FYI: Very suspicious
Missing Federal Prosecutor Found Dead in Pennsylvania
Attorney Failed to Show for Trial of Rap Artist Facing Drug Charges
By Allan Lengel and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 4, 2003; 3:57 PM
A federal prosecutor who was reported missing when he failed to show up for the trial of a rap artist on drug charges was found dead today in Pennsylvania, law enforcement officials said.
The body of Jonathan P. Luna, an assistant U.S. attorney in Baltimore, was found in Lancaster, Pa., along with his car, the officials said. One source said he had been shot and stabbed.
There was no immediate indication what the motive may have been for the slaying, officials said.
An FBI spokesman, Barry Maddox, said the bureau was notified of Luna's disappearance this morning and immediately "began coordinating efforts with the local police and the U.S. Marshals Service to try to determine his whereabouts." He declined further comment.
Luna was reported missing when he did not show up on the fourth day of a trial in which he was prosecuting Deon Lionnel Smith, 32, and Walter Oriley Poindexter, 28, on charges of heroin distribution and conspiracy. Smith is a local rap singer, and Poindexter is a former associate.
Smith and Poindexter were charged with running a violent drug ring, partly from a Baltimore recording studio that they operated under the name Stash House Records. Both have pleaded not guilty, and their lawyers have denied that the business was a front for drug trafficking.
Defense attorney Kenneth W. Ravenell declined comment on the disappearance, the Associated Press reported.
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