Joggers’ attacker is guilty in Levy death

Susan Levy, mother of murdered Washington intern Chandra Levy, speaks outside D.C. Superior Court in Washington on Monday.
Susan Levy, mother of murdered Washington intern Chandra Levy, speaks outside D.C. Superior Court in Washington on Monday.

— An illegal alien from El Salvador imprisoned for attacking two female joggers was found guilty Monday of murdering Washington intern Chandra Levy.

Ingmar Guandique was convicted 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 to then-Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif. Condit was once a suspect, but police no longer believe he was involved in her disappearance.

Speaking outside the courthouse, Levy’s mother said she’ll never be free from the pain of losing her daughter.

“I have a lifetime sentence of a lost limb missing from our family tree,” Susan Levy said after the hearing. “It’s a lifetime of a broken heart.”

Investigators eventually focused on Guandique 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 the park.

The defense argued that the 29-year-old Guandique (gwahn-DEE’-kay) became a scapegoat for a botched investigation. Levy’s body was found about a year after she disappeared.

In a telephone interview, Condit’s attorney Bert Fields said the verdict represents a vindication that comes too late to repair the damage to his client’s career. Still, trial testimony that Condit’s DNA was on underwear at Levy’s apartment bolstered the idea that the married politician had an affair with the intern.

“At least Gary Condit can find some measure of closure to this nightmare,” Fields said. “It’s a complete vindication, but that comes a little late. Who gives him his career back?” Fields said his client, whose primary loss in 2002 was largely blamed on negative publicity from the case, wasn’t going to speak to reporters.

The jury deliberated over parts of four days before returning with a verdict shortly before noon Monday. Guandique was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder, one alleging death as part of a kidnapping and one alleging the death as part of an attempted robbery.

Guandique could be sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison. Sentencing was set for Feb. 11.

Defense lawyer Santha Sonenberg declined comment on appeal.

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 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 lawyers argued that Morales concocted the confession story to curry favor with prosecutors.

The defense 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.

Information for this article was contributed from Washington by Jessica Gresko and from Baltimore by Ben Nuckols of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 11/23/2010

Upcoming Events