The Chandra Levy Case

**RaVen Blackehart** · February 21st, 2009, 08:41 AM

Police are close to making an arrest in the Chandra Levy murder case, one of Washington's most infamous cold cases, CNN affiliate KGO reported Saturday.
Police are reportedly close to making an arrest in the Chandra Levy murder case.

Police are reportedly close to making an arrest in the Chandra Levy murder case.

Police contacted Levy's parents Friday informing them the arrest was imminent, the San Francisco, California, television station reported.

KGO also quoted a Washington television report that said police were pursuing an arrest warrant for Ingmar Guandique, an inmate in the D.C. prison system.

Washington police did not return calls to CNN seeking comment.

"We appreciate all the hard work they did," Susan Levy, Chandra's mother, told another CNN affiliate KXTV. "You want justice. You want the person incarcerated. It is still painful no matter what. Your child is dead and gone. But we are glad the police are doing something and making a difference."

Levy, a California native, went missing on April 30, 2001. Her remains were found May 22, 2002, by a man walking his dog in a remote area of Washington's Rock Creek Park.

Police questioned Condit several times in connection with the murder, but never named him a suspect.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/21/...evy/index.html

**malq** · February 21st, 2009, 09:22 AM

That seems so long ago!
Murder never goes away. I'm glad to hear that Gary Condit prolly didn't do it. he seemed like such a nice guy for a crooked politician.
Thanks Raven.

**moonlilly1981** · February 21st, 2009, 10:53 AM

Thanks for posting this raven.

**Peeperann** · February 21st, 2009, 11:03 AM

Wow, thanks Raven. I'm so happy that finally someone is going to come to justice for this. It really does seem so long ago, but seeing her picture brings it all right back like it was yesterday.

I don't really believe in closure, but hopefully it will bring a little relief to her family.

**MadmamainNC** · February 21st, 2009, 02:53 PM

Thanks Raven, I just saw this over on AOL. Her disappearance and tragic death not only hurt those who loved her, but brought pain to innocent people involved in her life. Just very sad.
Glad they finally have a suspect and her family will have some sort of closure.

**Abroad** · February 21st, 2009, 05:38 PM

Originally Posted by malq

That seems so long ago!
Murder never goes away. I'm glad to hear that Gary Condit prolly didn't do it. he seemed like such a nice guy for a crooked politician.
Thanks Raven.

Yes, - Mr Condit should be more relieved than anybody now that he can get out from under that cloud of suspicion. The question is what he can salvage of his political career at this late stage?

**Sister Iroz** · February 21st, 2009, 09:45 PM

WASHINGTON - Investigators in the 2001 slaying of Chandra Levy have prepared an arrest warrant for a Salvadoran immigrant convicted of similar attacks in the park where the former intern disappeared, a person close to the investigation said Saturday.

The person told The Associated Press that Ingmar Guandique's arrest is imminent and an official announcement is expected soon. The person was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/40022667.html

**Sister Iroz** · February 23rd, 2009, 11:11 AM

The parents of slain federal intern Chandra Levy say they feel "bittersweet" over news that an arrest in their daughter's 8-year-old case is imminent.

"We would like justice to be done, but even if it is done, it won't bring her back so we'll never really be happy," Chandra's father, Robert Levy, told FOX News' Geraldo Rivera on Saturday.

"We have a terrible void in our life...we have a life sentence without her," his wife, Susan, said.

Police interviewed and are close to charging California prison inmate Ingmar Guandique for the murder of Levy, who vanished in May 2001, a law enforcement official told FOX News on Saturday. Levy's body was found a year later in Washington's Rock Creek Park.

Guandique, a Salvadoran immigrant, was convicted of assaulting two women in the same park around the time of Levy's disappearance and is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison.

The official said Washington, D.C., authorities submitted evidence to the U.S. Attorney's Office to obtain an arrest warrant for Guandique, who will be served papers in California and likely will be flown to Washington to hear the charges against him.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,497964,00.html

**Wicked Doll** · February 23rd, 2009, 01:04 PM

I am delighted to hear that Chandra's family will see justice served. I hope her parents can find some peace now that an arrest is imminent even though it does not bring their daughter back.

Her remains were found close to my dad's home. I remember being surprised that they were ever found due to the secluded nature of the area. The media frenzy that followed was incredible.

Here's to justice being served. Thanks for the post!

**SoUncool** · March 3rd, 2009, 02:46 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

And here he is:

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 4th, 2009, 12:43 PM

The Salvadoran immigrant suspected in the 2001 slaying of Washington intern Chandra Levy told at least two people he killed her, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Ingmar Guandique, 27, also kept a magazine photo of Levy in his prison cell, stated the affidavit detailing evidence supporting a warrant for his arrest for first-degree murder.

Guandique boasted of his ties to the violent Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and told witnesses that he was known as "Chuckie" -- the name of a demonic doll in a series of horror movies -- because he had a reputation for "killing and chopping up people," the affidavit states.

D.C. Metro police and federal prosecutors released the affidavit on Tuesday, announcing they would charge Guandique with first-degree murder. He has not been charged with any other slayings.

The affidavit revealed that Levy, 25, fought for her life, scratching her attacker on his face and giving him a "fat lip." Guandique said he received the injuries in a fight with his girlfriend. But the girlfriend later told police that while Guandique struck and bit her at times, she never hit him.

[...]

The affidavit includes excerpts from interviews with a dozen witnesses, who are not identified by name and are instead given numbers. One witness, who frequently exchanged letters with the suspect, told police Guandique had told him as early as 2003 that he killed a young woman in the park. During a taped 2008 phone conversation with the witness, "Guandique acknowledged that he had told W9 about the 'girl who's dead,''' the affidavit says.

[...]

Guandique learned last week from media reports that he would be arrested in the Levy murder case and, according to a witness, responded with an expletive. "They got me now. What am I gonna do?" the witness quoted Guandique as saying, according to the affidavit.

He vowed that he was not "going to go out alone," telling the witness he planned to set a fire with a battery and tissues, then use a homemade handcuff key to escape. He said he would kill the detectives with "shanks," or weapons made in prison.

A search of his cell on February 26 turned up the items he described to the witness, the affidavit says. They included a AA battery, several tissues, a toenail clipper fashioned into a sharp piece of metal, and a device made of razor blade.

[...]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/04/...que/index.html

**Pete Bondurant** · March 4th, 2009, 05:43 PM

Illegal alien!

B.O would have allowed him to have a driver's license were he not already in prison.

That is hope and change we don't need.

**Sister Iroz** · March 9th, 2009, 07:54 AM

Washington-area lawyers disagree on whether the evidence disclosed by officials so far against Chandra Levy murder suspect Ingmar Guandique presents a significant challenge to prosecutors hoping to close the District's most notorious cold case.

"This is not a slam dunk," said D.C. defense lawyer and former homicide detective Ted Williams. "To really have a bona fide case against this guy, they need to either have some very strong circumstantial evidence, or they need to have some physical evidence where they can tie him to this murder."

[...]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...t-a-slam-dunk/

**Wicked Doll** · April 10th, 2009, 04:45 PM

A Salvadoran immigrant facing charges in the slaying of Washington intern Chandra Levy has been moved to Oklahoma from a federal prison in California, officials said Friday.

Ingmar Guandique, 27, was transferred Thursday from the Adelanto, Calif., prison where he was serving a 10-year sentence for an assault conviction, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Felicia Ponce said. He was taken to the bureau's federal transfer center in Oklahoma City.

Ponce could not say where Guandique was headed or how long he would be in Oklahoma.

"Where an inmate is going to be held is not public information until they arrive," she said.

District of Columbia police issued an arrest warrant March 3 for Guandique, accusing him of sexually assaulting and killing Levy on a trail in Rock Creek Park in May 2001. Her remains were found in the Washington park a year later. Guandique faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of the Modesto, Calif., native.

Authorities have said Guandique was expected to be brought to Washington within 30 to 60 days of the arrest warrant.

Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, said Friday that he did not know when Guandique would arrive.

D.C. police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said the U.S. Marshals Service is handling Guandique's transfer to Washington.

"We don't have a set date as to when he will arrive in D.C.," Crump said.

Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service could not be immediately reached for comment.

Guandique was sentenced in 2002 for attacking two women in the same park around the time of Levy's disappearance.

Maria Hawilo, Guandique's public defender, said she had no comment.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,6058517.story

**Whisper** · September 29th, 2010, 06:12 PM

Guandique Cell Search Admissible in Levy Case
Items obtained from a California prison cell belonging to the man accused in the death of a federal intern in 2001 can be introduced at his trial a judge has ruled. Items taken from Ingmar Guandique's cell while he was being interviewed by investigators of Chandra Levy's death can be shown to the jury.
Guandique's attorneys argued that the cell search was illegal because he had not yet been arrested in connection with Levy's death.

Washington D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher said that prosecutors can use the items taken from the cell because prisoners have no right to privacy. Judge Fisher also rejected another defense motion to exclude from evidence statements Guandique made to U.S Park Police officer while being questioned about a complaint from a female jogger.

Among the items found in Guandique's cell was a picture of Chandra Levy that had been cut out of a magazine. When Park Police were questioning him about a knife attack on a jogger, they showed him a photo of Levy and he admitted he had seen her in the park.
'Catching Prey' in the Park

[...]
When Guandique was charged with her murder, he was serving time for attacks on two other women in the same park.

Guandique, 29, did win one motion during the hearing. Judge Fisher ruled that statements he made to a probation officer during a presentencing interview for a burglary conviction, could not be used in the Levy trial.

In that interview, Guandique told the probation employee that he had a compulsion to attack people smaller than him alone in the woods. He referred to it as "catching prey." Those statements will not be allowed, Judge Fisher ruled.

http://crime.about.com/b/2010/09/23/...-case.htm?nl=1

**Whisper** · October 17th, 2010, 06:49 PM

Chandra Levy murder trial unlikely to answer many questions

Jury selection begins Monday in the case of Ingmar Guandique, accused of killing the Washington intern in a park in 2001. There are no direct witnesses to the assault and there is no DNA evidence.
The disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy transfixed the nation, tangled a California congressman in scandal and left Washington shocked and scared. Nine years later, a suspect will finally go on trial.
Jury selection will begin Monday in the case of Ingmar Guandique, 29, who prosecutors say killed Levy on May 1, 2001, after attempting to sexually assault her while she was jogging on a remote trail in Washington's Rock Creek Park. But the trial of the Salvadoran immigrant is unlikely to reveal answers to many details surrounding Levy's death, and legal experts say there could be further anguish for Levy's parents because a conviction is no sure thing.
There are no direct witnesses to the assault on Levy nor DNA evidence connecting Guandique to her death. Court filings suggest that prosecutors are relying on statements the defendant made about Levy to a fellow inmate as well as his admitted assaults of two other women in Rock Creek Park.
to be an interesting trial," said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division of the Justice Department. "The prosecution will have the burden of proving guilt without physical evidence — which is a challenge — and the defense will have an opportunity to go after some of the defects in the investigation."
Guandique was charged with Levy's murder last year while serving a 10-year sentence for assaulting the two women at knifepoint in Rock Creek Park around the time of Levy's disappearance.
Saltzburg said the timing and location of those assaults and a photo of Levy found in the defendant's cell could bolster the prosecution's case.

At the time of her death, Levy, 24, had recently finished her graduate studies and an internship with the Bureau of Prisons. She had planned to return to her hometown of Modesto, Calif., where her parents, Robert and Susan Levy, still live.
Thirteen months after Levy disappeared, her remains were discovered on a secluded slope in Rock Creek Park. The prosecution acknowledges that police botched the search, losing nearly all forensic evidence because of a miscommunication over where to look. An autopsy revealed a cracked skull, but medical examiners were not able to determine what killed Levy. The intern's death was declared a homicide based on the circumstances of her disappearance.
Levy's disappearance gained national attention after reports surfaced that she was having an affair with her congressman, Gary Condit (D-Ceres). Following Levy's disappearance, investigators looked into accusations that the congressman was having an affair with her.
Police and the FBI interviewed Condit several times but never declared him a suspect. The once-popular congressman lost his bid for reelection in 2002. Condit ran two Baskin-Robbins franchises in Arizona until losing a dispute with the company in November 2008.
In 2005 Condit received an undisclosed amount and an apology from Vanity Fair magazine in a defamation lawsuit. In 2007 a judge dismissed Condit's defamation suit against the Sonoran News, a Phoenix-area newspaper.
During the final pretrial hearing Thursday, Guandique sat with his head bowed, eyes darting back and forth as he intently listened to the Spanish translation through headphones.
Tensions in the case have centered on the prosecution's reliance on secondhand witnesses. Discussions in court suggest that the prosecution will introduce a cooperating prison inmate to whom Guandique allegedly confessed his involvement in Levy's death. Guandique has not confessed to police. "The credibility of the snitches is going to be absolutely critical because of the absence of physical evidence," Saltzburg said.
Cooperating witnesses are often motivated to provide the government with information in order to receive benefits such as reduced sentences or better accommodations, Saltzburg said.
Testimony by fellow inmates is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions in the United States, said Justin Brooks, a criminal defense attorney and director of the Californian Innocence Project, a group that works to overturn wrongful convictions.
[...]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...tory?track=rss

**Pete Bondurant** · October 17th, 2010, 06:54 PM

Illegal alien

**kafka** · November 22nd, 2010, 01:58 PM

Convicted!

**Pete Bondurant** · November 22nd, 2010, 05:58 PM

Illegal alien!

**Hellsbells** · February 11th, 2011, 03:24 PM

Man Gets 60 Years in Prison in Levy Slaying

WASHINGTON – The man convicted of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy nearly a decade ago has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Ingmar Guandique was sentenced Friday. In November, a jury convicted Guandique of first-degree murder in Levy's 2001 disappearance and death, despite a lack of witnesses and no DNA evidence linking him to the crime.

A District of Columbia Superior Court judge also rejected Guandique's request for a new trial.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/11...-levy-slaying/