Arrest Finally Made in Murder Case of Intern Chandra Levy

April '09 National Scene Magazine National Article

Proof That the Wheels in Washington Do Move Slowly: Arrest Finally Made in 2001 Murder Case of Intern Chandra Levy


Written by: Karen Benardello


A long-awaited break has been announced in the Chandra Levy murder case, nearly eight years after her death. Washington, D.C. police announced on Tuesday that they have issued an arrest warrant for the man they believe killed the intern.

Police hope to charge Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique with first-degree murder in Levy’s attack and slaying in a Washington park. While he is currently serving time in a federal prison in Adelanto, California for attacking two other women, he is expected to be brought back to the nation’s capital sometime within the next two months.

When Levy disappeared, she had just finished an internship with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. She remained in Washington, even though she was originally from Modesto, California. When last alive, Levy left her apartment to go running in the park. Her remains remained missing for nearly a year, until a man walking his dog found her skull and bones in the park.

The announcement is a welcome one, as the case has long stumped the city’s police department. The initial investigation received criticism for being compromised, as police missed leads and even searched the wrong part of the park for Levy’s body. When her remains were found, they were so decayed investigators couldn’t recover much evidence.

Authorities didn’t immediately focus in on Guandique; instead, they questioned Levy’s congressman, former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California, whose political career was sabotaged due to the investigation. However, Condit, a popular Democrat for a dozen years in his district who was romantically linked to Levy, was never considered a suspect.

But police eventually were led to Guandique, based on interviews with at least two witnesses who claimed he told them he killed Levy. Washington police also conducted interviews with the man who found Levy’s remains, as well as other victims who were attacked in the park. Police were unable to arrest Guandique sooner because, according to U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor, there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, but the circumstantial evidence collected from over the years led investigators to him.

For example, one witness told police last month that Guandique said he and two male teenagers were in the Washington park smoking marijuana and cocaine when he saw Levy jogging. Reportedly, he told the teens that Levy “looked good” and that he was going to “get her.” The three then allegedly followed, grabbed and took her into the bushes. He then choked her to death so that no one would hear the struggle, according to the witness.

Even though Levy allegedly scratched Guandique during the struggle, he instructed his family to tell police that if they were ever questioned, just to say the scratches came from a fight with his girlfriend. Investigators did speak with Guandique immediately after Levy’s death in 2001 and 2002, and at one point, even gave him a polygraph test, which turned out to be inconclusive. They did also question his family and friends, but could not find any evidence linking him to the case.

However, even in light of this new information, Santha Sonenberg and Maria Hawilo, Guandique’s public defenders, urged the public not to “draw any conclusions based on speculation by the media and incomplete information.”

Levy’s parents, Bob and Susan, told the Associated Press though that this new development meant their young daughter, who was only 24 at the time of her death, can now finally rest in peace. “Thankfully the individual responsible for this most heinous and terrible crime will finally be held accountable for his actions and hopefully unable to hurt anyone else ever again,” they also said.