Photo credits include: Dan E. Moldea and Amazon.com
The Chandra Levy murder case in DC’s Rock Creek Park was even by Hollywood standards “An Affair to Remember” – tabloid style. This article was first posted on February 7th, 2013. Since then, Ingmar Guandique has been released for lack of sufficient evidence.
It had all the usual elements to attract the media….think sex, power, intern.
A then youthful, blow dried Congressman by the name Gary Condit was having a secret liaison with a young, attractive intern – Chandra Levy. She disappeared in April of 2001 and her remains were found in May of 2002 – Ingmar Guandique was convicted of her murder in July of 2011
At that time, I spoke to best-selling investigative reporter and author Dan Moldea on behalf of NBC Niteside to see his reaction to the conviction:
By Janet Donovan – Wednesday, July 6, 2011 for NBC Niteside
Journo Dan Moldea: I Was Stunned By Guilty Verdict in Levy Case
The guilty verdict handed down to Salvadorian immigrant Ingmar Guandique in the murder of intern Chandra Levy nine years ago stunned investigative journalist and author Dan Moldea, he revealed to Niteside last night.
“I was totally surprised that Ingmar Guandique was found guilty,” said Moldea, citing lack of evidence. “In short, I am still not convinced that Guandique committed this crime.”
Ingmar, 29, allegedly told a fellow inmate that he murdered Levy as he was serving a sentence stemming from attacks on women in the same park — Rock Creek Park — where Levy’s body was found in 2001.
He added, “I am skeptical of any jail-house confession, as reported by another inmate.”
The slaying brought to light the romantic relationship between Levy and married ex.-Rep. Gary Condit.
“Rep. Gary Condit, a married man who did have an affair with Ms. Levy, was ruled out as a murder suspect early in the investigation,” said Moldea. “He is only guilty of bad judgment with regard to his relationship with Ms. Levy — for which he has paid a very high price.”
As to the penalty, Moldea thinks that with his first-degree murder conviction, Guandique will probably receive a life-prison sentence: “Until new evidence is presented, this case will be viewed as solved and thereby closed,” he said.
Also for NBC Niteside, I conducted an interview with “Finding Chandra” authors and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz (at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington) who detailed their findings in the investigation into the 2001 disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy that captivated the nation and led to revelations that she was having an affair with then-Rep. Gary Condit.
The duo fined tuned the details and unveiled “many new revelations in the case.”
Today’s news takes us full circle:
Excerpt of Keith L. Alexander’s piece in The Washington Post
“Attorneys for Ingmar Guandique, who was convicted of killing Levy, have requested a new trial based on what they say is new evidence regarding one of the main witnesses prosecutors used during Guandique’s trial. Guandique, 30, a Salvadoran in the United States illegally, was convicted in 2010 of first-degree murder after a high-profile, eight-week trial. He later was sentenced to 60 years in prison.”
Stay tuned – We will get back to all authors when information is released from the closed hearings today – assuming that press will be privy to at least some aspect of this unusual hearing.
