Brain Top Off!

Washington- A jury on Monday finally announced its verdict having Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique convicted of killing Chandra Levy in 2001 nearly a decade ago. The jury of three men and nine women deliberated for a little more than three days before announcing its verdict, which caps one of the nation’s longest-running and most relentlessly chronicled murder mysteries. The 29-year old Ingmar Guandique’s sentencing will come later, following additional court proceedings. The extremely tattooed man is already serving a prison sentence for attacking two other women in Washington’s Rock Creek Park.

Levy’s disappearance made headlines when she was romantically linked with then U.S Rep. Gary Condit of California when most intimately, Levy’s semen-spotted underwear examined by the FBI confirmed that she had had a sexual relationship with the former politician. Condit was once a suspect and that some of Levy’s final Internet searches focused on Condit and his family members, according to trial testimony. Levy’s father, Robert Levy, testified then, “I was suspicious of him” “He was a primary suspect in our minds.” But police no longer believe he was involved.

Investigators eventually focused on Guandique and brought formal charges last year. Prosecutors acknowledged they had little direct evidence but said Levy’s death fit a pattern of other crimes committed by Guandique in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. Meanwhile, Rock Creek Park is where, jurors agreed, Guandique killed Levy on May 1, 2001, during an attempted robbery and kidnapping. Two women who survived their own 2001 attacks by Guandique helped convict him, with their compelling testimony during the trial that began Oct. 25.”He grabbed me from behind and held a knife to my face,” recounted Christy Wiegand, one of Guandique’s victims now a 35-year-old attorney with two children. “He brutally attacked me, and dragged me to an isolated area.” Guandique’s other known surviving victim, Halle Shilling, likewise recounted how she “felt an incredible thud” when Guandique jumped her from behind while she was jogging. Shilling, now a mother of three living in Southern California, and Wiegand were both able to fight Guandique off. Wiegand and Shilling were both also considerably bigger than the 24-year-old Levy.

In addition to the testimony by the two women, prosecutors benefited from the firmly spoken recollections of prison inmate Armando Morales. A former gang member, who is still serving time on drug charges, Morales testified that Guandique confessed to him in 2006 that he had killed Levy. “He told me he spotted her over there at the park,” recounted Morales, who shared a prison cell with Guandique for six weeks. “She was alone, and she had on one of those waist pouches. He decided to rob her. He said he hid in the bushes … he ran up behind her and grabbed her from behind. He said he dragged her into the bushes. ”He said by the time he had dragged her into the bushes, she had stopped struggling,” Morales added. “He said he never meant to kill her,” Morales testified.

Of the 40 prosecution witnesses, only Morales directly connected Guandique to Levy according to reports. Prosecutors did not call other prison snitches previously cited by investigators as having heard Guandique confess.

Meanwhile, the two first-degree felony murder convictions subject Guandique to a potential sentence of 30 years to life in prison, as the District of Columbia does not have the death penalty.

Mfrance15 is a writer at NinjaCOPS Superstore, an online store specializing stun guns, Mace pepper spray, and other home safety and security safety products.

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