Congressman in clear seven years after murder of intern

Published on Sunday 22 February 2009 22:25

IN THE annals of Washington sex scandals, the Chandra Levy case had everything: a love-struck young intern, an affair with an adulterous congressman more than twice her age and, ultimately, a murder inquiry played out in sordid detail on 24-hour cable TV.

It also destroyed the career of Gary Condit, the California politician who went from a seat in the Capitol to selling ice-cream in the Arizona desert with a cloud of suspicion hanging over him.

Now, seven years after the young woman's remains were found in a remote part of Washington's Rock Creek Park, police say they have finally identified the man who killed her.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Ingmar Guandique, 27, a Salvadoran immigrant already serving a ten-year sentence for attacking two women joggers in the same park.

It finally clears Mr Condit, 60, who was never formally named as a suspect but was repeatedly implicated by various observers during months of scrutiny by the American media.

Many theories were expounded, fuelled largely by Mr Condit's reticence to talk publicly about Ms Levy's disappearance and a leak from police that he withheld details of the affair from them. Most popular was that Mr Condit had kidnapped and killed the woman to keep her silent, while another claimed she was sold into sex slavery in the Middle East.

"Never was there ever any evidence that Condit had anything to do with Levy's disappearance or her murder," said Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, a lawyer and investigative reporter who has defended Mr Condit. "But people assumed that, since she'd disappeared, only someone as powerful as a congressman could have arranged her kidnapping."

Mr Condit, a vociferous advocate of traditional family values, was questioned twice by police after Ms Levy, 24, an intern working at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, disappeared on 1 May, 2001.

Her parents told police they suspected she was having an affair with a congressman and at first Mr Condit denied an association with the woman two years younger than his daughter.

But he was forced to come clean after being caught hiding a gift box in a rubbish skip. Then, in August 2001, just weeks before the 9/11 attacks swept the scandal from the news agenda, Mr Condit gave a disastrous prime-time TV interview in which he refused to answer questions.

It contrasted with his own well-publicised demand for President Bill Clinton to come clean during the Monica Lewinsky scandal a few years earlier.

"He basically turned himself into a murder suspect," said Jim Mills, a news producer for Fox at the time. "This was a legitimate, local crime story that cut right into the US Capitol. All of the video was of us chasing a lab rat around in a maze. And it made him look guilty."

The story reignited when Ms Levy's remains were found in May 2002. By that time, Mr Condit, who had joined the US House of Representatives in 1989 as a member for California, had already lost his challenge to stand for re-election.

One of his ventures after leaving politics was to open up two ice-cream salons in Glendale, Arizona, with his family. That ended in a dispute over payments for the franchise with the brand's owner.

Yesterday, Mr Condit issued a short statement, expressing his satisfaction that case was drawing towards a close.

TIMELINE

1 May, 2001: Chandra Levy leaves her Washington apartment and disappears.

10 May: Police interview Ms Levy's hometown congressman, Gary Condit, who is married. He calls Ms Levy "a great person and a good friend." Ms Levy's apartment shows no sign of foul play.

21 June: Robert and Susan Levy urge Mr Condit to share whatever he knows about their daughter.

7 July: A police official says Mr Condit told investigators he had a romance with Ms Levy.

10 July: Police and FBI agents search Mr Condit's apartment.

31 July: Police scale back their investigation.

12 Aug: Mr Condit says newspaper editorials calling for his resignation are "terribly unfair".

23 Aug: Mr Condit denies involvement in first interview since Ms Levy disappeared.

7 Dec: Mr Condit files for re-election.

5 Mar, 2002: Mr Condit loses primary election by a landslide.

22 May: Skull and bones found in Washington's Rock Creek Park. Dental records confirm remains are Ms Levy's.

28 Sept: Police want Ingamar Guandique, in prison for two other attacks at Rock Creek Park, to take a lie detector test. Police questioned Guandique after Ms Levy disappeared.

20 Dec, 2003: Mr Condit seeks $209 million in damages over magazine articles linking him to Ms Levy's death.

21 Feb, 2009: Arrest warrant links Guandique to the killing.