Prosecutor Says Chandra Levy Deserves Justice

WASHINGTON (Nov. 16) -- The nine-year march down a tortuous path toward justice for the Chandra Levy family, prosecutors and investigators came down to final arguments today in D.C. Superior Court in the murder trial of an illegal immigrant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines, armed with no physical evidence to speak of, told jurors to use common sense and convict Ingmar Guandique, 29, of murder in Levy's death. Haines pointed to his history -- convictions for two assaults on joggers in Rock Creek Park in Northwest Washington in close proximity to where Levy's skeletal remains were found one year after her disappearance, according to an account in The Washington Post.

And Haines mentioned the testimony of Guandique's cellmate, who said Guandique confessed to killing Levy. Guandique pleaded guilty in 2002 to attacking the two joggers and received a 10-year sentence.

"She's been waiting nine years for justice," Haines told jurors of Levy. "Just because it's been nine years coming doesn't mean it should be denied." She called the slaying "ghastly."

But defense attorney Santha Sonenberg counter-punched, saying the same tunnel vision that made investigators focus at first on then-Rep. Gary Condit led them to fixate on Guandique, according to the Post.

Sonenberg suggested Levy may have been killed elsewhere and then dumped in the park, which if true, would undercut the prosecution's premise that Guandique preyed on women in Rock Creek Park, including Levy.

"Someone else should be on trial in this case," the defense attorney told jurors.

Levy, 24, had just completed an internship at the Federal Bureau of Interns when she vanished May 1, 2001. The case made international headlines after she was romantically linked to Condit, the married congressman who represented her hometown district in Modesto, Calif. At the time, for some, the notion of an older politician dating a young intern conjured up images of President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinksy.

Investigators focused initially on Condit because of his romantic link to Levy and his sometimes less-than-candid answers during interviews with investigators.

Still, most investigators felt early on that Condit had nothing to do with the disappearance.

Jack Barrett, then chief of D.C. police detectives, told AOL News last month that four to six weeks into the investigation "we had come to the conclusion that he was not involved in the disappearance."

But he said it took three months to convince the media and the U.S. Attorney's Office of that, which he says became a distraction for investigators.

"The U.S. Attorney's Office thought he and his wife were involved in the disappearance," Barrett said.

During the trial, prosecutors called Condit to the stand to try to show he had nothing to do with the slaying. Condit, who is writing a book on the whole ordeal, declined to discuss the nature of his relationship with Levy, at one point saying: "I don't believe it's relevant. I am not going to respond to that question out of privacy for myself and Chandra."

The trial was never expected to be easy for prosecutors, who came in with no DNA or forensic evidence. One thing they did have was Armando Morales, a gang member with a questionable past who is serving a 21-year sentence for drug and gun offenses. He had been a cellmate of Guandique's in Big Sandy, Ky.

Morales testified that Guandique, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, confessed to him that he tried robbing Levy and accidentally killed her while dragging her into the woods. Morales said Guandique insisted he never sexually assaulted Levy.

But the defense tried undercutting Morales' testimony and introduced another cellmate via video conference from a Missouri prison, who testified that he never heard Guandique confess to the murder.

Near the end of the trial, prosecutors dismissed some of the charges, some because the statute of limitations had run its course. Guandique still faces two felony murder charges.

The question now is: Do the jurors believe he killed Chandra Levy? They are due to begin deliberations Wednesday.