WASHINGTON — A man imprisoned for attacking two female joggers was found guilty Monday of murdering Washington intern Chandra Levy, wrapping up a murder mystery that took down a congressman and captured the nation’s attention a decade ago.
Ingmar Guandique was convicted of first-degree murder for attacking Levy, 24, while she exercised in Washington’s Rock Creek Park in May 2001. Her disappearance made headlines when she was romantically linked to then-Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif. Condit was once a suspect, but police no longer think he was involved in her disappearance.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Levy’s mother said she will never be free from the pain of losing her daughter.
“I have a lifetime sentence of a lost limb missing from our family tree,” Susan Levy said after the hearing. “It’s a lifetime of a broken heart.”
Investigators eventually focused on Guandique, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, and brought formal charges last year. Prosecutors acknowledged they had little direct evidence but said Levy’s death fit a pattern of other crimes Guandique committed in the park.
The defense argued that Guandique, 29, became a scapegoat for a botched investigation. Levy’s body was found about a year after she disappeared.
In a telephone interview, Condit’s attorney Bert Fields said the verdict represents a vindication that comes too late to repair the damage to his client’s career. Still, trial testimony that Condit’s DNA was on underwear at Levy’s apartment bolstered the idea that the married politician had an affair with the intern.
“At least Gary Condit can find some measure of closure to this nightmare,” Fields said. “It’s a complete vindication, but that comes a little late. Who gives him his career back?”
The jury deliberated over parts of four days before returning with a verdict shortly before noon Monday. Guandique was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder, one alleging death as part of a kidnapping and one alleging the death as part of an attempted robbery.
Guandique could be sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison. Sentencing was set for Feb. 11.
Defense lawyer Santha Sonenberg declined to say whether Guandique would appeal the verdict.
Prosecutors Amanda Haines and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez obtained a conviction even though they had no eyewitnesses and no DNA evidence linking Guandique to Levy. And Guandique never confessed to police. Prosecutors hung their hopes in large part on a former cellmate of Guandique, Armando Morales, who testified that Guandique confided to him that he killed Levy.
The government also presented testimony from two women who were attacked by Guandique in May and July of 2001 in Rock Creek Park. In both cases, Guandique attacked the women from behind while they jogged but ran away after each woman fought him off.
