killing of a federal prosecutor from Baltimore, Maryland, were delving into his personal life for clues, but the victim's father said Monday that he believes the slaying was job-related.

Officials have not specified a motive in the killing of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Luna, who was stabbed and thrown into a creek in rural Pennsylvania, where he drowned.

His body was found Thursday after he failed to turn up for a drug trial in which he had helped secure a plea bargain the night before.

The U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore and the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, district attorney's office said in a statement Monday that the probe into Luna's death continues and that no decision on where any suspects would be tried can be made until the investigation is complete.

Pennsylvania state police investigators -- following up earlier interviews by FBI agents -- questioned motel owners Saturday in Lancaster County near where Luna's body was found.

Representatives of several of the motels said the investigators showed a picture of Luna and asked whether they recognized him or if he stayed there Wednesday or Thursday nights.

None of the motel representatives contacted by CNN said Luna, 38, had stayed there, and none said they remembered seeing him.

Investigators also asked about any sign of a break-in or the presence of blood, one motel official said.

A spokesman for the Delaware state police, Lt. Joe Aviola, confirmed that Pennsylvania state police asked during the weekend for his agency's assistance. Aviola said only that Delaware officials were doing "some intelligence work for them."

Paul Luna said FBI agents had interviewed him about his son's life. The elder Luna said he provided the names of some of his son's personal friends. Paul Luna said he thinks the killing was job-related and that he repeatedly talked to his son about the dangers of his job.

Sources said Sunday that investigators had found messages on adult Web sites under Luna's name.

The sources said investigators had not connected the messages, which sought women for sexual encounters, with Luna's death, but considered them part of a thorough investigation.

The sources cautioned that the investigation is still in the "very preliminary" stages.

Luna's body was found near his car 70 miles from his home in suburban Baltimore. Investigators said the father of two had been tortured and stabbed as many as 36 times.

An autopsy determined Luna was alive but incapacitated when he was thrown in the water, and he "died of fresh water drowning and multiple stab wounds of the neck and chest."

Sources have said that the location where Luna's body was found is a place where people have been known to gather to seek other people for sexual encounters.

Investigators tracking Luna's movements Wednesday night said he had returned to the courthouse late in the evening to work on a plea agreement in a drug case involving a rap singer, and left the courthouse about 11:40 p.m.

From the courthouse, Luna apparently took an indirect route to Pennsylvania. Electronic records show he made two stops along the way. It's not clear if he was alone.

Investigators were initially looking into the Luna's caseload for leads, but sources said they began looking into his personal life when they found nothing to indicate his killer was related to a case.

The sources said that, in addition to the adult Web site messages, investigators were also looking into possible debts.

Luna's wife, the sources said, told investigators that her husband had credit cards she did not know about until after his death.

CNN producers Kevin Bohn and Carol Cratty and correspondent Kelli Arena contributed to the story.


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