Suicide or murder? Questions persist decades after Baltimore federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna's death

This week marks 22 years since authorities found the body of a Baltimore federal prosecutor stabbed more than 30 times in a creek in rural Pennsylvania. 

Leaks have suggested it may have been suicide, but the autopsy released last week and obtained by WJZ Investigates sheds new light on that theory. 

Jonathan Luna's autopsy

Jonathan Luna left Baltimore's federal courthouse for the final time in his Honda through the security gate on Hanover Street. 

The 38-year-old married father was later found face down in a Pennsylvania creek. Was it a homicide or a suicide? That question has persisted for decades. 

"Let there be no doubt. Let there be no doubt that everyone in law enforcement, local police, state police, the United States Marshals Service, ATF, FBI are united," said then-U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio shortly after the tragedy. "We will find out who did this, and we are dedicated to bringing the person responsible for this tragedy to justice."

That has yet to happen decades later. 

The autopsy, originally thought to be lost, was released to the public after a lengthy court battle led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. 

It details 36 stab wounds, including 23 to the neck, five to the chest and abdome,n and seven to Luna's hands.

Most of the wounds were superficial, but four of the stab wounds to the neck were not. 

The autopsy showed blunt force trauma to Luna's face, neck, groin and upper extremities. 

The manner of death was ruled a homicide. 

But no suspect has ever been charged despite early attention and a $100,000 reward. 

Midnight ride 

"The coroner originally said it looked like he was tortured or what was done to him was done for kicks," said Dan Cohen. He wrote and directed the documentary "The Midnight Ride of Jonathan Luna."

It explores whether Luna's job may have played a role in his death and speaks to those close to him. Many doubt that Luna killed himself. 

The suicide theory was fueled by persistent and early leaks. 

"The drip, drip, drip about the suicide and his character and things that the movie talks about and then other people talked about that we just recorded have never been addressed, and this was a federal prosecutor—not a local attorney or an average citizen," Cohen said. 

The autopsy found "various wounds to the body" consistent with the use of a "can opener, spike, knife, tool, mark, fingernail marks… ."

It also mentions Luna's pen knife, which, according to past leaks, he may have used to kill himself. 

"The autopsy shows that his pen knife was found on his person, unopened," Cohen said. 

It shows no blood on the knife.

Several other details have raised suspicion: 

Luna's circuitous route to the place where he died took him through multiple states. 

Questions Cohen's documentary raises include whether Luna was alone in his vehicle and whether a drug case he was working on the night before he died played a role. 

"Isn't this man entitled to more than what happened to him? Isn't his family? Aren't they entitled to some sort of comeuppance for the terrible things that were done before he died and the bad things after he died?" Cohen said. 

He believes there is more to the story. 

"All we are saying is, please, somebody investigate this. Push this upstairs," Cohen said. "This needs to be thoroughly investigated and not by the people who supposedly have investigated it up to this point."

There is still a court battle to release autopsy photos to the public, and Cohen said he would like to see the images of Luna taken as he was leaving Baltimore's federal courthouse, which have never been made available to the public. 

You can access FBI records on the case here.