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Arrest in Chandra Levy Case 'Imminent'
By Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 21, 2009; 1:58 PM
The parents of slain intern Chandra Levy said this morning that D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told them late Friday night that an arrest warrant in the eight-year old unsolved murder case is "imminent in the next couple of days."
Susan Levy, Chandra's mother, in an interview with The Washington Post today said that she was told that police made a breakthrough in the case.
Levy said Lanier told her "in all her 19 years of police work this is really big, 'We really came down with a break.' They're very proud."
Susan said that she and her husband, Robert, were still processing the information.
"It's a bittersweet relief," she said. "Not that we'll ever get our daughter back but we need the truth."
Local television stations in Washington and California began reporting late Friday night that an arrest was coming soon.
The Levys said Lanier did not tell them who the suspect is. Lanier issued a statement Saturday declining to comment. "The Metropolitan Police Department has no information available for release in this ongoing investigation. This case generated bits of information, which we continued to follow up on."
The police investigation into the murder of Chandra Levy has ramped up in recent months, after The Washington Post in July published a 13-part serial narrative investigation into the case, pointing to Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran immigrant, as the most likely suspect in the case.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation who spoke under condition of anonymity told The Post Guandique is the one named in the warrant.
Since the end of last summer, D.C. detectives and prosecutors have been building a case against Guandique, who attacked two women at knifepoint in Rock Creek Park around the time of Levy's disappearance in May 2001. Guandique, 27, was convicted in those attacks and is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison in California. He has denied any involvement in Levy's death.
Prosecutors have convened a federal grand jury in the District and new detectives assigned to the case have been interviewing witnesses and examining evidence in the case. The detectives submitted some of Guandique's belongings for DNA testing, and at least one of his victims has testified before the grand jury.
Police and prosecutors told the victim, Halle Shilling, that they were focusing their attention on Guandique. Shilling told The Post that the investigators apologized to her for the fact that the original detectives on the Levy case had never interviewed her.
"They said they were so sorry it took so long to talk to me," Shilling said. "They are a very dedicated band of people. They really want to get to the bottom of this and they are not going to sleep well until they get a conviction."
Shilling said the investigators did not discuss what new evidence or new witnesses they had found. "My impression is they have a lot more," she said.
Levy, a 24-year-old intern for the federal Bureau of Prisons, was having an affair with Gary Condit, a married congressman from California, when she vanished. Police focused on Condit rather than Guandique as the case endured a firestorm of world-wide media coverage.
Condit was never charged and lost a reelection bid in 2002. He has long maintained that he had nothing to do with Levy's disappearance and was the victim of overzealous investigators and a media pack.
Shilling said one of the investigators told her, "I can't believe Gary Condit was even a suspect."
Condit's attorney during the case, Abbe D. Lowell, said the news vindicates his client.
"While very good news, it is a tragedy that the police and media obsession with former Congressman Condit delayed this result for eight years and caused needless pain and harm to the families involved," Lowell said. "This should give the Levys the answer and closure they deserve and remove the unfair cloud that has hung over the Condits for too long."
Arrest in Chandra Levy Case 'Imminent'
By Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 21, 2009; 1:58 PM
The parents of slain intern Chandra Levy said this morning that D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told them late Friday night that an arrest warrant in the eight-year old unsolved murder case is "imminent in the next couple of days."
Susan Levy, Chandra's mother, in an interview with The Washington Post today said that she was told that police made a breakthrough in the case.
Levy said Lanier told her "in all her 19 years of police work this is really big, 'We really came down with a break.' They're very proud."
Susan said that she and her husband, Robert, were still processing the information.
"It's a bittersweet relief," she said. "Not that we'll ever get our daughter back but we need the truth."
Local television stations in Washington and California began reporting late Friday night that an arrest was coming soon.
The Levys said Lanier did not tell them who the suspect is. Lanier issued a statement Saturday declining to comment. "The Metropolitan Police Department has no information available for release in this ongoing investigation. This case generated bits of information, which we continued to follow up on."
The police investigation into the murder of Chandra Levy has ramped up in recent months, after The Washington Post in July published a 13-part serial narrative investigation into the case, pointing to Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran immigrant, as the most likely suspect in the case.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation who spoke under condition of anonymity told The Post Guandique is the one named in the warrant.
Since the end of last summer, D.C. detectives and prosecutors have been building a case against Guandique, who attacked two women at knifepoint in Rock Creek Park around the time of Levy's disappearance in May 2001. Guandique, 27, was convicted in those attacks and is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison in California. He has denied any involvement in Levy's death.
Prosecutors have convened a federal grand jury in the District and new detectives assigned to the case have been interviewing witnesses and examining evidence in the case. The detectives submitted some of Guandique's belongings for DNA testing, and at least one of his victims has testified before the grand jury.
Police and prosecutors told the victim, Halle Shilling, that they were focusing their attention on Guandique. Shilling told The Post that the investigators apologized to her for the fact that the original detectives on the Levy case had never interviewed her.
"They said they were so sorry it took so long to talk to me," Shilling said. "They are a very dedicated band of people. They really want to get to the bottom of this and they are not going to sleep well until they get a conviction."
Shilling said the investigators did not discuss what new evidence or new witnesses they had found. "My impression is they have a lot more," she said.
Levy, a 24-year-old intern for the federal Bureau of Prisons, was having an affair with Gary Condit, a married congressman from California, when she vanished. Police focused on Condit rather than Guandique as the case endured a firestorm of world-wide media coverage.
Condit was never charged and lost a reelection bid in 2002. He has long maintained that he had nothing to do with Levy's disappearance and was the victim of overzealous investigators and a media pack.
Shilling said one of the investigators told her, "I can't believe Gary Condit was even a suspect."
Condit's attorney during the case, Abbe D. Lowell, said the news vindicates his client.
"While very good news, it is a tragedy that the police and media obsession with former Congressman Condit delayed this result for eight years and caused needless pain and harm to the families involved," Lowell said. "This should give the Levys the answer and closure they deserve and remove the unfair cloud that has hung over the Condits for too long."
