Chandra Ann Levy (April 14, 1977 – May 1, 2001) was an
intern
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gove ...
at the
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in May 2001. She was presumed murdered after her skeletal remains were found in
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...
in May 2002. The case attracted attention from the American news media for several years.
Due to a miscommunication, the
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbi ...
(MPD) failed to follow its own search parameters in Rock Creek Park, leaving Levy's body to decompose for a year. Further, the MPD had been informed, but soon dismissed the information that
Ingmar Guandique, already arrested for attacking women in Rock Creek Park, had confessed to attacking Levy. The MPD instead put much of its focus on the revelation that Levy had been having an
affair with
Congressman Gary Condit
Gary Adrian Condit (born April 21, 1948) is an American former politician who represented California's 18th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003. He gained significant national attention for an extramarital af ...
, a married
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
then serving his fifth term representing
California's 18th congressional district
California's 18th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by . It includes portions of Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Santa Cruz counties, extending from ...
, and a senior member of the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...
. Condit was in meetings with the Vice President at the time Levy disappeared and was never named as a suspect by police; he was eventually cleared of any involvement. Due to the cloud of suspicion raised by the intense media focus on the missing intern and the later revelation of the affair, Condit lost his bid for re-election in 2002.
Following a series of investigative reports by ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in 2008, the MPD followed up and finally obtained a warrant, on March 3, 2009, to arrest Ingmar Guandique, identified and dismissed by the MPD eight years earlier. He had been convicted of assaulting two other women in Rock Creek Park around the time of Levy's disappearance and was still in prison on those convictions when the arrest warrant on Levy's death was issued. Prosecutors alleged that Guandique had attacked and tied up Levy in a remote area of the park and left her to die of dehydration or exposure. In November 2010, Guandique was convicted of murdering Levy; he was sentenced in February 2011 to 60 years in prison. In June 2015, however, Guandique was granted a new trial. On July 28, 2016, prosecutors announced that they would not proceed with the case against Guandique and would, instead, seek to have him deported. In episode 3 of ''Chandra Levy: An American Murder Mystery'' on the case, it is mentioned that in March 2017 Guandique lost his bid to remain in the United States and was deported to his native El Salvador on May 5, 2017. Levy's murder remains unsolved.
Life and background
![Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Federal_Home_Loan_Bank_Board_Building.jpg)
Levy was born in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio to Robert and Susan Levy; the family moved to
Modesto, California, where she attended
Grace M. Davis High School
Grace M. Davis High School, commonly referred to as Davis High School, is a public high school located in Modesto, California, United States. Established in 1961, the school serves students in grades 9-12. Davis High was recognized as a Califo ...
. At the time of her disappearance, her parents were members of Congregation Beth Shalom, a
Conservative Jewish
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generat ...
synagogue.
She attended
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...
, where she earned a degree in journalism. After interning for the California Bureau of Secondary Education and working in the office of
Los Angeles Mayor
The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of California, all j ...
Richard Riordan
Richard Joseph Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is an American investment banker, businessman, lawyer, and former Republican politician who was the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, from 1993 to 2001. Born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, New Y ...
, she began attending the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
to earn a master's degree in
public administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...
.
As part of her final semester of study, Levy moved to Washington, D.C., to become a paid intern with the
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
.
In October 2000 she began her internship at the bureau's headquarters,
where she was assigned to the public affairs division.
Her supervisor, bureau spokesperson Dan Dunne, was impressed with Levy's work, especially her handling of media inquiries regarding the upcoming execution of
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third ...
, convicted of bombing the Oklahoma City Federal Building.
Levy's internship was abruptly terminated in April 2001 because her academic eligibility was found to have expired in December 2000. She had already completed her master's degree requirements and was scheduled to return to California in May 2001 for graduation.
Disappearance and search
Levy was last seen on May 1, 2001. The MPD was first alerted on May 6, when Levy's parents called from Modesto to report that they had not heard from their daughter in five days. Police called hospitals and visited Levy's apartment in
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW t ...
that day, finding no indication of foul play. On May 7, Levy's father told the police that his daughter had been having an affair with a U.S. congressman, and the next day stated that he believed the congressman to be
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Gary Condit
Gary Adrian Condit (born April 21, 1948) is an American former politician who represented California's 18th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003. He gained significant national attention for an extramarital af ...
. Levy's aunt also called the police and told them that Chandra had confided in her about the affair. Police obtained a warrant on May 10 to conduct a formal search of Levy's apartment. Investigators found her credit cards, identification and mobile phone left behind in her purse, along with partially packed suitcases. The answering machine was full, with messages left by her relatives and two from Condit. A police sergeant tried to examine Levy's laptop computer and inadvertently corrupted the internet search data, as he was not a trained technician.
Computer experts took a month to reconstruct the data to determine that the laptop was used on the morning of May 1 to search for websites related to
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
,
Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake speciality shops owned by Inspire Brands. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin (1913–1967) and Irv Robbins (1917–2008) in ...
, Condit,
Southwest Airlines, and a weather report from ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. Her final search at 12:59 p.m. was for
Alsace-Lorraine, a region in France. A particular search at 11:33 a.m. was for information about Rock Creek Park in ''The Washington Post'' "Entertainment Guide", then at 11:34 she clicked a link to bring up a map of the park. Detectives later theorized that she might have met someone at the
Pierce-Klingle Mansion which houses the park headquarters.
On July 25, 2001, three D.C. police sergeants and 28 police cadets searched along Glover Road in the park but failed to find evidence related to Levy. Later, a second attempt found nothing.
Levy's parents and friends held numerous vigils and news conferences in an attempt to "bring Chandra home".
[ ]
Relationship with Condit
![GaryCondit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/GaryCondit.jpg)
Controversy surrounding Levy's disappearance drew the attention of the American news media.
Condit, a married man who represented the congressional district in which the Levy family resided, at first denied that he had had an
affair with her. Although police stated that Condit was not a suspect, Levy's family said they felt Condit was being evasive and possibly hiding information about the matter.
Unidentified police sources alleged that Condit had admitted to an affair with Levy during an interview with law enforcement officers on July 7, 2001.
Condit described her to police as a vegetarian who avoided drinking and smoking. He thought that Levy was going to return to Washington, D.C. after her graduation and was surprised to find out that the lease on her apartment had ended.
Investigators searched Condit's apartment on July 10. They questioned flight attendant Anne Marie Smith, who claimed that Condit told her she did not need to speak to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
about his personal life.
Federal officials began investigating Condit for possible
obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...
, as Smith was also involved in an affair with him. (She was not acquainted with Levy.)
Upset by leaks to the media, Condit refused to submit to a
polygraph
A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked ...
test by the D.C. police; his attorney asserted that Condit passed a test administered by a privately hired examiner on July 13. He avoided answering direct questions during a televised interview on August 23, with news anchor
Connie Chung
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist. She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von B ...
on the
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
program ''
Primetime Thursday''.
Intensive coverage continued until news of the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
superseded the media's coverage of the Levy case.
In a nationwide Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of 900 registered voters conducted in July 2001, 44 percent of American respondents thought that Condit was involved in Levy's disappearance and 27 percent felt that he should resign. Fifty-one percent of the respondents believed that he was acting as if he were guilty; 13 percent felt that he should run again for office. A poll sample taken from Condit's congressional district held a more favorable view of Condit.
On March 5, 2002, Condit lost the Democratic primary election for his Congressional seat to his former aide, then-
Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza,
with the Levy controversy being cited as a contributing factor.
He was subpoenaed to appear on April 1, 2002, before a District of Columbia
grand jury investigating the disappearance. The date was kept a carefully guarded secret to avoid further leaks.
Condit left Congress at the end of his term on January 3, 2003, after failing to win his re-election bid.
Discovery of her remains
![Chandra Levy map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Chandra_Levy_map.png)
On May 22, 2002, around 9:30 am, skeletal remains which matched Levy's
dental records
The Ballistics were a ska band from Ipswich, England. Formed in 2002, they have built up a healthy following across the UK and have garnered airplay in the U.S., Germany, Argentina and Brazil. The band's first album, '' Go Ballistic'', was rele ...
were discovered by a man who was walking his dog and looking for turtles in Rock Creek Park, near Broad Branch Creek (Washington, D.C.).
Detectives found bones and personal items scattered, but not buried, in a forested area along a steep incline.
A sports bra, sweat shirt, leggings and tennis shoes were among the evidence that was recovered. Although police had previously searched over half the main section of the park, the wooded slope where Levy's remains were eventually found had not been searched. Police commanders ordered the search perimeters to be within 100 yards (91 m) of each road but due to a miscommunication, the officers only searched within 100 yards of every road. The remains were found about four miles (6 km) from Levy's apartment.
After a preliminary
autopsy was performed, District of Columbia police announced that there was sufficient evidence to open a homicide investigation. On May 28, D.C. medical examiner Jonathan L. Arden officially declared Levy's death a homicide, but said, "There's less to work with here than I would like. It's possible we will never know specifically how she died."
Arden found damage to her
hyoid
The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) () is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies between the base of the mandible and the third cervical vertebra. ...
bone, suggesting that she was possibly strangled, but he did not deem it to be conclusive evidence of such a cause of death.
On June 6, after the police completed their search, private investigators hired by the Levys found her shin bone with some twisted wire about from the other remains. Police Chief
Charles H. Ramsey said, "It is unacceptable that these items were not located."
Memorial services
On May 28, 2002, the Levy family organized a memorial service at the Modesto Centre Plaza that drew over 1,200 people, some from as far as Los Angeles.
Speakers at the 90-minute ceremony included Levy's brother, grandmother, great-aunt and friends.
In a eulogy delivered in Hebrew and English by Rabbi Paul Gordon, Levy was described as "a good person taken from us much too soon".
About a year later, on May 27, 2003, Levy's remains were buried in Lakewood Memorial Park Cemetery at
Hughson, California, near her home town of Modesto. Attended by about 40 of Levy's friends and family members, the private ceremony concluded with the release of 12 white doves.
Identification of the prime suspect
In September 2001, D.C. police and federal prosecutors were contacted by the lawyer of an informant, held in
D.C. Jail
The District of Columbia Jail or the D.C. Central Detention Facility (commonly referred to as the D.C. Jail) is a jail run by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections in Washington, D.C., United States. The Stadium–Armory station s ...
, who claimed to have knowledge of Levy's killer. The informant, whose identity was protected for his safety, said that Ingmar Guandique, a 20-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was also being held in the jail, told him that Condit paid him $25,000 to kill Levy. Investigators ruled out the story about Condit, because Guandique had already admitted to assaulting two other women in the same park where Levy's remains were found.
Guandique failed to show up for work on the day of Levy's disappearance.
His former landlady recalled that his face appeared scratched and bruised at around that time.
The investigators on the Levy case did not interview the other Rock Creek Park victims.
Police chief Ramsey avoided calling Guandique a suspect and described him as a "
person of interest",
telling reporters not to make "too big a deal" about him. Assistant chief
Terrance W. Gainer said that if Guandique had been considered a suspect, D.C. police would have been after him "like flies on honey".
![VictorvilleUSP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/VictorvilleUSP.jpg)
Guandique denied attacking Levy.
On November 28, the FBI had the informant take a polygraph test, which he failed. A polygraph test on Guandique, administered on February 4, 2002, returned inconclusive results that were officially ruled "not deceptive". Because neither the informant nor Guandique was fluent in English, D.C. chief detective Jack Barrett said that he would have preferred polygraph tests to have been administered by bilingual examiners, who were unavailable at the time.
When Judge Noel Anketell Kramer was asked about Guandique's potential connection to the Levy homicide, she responded, "This is such a satellite issue. To me it doesn't have anything to do with this case." Kramer sentenced Guandique to 10 years in prison for his attacks on two other women at Rock Creek Park.
Guandique was sent to the
U.S. Penitentiary, Big Sandy near
Inez, Kentucky
Inez ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Martin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 546 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Inez is located at (37.866431, -82.539058). According to the United States Census Burea ...
,
and was later transferred to the
U.S. Penitentiary at Victorville, California.
![Cathy Lanier DC 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Cathy_Lanier_DC_2009.jpg)
The Levy homicide remained listed as a "
cold case
A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...
" until 2006, when
Cathy L. Lanier succeeded Ramsey as D.C. police chief. Lanier replaced the lead detective on the case with three veteran investigators who had more homicide experience.
In 2007, the editors of ''The Washington Post'' assigned a new team of reporters to take a year to re-examine the Levy case.
The resulting series of articles, published during the summer of 2008, focused on the past failure of the police to fully investigate Guandique's connection to the attacks in Rock Creek Park. In September 2008, investigators searched Guandique's federal prison cell in California and found a photo of Levy that he had saved from a magazine. Police interviewed acquaintances of Guandique and witnesses of the other Rock Creek Park incidents.
On March 3, 2009, the
Superior Court of the District of Columbia
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It hears cases involving criminal and civil law, as well as family court, landlor ...
issued an arrest warrant for Guandique.
He was returned to the custody of the
District of Columbia Department of Corrections The District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) is a correctional agency responsible for the adult jails and other adult correctional institutions for the District of Columbia, in the United States.http://doc.dc.gov/doc/cwp/view,a,3,q,491 ...
on April 20 via the
Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City.
Two days later, Guandique was charged in D.C. with Levy's murder.
He was indicted by a
grand jury on six counts: kidnapping, first-degree murder committed during a kidnapping, attempted first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree murder committed during a sexual offense, attempted robbery, and first-degree murder committed during a robbery.
Guandique pleaded not guilty at his
arraignment, where a trial date was initially set for January 27, 2010.
His lawyers argued that Guandique's federal prison cell was outside the jurisdiction of a court-ordered search.
After errors in processing contaminated some of the gathered evidence with
DNA from employees of the prosecution,
the start date of the trial at the
H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse
The H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse is a courthouse of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in t ...
was moved to October 4, 2010.
Trial of Guandique
![H](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/H._Carl_Moultrie_Courthouse.JPG)
On October 18, 2010, jury selection commenced in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia before Judge
Gerald I. Fisher. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez presented the names of potential witnesses for the trial, including FBI agent Brad Garrett and the two women whom Guandique was convicted of assaulting. At the start of the trial, the prosecution's case was expected to take around four weeks and the defense was expected to take one day.
On October 25 and 26, Halle Shilling and Christy Wiegand testified about being attacked by Guandique while independently jogging in Rock Creek Park. Wiegand recounted that Guandique grabbed her from behind, dragged her down a ravine and held a knife against her face.
On October 26, 2010, Levy's then-64-year-old father, Robert, took the stand and refuted statements about his past suspicions of Condit. Robert Levy testified that he told authorities during the early years of the investigation that his daughter Chandra would have been too cautious to jog in the woods alone, but said that he no longer believed this to be true. He said that he also told police that his daughter and Condit had a five-year plan between them to get married. In retrospect, Robert Levy admitted: "I just said whatever came to mind just to point to him as the villain." Levy added that he had been convinced that Condit was "guilty until we learned about this character here," referring to Guandique.
On November 1, Condit testified at the trial and was asked on at least three occasions if he and Chandra Levy had been involved in a sexual relationship. He replied, "I am not going to respond to that question out of privacy for myself and Chandra."
FBI biologist Alan Giusti testified that semen found on underwear from Levy's apartment contained sperm matching Condit's
DNA profile
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
.
Prosecution witness Armando Morales, who shared a cell with Guandique at the U.S. Penitentiary in
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, testified that Guandique was concerned about being transferred between prisons in 2006 because of inmate violence against suspected rapists. Morales stated that Guandique, a fellow member of the
Mara Salvatrucha
Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1970s and 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Ange ...
gang, confided to him that he had killed Levy while trying to rob her, but said that he did not rape her.
The prosecution rested their case on November 10,
while dropping two out of the six charges against Guandique: sexual assault and murder associated with that assault.
On November 15, the defense rested its case without calling Guandique to the stand. Other prison witnesses called by the defense refuted Morales' testimony. Jose Manuel Alaniz said that Guandique made no mention of rape or murder while sharing a cell with both Alaniz and Morales at the penitentiary in Kentucky. Alaniz admitted under
cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and ...
that he "didn't want to be too nosy" and was often asleep at the prison while recovering from a gunshot wound. The prosecution dropped two more charges because the
statute of limitations
A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
had passed: kidnapping and attempted robbery. During closing arguments for the remaining charges of first-degree murder committed during a kidnapping and during a robbery,
prosecutor Amanda Haines contended that Guandique bound and gagged Levy after attacking her, leaving her to die of dehydration or exposure in the park. Defense attorney Santha Sonenberg countered with the lack of any DNA evidence connecting Guandique to the crime scene.
Calling the prosecution's case "fiction", Sonenberg suggested that Levy had been murdered elsewhere, with her dead body being dumped in the park.
The jury began deliberations on November 17, 2010.
Scheduled proceedings of the case met delays because of increased security at the courthouse.
After two days of deliberations, all but one juror had voted to convict Guandique.
On the third day, the jury asked Judge
Gerald Fisher to clarify the definition of assault.
Fisher responded that any physical injury could legally be considered an assault, regardless of how small.
On November 22, 2010, the jury found Guandique guilty of both remaining counts of first-degree murder.
After the trial, a juror said the testimony of Morales was decisive in reaching the verdict.
The conviction was called a "miracle" for having been reached with only circumstantial evidence.
Gladys Weatherspoon, who had previously represented Guandique in the 2001 assault cases, stated that she was troubled by the jury's verdict: "I just think they were going to convict anyway.... They felt bad for that woman, the mom. She's sitting in there every day."
At a post-trial press conference, Susan Levy said, "There's always going to be a feeling of sadness. I can surely tell you, it ain't closure."
Since the conclusion of the trial, Susan Levy has acted to keep photographic evidence of her daughter's remains sealed from the news media.
Sentencing and appeals
On February 1, 2011, Guandique's attorneys requested a
new trial on the grounds that the verdict had been improperly attained. The 17-page filing claimed that the prosecutors had appealed to the emotions of the jury, using "references to facts not in evidence".
The motion also alleged that one juror, who did not take notes, had breached the judge's instructions not to be "influenced by another juror's notes".
The prosecution opposed a retrial, arguing that the issue regarding the notes was no more than a technicality that did not have a significant effect on the verdict.
Guandique faced a minimum penalty of 30 years to a maximum of
life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
.
In seeking the maximum possible sentence, the prosecutors stated that Guandique "is unable to control himself and thus, will always remain a danger to women".
A memo submitted by the prosecution in February 2011 cited Guandique's harassment of female staff in prison, including soliciting a nurse and masturbating in front of guards.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez disclosed that he had traveled to El Salvador with a detective to investigate allegations that Guandique had fled his native country because of suspected attacks against local women dating back to 1999.
[ ] During the sentencing hearing on February 11, Guandique said to Levy's family, "I am sorry for what happened to your daughter", and insisted on his innocence. Before Judge Gerald Fisher reminded Susan Levy to address the court instead of the defendant, Levy said to him, "Did you really take her life? Look me in my eyes and tell me." Fisher denied Guandique's motion for retrial and handed down a sentence of 60 years in prison, stating that Guandique "will be a danger for some time. He's a sexual predator."
Guandique repeated his innocence during his sentencing. He has maintained his innocence in the years since the trial.
On February 25, 2011, public defender James Klein filed an appeal of Guandique's conviction with the
District of Columbia Court of Appeals. According to the court's annual report, appeals take an average of 588 days to reach resolution.
In December 2012 and January 2013, a set of secret hearings was made known to the public, but the subject of the meetings was sealed by the judge.
After a third hearing in February, the judge in the case unsealed transcripts from the previous hearings which revealed that Klein was seeking a new trial based on new evidence in the case.
A fourth hearing was scheduled for April 2013.
Dropped charges
In May 2015, prosecutors dropped their opposition to a new trial. This resulted from defense claims that the prosecution's star witness, Armando Morales, had
perjured himself on the stand. The defense contended that prosecutors failed to disclose that Morales was a
jailhouse informant
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
with a reputation for being untrustworthy. Morales had denied ever being an informant. The defense also argued that Morales made up Guandique's confession in order to boost his stock with prosecutors. On June 3, the defense said that a new witness, a neighbor, called 911 at 4:37 a.m. on the last day Levy was alive in order to report hearing a 'blood-curdling scream', possibly coming from Levy's apartment. The following day, Judge Gerald Fisher granted a motion for the new trial. Judge Robert E. Morin set the retrial of Guandique for March 1, 2016, but at that time, it was moved to October 11.
In November 2015, prosecutors told a D.C. Superior Court judge that their office had failed to turn over documents to the defense before the defendant's first trial. In December 2015, defense attorneys argued in new court filings that the charges should be dismissed because of those errors.
Specifically, the defense argued that they had only received two of three pages of a memo detailing prosecutors' contacts with Morales. At trial he had testified that he had never cooperated with law enforcement prior to the Levy case. The missing first page noted that he had previously approached law enforcement to discuss gang activity, including the actions of gangs to which he belonged. The defense argued this information had been purposely withheld from them, as it might suggest that Morales had shaded his testimony to gain favor with prosecutors.
On July 28, 2016, prosecutors announced that they would not proceed with the case against Guandique and would, instead, seek to have him deported. According to ''The Washington Post'', prosecutors lost confidence in the case after learning that Morales, who now lives in Maryland, was secretly recorded admitting lying on the witness stand during the 2010 trial. Babs Proller, the woman who made the recording, turned it over to the police. The U.S. Attorney's Office said only that based on new information that had come to light during the previous week, there was no longer enough evidence to go forward with the retrial.
In episode 3 of "An American Murder Mystery" on the case, it is mentioned that in March 2017 Guandique lost his bid to remain in the United States and was deported to his native El Salvador in May.
Disciplinary proceedings against prosecutors
Defense lawyers for Guandique believed that Campoamor-Sánchez and Haines had deliberately failed to turn over the first page of the Morales memo. They filed a complaint to that effect with the Justice Department's
Office of Professional Responsibility
The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), part of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and supervised by the FBI, is responsible for investigating lawyers employed by the Department of Justice who have been accused of misconduct ...
(OPR). After investigating for two years, OPR found no ethical or legal violations.
Campoamor-Sánchez left the Justice Department to work at the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and Haines retired. In 2020 the
District of Columbia Bar
The District of Columbia Bar (DCB) is the mandatory bar association of the District of Columbia. It administers the admissions, licensing, and discipline functions for lawyers licensed to practice in the District.
It is to be distinguished from ...
's Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) announced it would investigate the allegations; it brought charges the following May.
At the hearing both attorneys testified in their behalf. Haines believed that the full memo had been turned over to the defense and they had lost the first page. She did not think there would have been any reason for prosecutors to withhold it as it did not seriously damage their case; but she sometimes delayed turning over more specific information on witnesses to the defense since at some trials that had led to those witnesses getting killed. Both she and Campoamor-Sánchez testified that they had clashed over what to turn over to the defense and when, since at the time there were no clear rules in the Justice Department about it, leading to greater clashes between the two about who would question Morales at trial and handle the case's
closing argument
A closing argument, summation, or summing up is the concluding statement of each party's counsel reiterating the important arguments for the trier of fact, often the jury, in a court case. A closing argument occurs after the presentation of evid ...
—Campoamor-Sánchez had originally been scheduled to do both, but Haines reassigned those tasks to herself, leaving him feeling marginalized.
Three months later ODC announced its preliminary conclusion that the two had violated bar rules requiring that prosecutors disclose potentially exculpatory evidence to defense lawyers, and recommended both be
suspended from practicing law for six months. Both contested that punishment, with Haines's attorney calling it "unhinged—from both reality and from any precedent in law or logic". She and Campoamor-Sánchez have denied any wrongdoing.
Media coverage
The disappearance of Chandra Levy became a national topic of the news media in the summer of 2001,
with 63% of Americans closely following the case.
The media swamped Levy's parents from the moment they decided to go to Washington, D.C., in search of their daughter.
According to Condit, about a hundred reporters were camped out in front of his apartment during the morning of September 11, 2001, but they all left after news spread about
that day's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Media critics and cable news executives later cited the Levy case, as well as the concurrent
sensationalist
In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emo ...
coverage of a string of
shark attack
A shark attack is an attack on a human by a shark. Every year, around 80 unprovoked attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1 ...
s, as a reflection of the manner of news coverage in the United States before the September 11 attacks had taken priority.
In 2005, investigative journalist
Dominick Dunne
Dominick John Dunne (October 29, 1925 – August 26, 2009) was an American writer, investigative journalist, and producer. He began his career in film and television as a producer of the pioneering gay film '' The Boys in the Band'' (1970) and ...
said on ''
Larry King Live
''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly.
Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'' that he believed that Gary Condit had more information about the Levy case than he had been disclosing. Condit filed two lawsuits against Dunne, forcing him into an undisclosed financial settlement on one of them. In 2008, U.S. District Judge
Peter Leisure dismissed the other suit that alleged
slander
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
, because "The context in which Dunne's statements were made demonstrates that they were part of a discussion about "speculation" in the media and inaccurate media coverage".
During the summer of 2008, ''The Washington Post'' ran a 13-part series billed, in part, as "a tale of the tabloid and mainstream press pack journalism that helped derail the investigation". The two investigative reporters who were behind the ''Post'' series,
Scott Higham
Scott Higham is a Pulitzer Prize-winning member of ''The Washington Post's'' investigations unit. He graduated from Stony Brook University, with a B.A. in history and has a M.S. from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Higham also earned a ...
and
Sari Horwitz
Sari Horwitz is a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning member of ''The Washington Post's'' investigation unit. A reporter for ''The Washington Post'' since 1984, she has covered crime, homeland security, federal law enforcement, education, social ser ...
, wrote a book which detailed their investigation. The book, ''
Finding Chandra'', was published in May 2010.
Commentators, including ''The Washington Post'' Metro reporter Robert Pierre, wrote that emphasis on a glamorous white murder victim, when "about 200 people are killed in this city every year, most of them black and male", was "absolutely absurd and dare I say,
racist, at its core".
The media was criticized for its "rush to judgment" in suggesting, sometimes blatantly, that Condit was guilty of the murder, especially in the early days of the investigation.
Some of the reporters who were camped out in front of Condit's Washington apartment house were quoted as saying that they would remain there "until he resigns".
When Ingmar Guandique was convicted of murdering Levy in November 2010, Condit's lawyer Bert Fields remarked, "It's a complete vindication but that comes a little late. Who gives him his career back?"
On the 17th anniversary of the homicide, Levy's mother continued to push for further investigation into her daughter's death.
Impact
Levy's death has had a lasting impact, due in part to the efforts of her family and friends. Levy's disappearance came after a number of other high-profile cases that led to the creation of resources for missing young adults. For example, Levy's parents quickly requested help from the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation,
a nonprofit group that was established in Modesto after three female tourists disappeared from a 1999 trip to
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...
and were later found slain.
That foundation, which offered the Levys staff support and contributed towards a cash reward for information about Chandra's disappearance, was merged into the
Laci and Conner Search and Rescue Fund in 2009;
Susan Levy had previously participated in the efforts to find
Laci Peterson
The ''lac'' repressor (LacI) is a DNA-binding protein that inhibits the expression of genes coding for proteins involved in the metabolism of lactose in bacteria. These genes are repressed when lactose is not available to the cell, ensuring that ...
, another missing woman from Modesto.
In 1997, when
Kristen Modafferi mysteriously disappeared from the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
just three weeks after her 18th birthday, her parents turned to their congresswoman for help, because they were ineligible to receive help from the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...
. As a result, Congress enacted "Kristen's Law" in October 2000, which established the
National Center for Missing Adults
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
(NCMA) within the
U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
in order to coordinate such missing persons cases.
By the time Levy disappeared, institutions were in place in order to provide her family with support and assist in a nationwide search to locate her. Although the Levy family quickly moved to mobilize all such available resources, including offering a cash reward for information, hiring its own investigators,
and seeking media attention, those efforts to locate Chandra Levy or find her killer were overshadowed by the speculation which surrounded her possible relationship with Condit. Susan Levy later joined forces with Donna Raley, the mother of another young woman who disappeared from Modesto in 1999, to form "Wings of Protection", a support group for people with missing loved ones.
[ ] The
Mary Ann Liebert
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held independent publishing company founded by its president, Mary Ann Liebert, in 1980. The company publishes peer-reviewed academic journals, books, and trade magazines in the areas of biotechnology, biomed ...
company, the publisher of the ''Journal of Women's Health and Gender-Based Medicine'', presented its annual Criterion Award to Susan Levy for her work with "Wings of Protection" in May 2002.
''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' magazine stated that the media may have become more skeptical of "
herd mentality
Herd mentality, mob mentality or pack mentality describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make dif ...
" and open to alternative suspects after the Levy case.
The D.C. police claimed that it would have discovered Levy's body earlier if not for a miscommunication regarding the scope of the search. Commanders had ordered that a search be conducted within of each road and trail in Rock Creek Park, but searches were only made within 100 yards of each road, causing the body to remain undiscovered for a longer period of time.
Both the chief of detectives, Jack Barrett, and the chief of police, Charles H. Ramsey, have since left the force in D.C. Ramsey became head of the
Philadelphia Police Department
The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD or Philly PD) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth largest ...
; Barrett, who became an analyst for an intelligence support firm in
Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
, stated in hindsight that the media had imposed "enormous amounts of pressure" on the D.C. police.
Morales, who is serving time for conspiracy to distribute
methamphetamine and
crack cocaine, was scheduled to be released on August 5, 2016.
Condit retired from politics and moved to
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
with his wife to manage real estate and open two
Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake speciality shops owned by Inspire Brands. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin (1913–1967) and Irv Robbins (1917–2008) in ...
franchises, which have since closed.
See also
*
Crime in Washington, D.C.
*
List of solved missing person cases
Lists of solved missing person cases include:
* List of solved missing person cases: pre-2000
* List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
See also
* List of kidnappings
* List of murder convictions without a body
* List of people who di ...
*
List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of u ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Chandra Levyat
Find a Grave
Chandra Levy murder caseat
truTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows.
The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that fo ...
Chandra Levy case timeline (2000–2002)at
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
Chandra Levy case timeline (2000–2010)at ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''
* by the
D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (mirrored by the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
)
United States of America v. Ingmar Guandique documents at the
Superior Court of the District of Columbia
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, commonly referred to as DC Superior Court, is the trial court for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It hears cases involving criminal and civil law, as well as family court, landlor ...
"Who Killed Chandra Levy?" a 13-part series from ''The Washington Post''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Chandra
1977 births
2000s missing person cases
2001 deaths
20th-century American Jews
Formerly missing people
Missing person cases in Washington, D.C.
Murdered American Jews
People from Cleveland
People from Dupont Circle
People from Modesto, California
People murdered in Washington, D.C.
San Francisco State University alumni
Unsolved murders in the United States
USC Sol Price School of Public Policy alumni