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And somwhere, Gary Condit mourns his political career.
The Condits have an ice cream tragedy in their family history?!?!!
Suspect indicted in Chandra Levy slayingWASHINGTON – The man accused of sexually assaulting and killing federal intern Chandra Levy in 2001 has been indicted on first-degree murder, kidnapping and other charges.Ingmar Guandique (gwahn-DEE-kay), 27, who is in custody, will be arraigned on May 27. He also faces a first-degree sexual abuse charge, according to the four-page indictment returned by a District of Columbia Superior Court grand jury on Tuesday.A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said Wednesday that the indictment "speaks for itself" and had no further comment.The 24-year-old Levy had just completed an internship with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons when she disappeared in May 2001 after leaving her apartment in jogging clothes. The Modesto, Calif., native's remains were found in Rock Creek Park a year later.Guandique's lawyers have said the case against him is flawed because it is largely based on the accounts of "jailhouse snitches" interviewed years after the slaying. Guandique has been serving a 10-year federal prison term in California for two other attacks in the same park where authorities say he attacked Levy.In April, Guandique made his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court and charged with first-degree murder. In D.C., suspects must be indicted within nine months of being charged.The case has been blamed for destroying the political career of former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California, who was romantically linked to Levy. Authorities questioned the Democrat who represented the Modesto district where Levy grew up, but he was never a suspect.
Chandra Levy murder: trial to beginIngmar Guandique on trial for Washington intern's death that led to downfall of former congressman Gary ConditMore than nine years after the disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador is to stand trial for her murder today.Levy's disappearance in 2001 led to the political downfall of former California congressman Gary Condit, whose political career imploded after he was romantically linked to Levy; he was, for a time, the prime suspect.While police no longer believe Condit had anything to do with Levy's death, his presence will continue to hang over the trial of Ingmar Guandique, who was charged with murder in 2009. Condit's spokesman, Bert Fields, said Condit expected to be called as a witness at the trial, though he has not been subpoenaed, and that he would co-operate fully with authorities. But the ex-congressman, who is writing a book about his experience, will not comment on the trial until it ends.Bill Miller, a spokesman for the prosecutors' office, has declined to comment on the case, citing a gag order issued earlier this month.When Guandique was charged in 2009 with Levy's murder, defence lawyers criticised what they saw as a botched investigation. Guandique escaped scrutiny in large part because of the frenzy around Condit. The former congressman never admitted an affair but said he was friends with Levy, while the intern told family members the two had a romantic relationship."This flawed investigation, characterised by the many mistakes and missteps of the metropolitan police department and every federal agency that has attempted to solve this case, will not end with the simple issuance of an arrest warrant against Mr Guandique," said his lawyers, Santha Sonenberg and Maria Hawilo.At a pretrial hearing on Thursday, Sonenberg said police were so desperate to get a confession from Guandique to bolster their case that in 2004 and 2005, they tried to establish a fake pen-pal relationship with Guandique while he was in prison serving a 10-year sentence, using the pseudonym "Maria Lopez". The ruse did not work."It goes to the sort of antics, the sort of shenanigans, the lengths to which they've gone to prosecute Mr Guandique," Sonenberg said.A former US attorney, Jeffrey Taylor, has acknowledged the case lacks DNA or physical evidence linking Guandique to Levy. Guandique never confessed to police – in fact, he passed a lie detector test denying involvement in Levy's disappearance, though prosecutors now question the validity of that test.But Taylor cited significant circumstantial evidence, including numerous confessions that Guandique purportedly made to other inmates. Furthermore, Levy's body was found in a wooded section of Washington's Rock Creek Park, where Guandique was convicted of assaulting two other young women in 2001.
Jury convicts Guandique of murdering Chandra LevyWASHINGTON – A jury found a Salvadoran immigrant guilty on Monday of murdering Washington intern Chandra Levy back in 2001, when her disappearance became a national sensation.Ingmar Guandique was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for attacking Levy while she exercised in Washington's Rock Creek Park in May 2001. Her disappearance made headlines when she was romantically linked with then-Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif. Condit was once a suspect, but police no longer believe he was involved.Investigators eventually focused on Guandique (gwahn-DEE-kay) and brought formal charges last year. Prosecutors acknowledged they had little direct evidence but said Levy's death fit a pattern of other crimes committed by Guandique in Washington's Rock Creek Park.The defense argued that Guandique became a scapegoat for a botched investigation.The jury deliberated over parts of four days before returning with a verdict shortly before noon Monday. They could have opted for a conviction of second-degree murder, but instead chose the more serious counts. Guandique could be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison.Prosecutors Amanda Haines and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez obtained a conviction even though they had no eyewitnesses and no DNA evidence linking Guandique to Levy. And Guandique never confessed to police. Prosecutors hung their hopes in large part on a former cellmate of Guandique, Armando Morales, who testified that Guandique confided in him that he killed Levy.Morales said Guandique was worried about being labeled a rapist by fellow inmates if word got out that he was a suspect in the Levy case. According to Morales, Guandique admitted killing Levy as part of an attempted robbery, but said he never raped her.The government also presented testimony from two women who were attacked by Guandique in May and July of 2001 in Rock Creek Park. In both cases, Guandique attacked the women from behind while they jogged on isolated trails but ran off after each woman fought him off.Defense attorneys said Morales' testimony couldn't be trusted. They also pointed to DNA from an unknown male that was found on Levy's black running tights. The DNA matched neither Guandique nor Condit, and the defense said it was powerful evidence that the wrong person was on trial. Prosecutors argued the DNA was the result of contamination during the testing process.The monthlong trial featured testimony from Condit himself, who denied any involvement in Levy's disappearance or death. But as he has for the past decade, he refused to answer whether he had an affair with Levy, saying he was entitled to some privacy. Even though defense lawyers asked him several times on cross-examination, he refused to answer and the judge never required him to do so.In their closing arguments, the defense indirectly pointed a finger at Condit, suggesting that he acted "like a guilty man" throughout the investigation by trying to cover up his affair with Levy and refusing to answer questions to a grand jury. Prosecutors said he was simply trying to protect his reputation.Guandique, 29, listened to the entire proceedings through headphones providing a Spanish interpretation. His legs were shackled through the trial, though that was hidden from jurors' view. He wore turtlenecks every day of the trial to hide gang tattoos on his neck.
New Questions in Chandra Levy Murder Case New questions are being raised surrounding the murder of Chandra Levy, the case that rocked official Washington and much of the nation in the summer of 2001 because of allegations she had been having an affair with then-Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.).Closed hearings have been held to review information that may impeach the credibility of a witness who testified at the trial of Ingmar Guandique. In 2010, nearly a decade after Levy disappeared, Guandique was convicted of murdering her. He was already in prison for other crimes, and was sentenced to 60 years in prison in Levy's death. Now a case largely built on circumstantial evidence and witness testimony appears to be facing serious questions.Prosecutors and defense attorneys have taken part in two closed hearings described as so sensitive that Levy's parents have not been told precisely what they are about. Her parents, Susan and Robert Levy have been advised of the hearings by the U.S. Attorney, but they are not being told any details about which witness may be implicated by new information. In a telephone interview with ABC News, Susan Levy said, "I'm not going to get my daughter back. I only want them to have the right person in prison."In an interview with ABC's San Francisco station, KGO-TV, the Levys said most of their information comes from news reports.One clue came in a December statement from the judge overseeing the case, just before the proceedings were ordered closed to the public."The hearing addresses issues about information that has come to the government's attention that may provide impeachment about one of its witnesses at trial, and the possible disclosure of that information may create safety issues that I have concluded are somewhat substantial here," D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher said during a brief public portion of a Dec. 18 hearing, according to McClatchy reporter Michael Doyle, who was in the hearing room.Because there was little to no physical evidence in Levy's death, the case against Ingmar Guandique was largely built on the testimony of witnesses, including that of an inmate, Armando Morales, who claimed Guandique told him he killed Levy. If Morales' testimony is untrue, the whole case could fall apart. But at this time it is unclear if Morales is the witness in question. The Justice Department is required to notify the court about any information raising questions about the credibility of its witnesses.The next hearing on the case is scheduled for Feb. 7.
Chandra Levy documents to be unsealedA judge has ruled that transcripts of a conversation between a D.C. Superior Court Judge and lawyers in the Chandra Levy murder hearing should be unsealed.A Superior Court judge ruled Monday that the documents regarding the 2002 murder case of Chandra Levy should be unsealed for revision.D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher ruled that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia should release the transcripts of secret conversations between the judge and the judge's bench in hearings from earlier this year.Levy, a 24-year-old California native whose body was found in a D.C. park in 2002, was an intern for the Bureau of Prisons before she disappeared in 2001.Ingmar Guandique, 31, was convicted in 2011 to two 60-year sentences for murder with kidnapping and murder with attempted robbery in Levy's death. Two years later, his attorneys are back in court calling into question the testimony of a key witness in his conviction.Guandique was arrested for Levy's murder in 2009 after Armando Morales, a convicted felon, testified that he had confessed to killing Levy. At the time, Guandique was already in jail for attacking two women at the park where Levy's body was found.On Monday, his defense attorney, Jonathan Anderson, questioned the credibility of Morales's testimony and claimed it was contradictory.Levy's case garnered national attention after Gary Condit, who was then a congressman for Levy's California district, was linked to her after police found his semen in her clothes following her disappearance.The documents to be unsealed are transcripts of discussions that lawyers and Fisher had at the judge's bench.
