After nearly a decade, the unsolved case of Chandra Levy has finally been put to rest. Convicted murderer, 29 year-old Ingmar Guandique, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the 2001 killing of Levy. However, it took eight long years before Washington police even suspected Guandique of committing the crime.
Prior to her disappearance, 24 year-old Levy was working as a federal intern for Democrat Gary Condit who represented California’s 18th Congressional District. Much of the early investigation focused on the suspicion that Levy and the married Mr. Condit had an affair, and that Mr. Condit had some connection with her disappearance. However, Mr. Condit maintained his innocence, reports Reuters.com, and denied that he and Levy engaged in an unprofessional relationship. Despite Mr. Condit never being named as a suspect in the case, this negative publicity contributed to his reelection loss in 2002.
The search for Levy ended a year after she vanished when her remains were found in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. Unfortunately, Washington police had no leads and the case went cold. Only in 2009 did police turn their attention to illegal Salvadoran immigrant Guandique. At the time of his conviction, Guandique was already imprisoned for attacks on other women occurring in the same area that Levy went missing. Investigators immediately looked for a connection between Guandique and Levy, but found no DNA evidence or witnesses linking the two. Instead, prosecutors relied on a former inmate of Guandique who testified that Guandique confessed to the murder while in jail. The defense, reports the New York Times, claims that the inmate was unreliable in his accusations and that Guandique is not connected to the crime.
However, this doubt did not stop a jury from convicting Guandique of first-degree murder on November 22. Judge Gerald I. Fisher of District of Columbia Superior Court sentenced Guandique to 60 years in prison, believing that “Mr. Guandique was dangerous to society, particularly to women”. Ten years of grief and anger was clearly expressed when Sandra Levy, Chandra Levy’s mother, made a statement prior to Judge Fisher. She confronted Guandique about the murder and called him a “hideous creature”, reports the New York Times.
But regardless of the court’s decision, Guandique maintains his innocence. “I am very sorry for what happened to your daughter,” he said in Spanish to Susan Levy, “But I had nothing to do with it. I am innocent.” Guandique has 30 days to file an appeal. According to the Bureau of Prisons, Guandique is also eligible to reduce his sentence by nine years if he maintains good behavior in prison.
