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Thread: Ingmar Guandique Deported to El Salvador After Chandra Levy Murder Charges Dropped

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    Ingmar Guandique Deported to El Salvador After Chandra Levy Murder Charges Dropped

    Jury finds Guandique guilty

    A jury on Monday convicted Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique of killing Chandra Levy in 2001.

    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 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.

    Guandique's sentencing will come later, following additional court proceedings. The fearsomely tattooed 29-year-old is already serving a prison sentence for attacking two other women in Washington's Rock Creek Park.

    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, 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 Wiegand and Shilling, 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."

    Levy's mother, Susan Levy, attended most of the trial and was present during the reading of the verdict.

    Levy had finished graduate studies and a federal Bureau of Prisons internship when she disappeared. She was planning to take a May 5 Amtrak train back home to California's San Joaquin Valley, trial testimony revealed.

    The 10 days of testimony shed considerable light on Levy's life and times. Witnesses told of Levy's physical fitness habits, the color of her clothing and the traces of her final Internet browsing that ended shortly before 1 p.m. on May 1, 2001.

    Most intimately, Levy's semen-spotted underwear examined by the FBI confirmed that she had had a sexual relationship with then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California. Some of Levy's final Internet searches focused on Condit and his family members, according to trial testimony.

    "I was suspicious of him," Levy's father, Robert Levy, testified. "He was a primary suspect in our minds."

    In the trial's most anticipated moment, Condit testified for about two hours, during which time he denied killing Levy but refused to admit to an affair with the much younger woman. Guandique's defense attorneys specifically sought to cast suspicion on Condit during their closing arguments Tuesday.

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

    Prosecutors lacked any DNA, fingerprint, fiber or other physical evidence connecting Guandique to Levy or the wooded Rock Creek Park hillside where her skeletal remains were found in May 2002. There were no eyewitnesses.

    Prosecutors also didn't get a chance to cross-examine Guandique, who listened to the translated trial proceedings through a headset. His aggressive attorneys from the D.C. Public Defenders Service, Santha Sonenberg and Maria Hawilo, did not put the Spanish-speaking, middle-school dropout on the stand.

    Prosecutors also faced the burden of prior law enforcement errors.

    A litany of prior law enforcement efforts hindered prosecutors. An apartment security tape wasn't seized in time. A flawed park search left Levy's skeletal remains exposed for many months to the elements, wearing away evidence. Condit, in a moment that could have not helped prosecutors, bashed investigators' work.

    "I was beginning to feel they were somewhat incompetent," Condit testified.

    The first team of D.C. detectives and FBI special agents who investigated Levy's disappearance starting in 2001 did not testify, nor did the detectives who took over the cold case in 2007.

    In September 2008, the new team of detectives questioned Guandique and searched his cell at U.S. Penitentiary Victorville, a maximum-security facility near California's Mojave Desert. Following further investigation, police arrested Guandique in March 2009 on an assortment of murder and other charges.

    Over time, charges came and went. Prosecutors added accusations that Guandique sought to obstruct justice by threatening potential witnesses, but then these charges were dropped. On the day they rested their case, Nov. 10, prosecutors also dropped two charges relating to attempted sexual assault.

    By the time the jurors began deliberating Wednesday morning, the charges against Guandique were limited to two counts of felony murder.

    http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/22...#ixzz162OJ6D5y

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    Appeal filed over juror questionnaires in Chandra Levy case

    Last year's high-profile Chandra Levy murder trial now has its first appeal, and it has nothing to do with the man convicted of her murder.

    In a fight pitting juror privacy against public curiosity, the Washington Post is appealing a judge's decision not to disclose contents of juror questionnaires. The trial judge says 12 jurors unanimously wanted the questionnaires kept secret.

    "They were very concerned that ... either during the trial or after the trial that they were going to be, I don't want to use the word 'hounded,' but they were going to be investigated and people were going to try to talk to them and intrude upon their private or their working lives," D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher said.

    Fisher oversaw the murder trial, and its long pretrial preface, that culminated after 10 days of testimony in the Nov. 22 conviction of Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique. Guandique is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 11 by Fisher.

    The jury concluded that Guandique killed Levy on May 1, 2001, while she was walking or jogging in Washington's Rock Creek Park. Levy, a former Modesto resident, was preparing to return to California following completion of graduate studies and a Bureau of Prisons internship.

    "The circumstantial evidence suggested strongly that there had been a sexual assault, that there may have been either torture or restraint," Fisher noted. "And it was a fairly gruesome set of facts."

    The two first-degree felony murder convictions subject Guandique to potential sentences of 30 years to life in prison, as the District of Columbia does not authorize the death penalty.

    Guandique's defense attorneys will have up to 30 days to appeal after his sentencing. Any such challenge would be heard by a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the same court that will consider the Washington Post's appeal of the juror questionnaire issue.

    The 11-page questionnaires were used to screen the 12 jurors and four alternates who ultimately were selected to sit through the Levy trial. In part, the questionnaires were prompted by what Fisher termed the "enormous amount of publicity about this case." This public attention resulted from revelations that Levy had been engaged in a sexual affair with then-congressman Gary Condit.

    Condit testified during the trial, but he refused to acknowledge the affair. Prosecutors stated the affair as a proven fact.

    "Getting to the issue of what the jurors knew about this case, or didn't know, and their thinking based upon that was of particular concern to us," Fisher stated.

    Fisher explained his reasoning in a Nov. 24 hearing, the transcript of which was included in the Washington Post's quietly filed Dec. 23 appeal. Fisher further stated that he did not want to renege on his promise to jurors that the questionnaires would remain secret.

    "I believe that the First Amendment requires that the court look for less restrictive means than blanket withholding of information," the Post's attorney, Patrick J. Carome, retorted during the hearing, the transcript shows.

    Carome added that "the privacy issues can be addressed by withholding the particular information that was so sensitive that there was a privacy interest that trumps the First Amendment interest in access."

    As part of a related fight over trial access, Chandra Levy's mother, Susan, is seeking to keep certain visually and emotionally disturbing evidence sealed so it doesn't become public.

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/0...#ixzz1A1E66cNE

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    Lawyers seek new trial for convicted killer of Chandra Levy

    Attorneys for the man convicted of killing Chandra Levy are seeking a new trial.

    In a 17-page legal filing, attorneys for convicted killer Ingmar Guandique claim that jurors acted improperly and that prosecutors went too far in the closing argument. In particular, Guandique's attorneys claim prosecutors sought to inflame juror passions.

    "The repeated occurrences of this misconduct, particularly the speculation on matters outside the evidence and pleas for sympathy for (Levy), infected the entire closing," attorneys Santha Sonenberg and Maria Hawilo stated.

    Sonenberg and Hawilo cited statements made by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines as she summed up the case. Though jurors did not hear any testimony concerning Levy's final moments at the hands of Guandique, Haines conjured what they might have been like.

    "It was his face that she looked up at and begged for mercy," Haines said during the closing argument in November. "And his face was the last face she saw as she laid there naked and disabled, and he left her to die there in the woods."

    Sonenberg further cited newspaper accounts in complaining that some of the 12 jurors in Guandique's trial improperly shared notes with one another. According to the judge's instructions, jurors were supposed to take notes only for their own use.

    "The jury's failure to follow instructions from the court regarding the use to be made of notes taken during the trial raises questions and causes concern about whether it followed the court's other instructions," the defense attorneys argued.

    Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Wednesday afternoon that "the office is declining comment because the matter is pending" before D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher.

    On Feb. 11, Fisher is scheduled to sentence Guandique. Unless the sentencing is postponed as a consequence of the request for a new trial, Guandique faces sentences of 30 years to life in prison. The District of Columbia does not authorize the death penalty.

    An illegal immigrant from El Salvador, Guandique was convicted Nov. 22 of two counts of felony murder. The jury of three men and nine women deliberated for a little more than three days before announcing its verdict.

    The jury concluded that Guandique had killed Levy on May 1, 2001, while she was jogging or hiking in Washington's Rock Creek Park. At the time, Levy had finished her graduate studies and a federal Bureau of Prisons internship and was preparing to return to California.

    Raised in Modesto, where her parents still live, Levy had also embarked on an affair with then-congressman Gary Condit prior to her disappearance. Speculation, and eventually revelations, about the affair riveted public attention to the case.

    Hawilo and Sonenberg, in their new filing dated Feb. 1, cited this "plethora of media coverage" in raising concerns that jurors might have violated the judge's orders. Though Fisher did not sequester the jury during the 10 days of testimony, he did sternly admonish them on a regular basis to avoid all media coverage of the case.

    At the least, Hawilo and Sonenberg say, Fisher should conduct an additional hearing into the jurors' conduct. If Fisher denies the bid for a new trial, the claims about an unduly prejudicial closing argument could potentially become the basis for a formal appeal

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/02/0...#ixzz1Cq4Ebcyb

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    Prosecutors seek life without parole for Chandra Levy's killer

    Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence without possibility of parole for the man convicted of killing Chandra Levy.

    In an 18-page sentencing memo, prosecutors this week call convicted killer Ingmar Guandique a "grave danger to the community" who committed numerous other crimes beyond murdering Levy in 2001.

    "Mr. Guandique has exhibited predatory behavior that seems incapable of rehabilitation," the sentencing memo states, adding that Guandique "expresses no remorse (and) refuses to accept responsibility for his criminal behavior."

    A jury in November convicted Guandique of killing Levy while she was walking or jogging in a heavily wooded Washington park. Superior Court Judge Gerald I. Fisher is scheduled to sentence Guandique on Friday.

    Fisher on Friday may first have to resolve a defense motion for a new trial. Guandique's defense attorneys say a prosecutor went too far in her closing argument, and they also contend jurors may have improperly shared notes during deliberations.

    "The repeated occurrences of this misconduct, particularly the speculation on matters outside the evidence and pleas for sympathy for (Levy), infected the entire closing," attorneys Santha Sonenberg and Maria Hawilo stated in their own legal filing.

    The request for a new trial _ even if it is rejected _ could postpone the sentencing date.

    For his convictions on two counts of felony murder, committed during an attempted robbery, Guandique faces sentences that could range from 30 years to life. Though the District of Columbia does not authorize the death penalty, prosecutors are stressing they want the strictest permissible punishment.

    "Unfortunately, Ms. Levy's murder is just one example, among many, of (Guandique's) dangerousness and his capacity for violence against women," the prosecutors state.

    Citing Guandique's "predilection to taunt and terrorize women," the prosecutors argue that the illegal Salvadoran immigrant "is and will always continue to be" a threat to others.

    As evidence, assistant U.S. attorneys Amanda Haines and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez attached Guandique's prison disciplinary reports, photos and accounts from additional victims to accompany the sentencing memo.

    Some of the information cited arose during last year's trial, including accounts of two female joggers whom Guandique admitted to attacking in Washington's Rock Creek Park. This was the same park where Levy died, shortly before she was scheduled to return to California.

    Levy was raised in Modesto, Calif., where her parents still live. Her mother, Susan Levy, is scheduled to appear at the sentencing hearing to provide a crime victim's impact statement for consideration by the judge.

    But in their sentencing memo, prosecutors also had more leeway to present information that jurors never heard during the 10 days of testimony. This includes allegations that "Guandique's attacks upon women did not begin in Rock Creek Park," but rather began in his native El Salvador.

    "(Guandique) fled El Salvador because he was suspected of attacking a woman at knife point on an isolated trail in the village of Cooperativa San Jacinto," prosecutors state.

    In a previously undisclosed part of their investigation, prosecutors say Campoamor-Sanchez and a D.C. detective met in El Salvador with a woman they identify only as "Gloria." This witness contends Guandique attacked her in 1999, and also contends other villagers thought Guandique may have raped and killed a local girl.

    In another, previously undisclosed episode, prosecutors contend villagers raised money to send Guandique to the United States for fear that another family might retaliate against him for a stabbing he was involved with.

    http://www.vancouversun.com/Prosecut...#ixzz1DQ9fBLVk

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    Chandra Levy murder case re-examined with new details

    Secret court hearings about new information have the potential to undercut the testimony of a prosecution witness.

    WASHINGTON -- There's a new mystery in a murder case that gripped the nation's capital a decade ago.

    Federal prosecutors and lawyers for the man convicted of murdering 24-year-old former congressional intern Chandra Levy have met twice since December for secret court hearings about new information that could undercut the testimony of a prosecution witness. The court has closed off the hearings to public view — on one occasion locking the courtroom doors — and has ordered that legal filings be sealed.

    Whatever the problem is, it is serious enough that lawyers for the Justice Department and Ingmar Guandique, the man convicted two years ago of killing Levy, have agreed to put his appeal on hold until it is sorted out. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher has summoned Guandique to appear at a Feb. 7 court hearing.

    Gannett, parent company of USA TODAY, and three other news organizations — the Associated Press, The Washington Post and McClatchy Co. — asked Fisher on Wednesday to unseal the records. The Levy case records should be open to public inspection under the First Amendment, the organizations' lawyer, Patrick Carome, said in a court filing.

    Levy disappeared in 2001. But the mystery of what happened to her became a national spectacle when media reports said she had been having an affair with then-congressman Gary Condit of California. Condit was cleared of any involvement in her death, but he was ousted from Congress in a primary election in 2002.

    Police found her remains in a Washington park in 2002. Guandique was found guilty of Levy's killing in 2010 and sentenced the next year to 60 years in prison.

    Levy's parents, Robert and Susan, said they had not been briefed on the problem with the case, and weren't sure what to make of it. "Our concern is that we are without our daughter," they said. "We hope they don't let a rapist and murder out because of some technicality.''

    The U.S. attorney's office in Washington — which asked that the post-trial proceedings be secret — declined to comment on the witness problem. Fisher said in a December hearing that he ordered the secrecy over "safety concerns."

    Court records don't reveal what the problem is, or even which witness's testimony could have been undermined. Fisher said in December that prosecutors approached him with the information after Guandique's trial.

    The government's star witness was Guandique's former cellmate, Armando Morales, who told a jury in 2010 that Guandique admitted to him that he had killed Levy. He testified that Guandique confided in him "You don't understand. ... Homeboy, I killed the (expletive), but I didn't rape her."

    Washington's Public Defender Service, which represents Guandique, has also filed a notice of appeal challenging the secrecy surrounding the case. It's not the first time that secrecy has been an issue; last year, Washington's appeals court ordered Fisher to release copies of jury questionnaires, saying "the value of public trials is undisputed."

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...mined/1859319/
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    Lawyers begin 3 days of hearings in new trial motion for man convicted of killing Chandra Levy

    WASHINGTON – Lawyers for a man convicted of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy returned to court Wednesday as part of their pitch to a judge that he deserves a new trial because of what they say are problems with a key witness.

    Lawyers for Ingmar Guandique and the government began three days of hearings Wednesday, and additional hearings are set for February. The judge overseeing the case will ultimately decide whether to grant him a new trial.

    Guandique's lawyers are arguing that a jury convicted him in 2010 on the basis of false or misleading testimony given by a one-time cellmate. They say prosecutors knew or should have known the testimony was false and investigated the man further.

    Prosecutors oppose Guandique's motion for a new trial.

    Levy's 2001 disappearance created a national sensation after the 24-year-old Modesto, California, native was romantically linked with then-Rep. Gary Condit, a California Democrat who was ultimately ruled out as a suspect.

    Her remains were found in Washington's Rock Creek Park in 2002, and prosecutors argued her death fit a pattern of attacks Guandique committed on female joggers. He is now serving a 60-year sentence for her death, though he has maintained he is innocent.

    The man at the center of Guandique's new trial request, his former cellmate Armando Morales, is not scheduled to testify during this week's hearings. Morales was a star witness at Guandique's trial, testifying Guandique confided in him that he was responsible for Levy's death. Because there was no physical evidence linking Guandique to Levy's death, Morales provided some of the trial's most powerful testimony.

    In a court document filed earlier this year in support of a new trial, however, Guandique's attorneys suggested Morales lied several times at trial, including testifying he had not asked for anything in exchange for his testimony when, in fact, they say he asked to be put in a witness protection program.

    They also argued Morales, a former California gang leader, testified at trial that he didn't know how to come forward with information to law enforcement. But they say Morales was an experienced cooperator who had provided information about his gang to the California sheriff's department, corrections officials and federal agents in the 1990s.

    On Wednesday, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher heard from two agents who interviewed Morales in the 1990s after he was arrested in California.

    The agents, one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and another from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said Morales told them the history of his gang during an approximately 45-minute interview but declined to provide information about the crimes he was arrested for. The ATF agent said Morales said almost nothing law enforcement officers didn't already know.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/12...icted-killing/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    New trial likely for man convicted of killing intern Chandra Levy

    A man convicted in the 2001 killing of federal intern Chandra Levy is likely to get a new trial after prosecutors on Friday dropped their long-standing opposition to defense efforts to have a judge order the case be retried.

    Since 2013, attorneys for Ingmar Guandique have argued that a key witness in the 2010 trial had lied on the witness stand when he testified that Guandique confessed to him that he killed Levy.

    Guandique’s attorneys with the District’s Public Defender Service contend that the defense should have been told that the witness had been cooperating with prosecutors in other cases. They said he made up the alleged confession from Guandique to gain favor with prosecutors.

    The motion by prosecutors come a week before the lead prosecutors in the case, Amanda Haines and Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez were scheduled to begin testimony Tuesday and defend their handling of the case.

    In a filing late Friday afternoon, prosecutors wrote that the U.S. Attorney’s Office remains confident in Guandique’s guilt. Still, they wrote, the government would withdraw its opposition to the defense request for a new trial and asked for a status hearing in two weeks.

    Cohen also asked that Guandique remain in jail pending the outcome of the June 4.

    Levy, 24, disappeared May 1, 2001. Her remains were found a year later in Rock Creek Park, where she had gone for a jog.

    Levy’s disappearance and killing had emerged as one of Washington’s most sensational murder cases when it was discovered that she had an affair with Gary A. Condit, a married congressman who was 30 years her senior. Condit was the first suspect in Levy’s disappearance and later was cleared.

    The witness, Armando Morales, who was critical to the prosecution’s case, testified that he had never cooperated with prosecutors in other cases in hopes of seeking favor from authorities. Defense attorneys said they found evidence that Morales was not truthful.

    Guandique and his attorneys at the time of the trial, repeatedly said that Guandique, 33, was not involved in Levy’s death. Guandique was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...l%252Bnational
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    Chandra Levy murder retrial granted for man convicted of killing Washington intern

    WASHINGTON -- A judge on Thursday formally granted a retrial in the case of a man convicted of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy, a move that had been largely expected after prosecutors dropped their opposition to a retrial last month.

    D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher on Thursday granted a motion for a new trial in the case of Ingmar Guandique, who was convicted in 2010 of killing Levy.

    Guandique's attorneys had been pushing for a new trial because they said a key witness in the case gave false or misleading testimony. Prosecutors last month told a judge they believe the jury's verdict was correct but that they would no longer oppose the new-trial request. Prosecutors said at the time that the "passage of time and the unique circumstances of this case" had made opposing a new trial more difficult.

    Prosecutors and lawyers for Guandique are scheduled to return to court next week and are expected to set a new trial date then.

    Levy's 2001 disappearance created a national sensation after the 24-year-old California native was romantically linked with then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit. Condit, a California Democrat, was ultimately ruled out as a suspect.

    In late 2013, Guandique's lawyers requested a new trial after prosecutors brought to the judge issues with one of their key witnesses, Guandique's one-time cellmate, Armando Morales.

    Morales testified that Guandique had confided in him that he was responsible for Levy's death, and because there was no physical evidence linking Guandique to Levy's murder, Morales provided some of the trial's most powerful testimony. But Morales also testified that he didn't know how to come forward with information to law enforcement when, in fact, he had previously provided information.

    Guandique's lawyers argued that prosecutors knew or should have known that Morales' testimony was problematic and investigated further. Guandique's lawyers said Thursday they plan to ask for sanctions against prosecutors but did not specify in court what those might be. They also said they intend to argue that Guandique should be released on bond.

    http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/...l#incart_river
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    Charges dropped against man accused of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy

    District prosecutors have dropped charges against the man who had been accused in the murder of Chandra Levy, saying in light of new information it has concluded it can “no longer prove the murder case.”

    Prosecutors did not detail what that information is, saying only that it was received in the past week. The suspect, Ingmar Guandique, was set to go to trial in October.

    Levy was a 24-year-old intern with the Federal Bureau of Prisons when she disappeared May 1, 2001. The case gained national attention because police investigators at first looked closely at former California congressman Gary A. Condit, with whom Levy had an affair. Authorities later ruled him out as a suspect.

    Levy’s remains were found in 2002 in Rock Creek Park. Guandique, who had pleaded guilty to attacking other women in the park, was charged. He was found guilty of Levy’s murder following a 2010 trial, but his conviction was overturned last year and he is set to be tried again in October.

    Guandique, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, has been jailed awaiting retrial. After his release, he will be handed over to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he faces removal proceedings.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...385_story.html

  10. #10
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    May 9, 2017

    Ingmar Guandique Deported to El Salvador After Chandra Levy Murder Charges Dropped

    Guandique, 35, is a documented MS-13 gang member, ICE said

    Ingmar Guandique, the man previously convicted of killing D.C. intern Chandra Levy, is back in his native El Salvador, nearly a year after prosecutors dropped all charges against him.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials say Guandique was deported to El Salvador on Friday.

    “Mr. Guandique unlawfully entered the United States, and once here, continued to violate U.S. laws by assaulting innocent victims,” Matthew Munroe of the ICE Washington field office said in a statement. “As a result of his actions, he has been removed to his home country of El Salvador.”

    Guandique, 35, is a documented MS-13 gang member, ICE said.

    He was convicted in 2010 in Levy's death but later was granted a new trial. Prosecutors later moved to dismiss the charges after they felt they could no longer prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
    Guandique's lawyers said the informant who reported that Guandique confessed to the crime was found to have lied.

    "It is now clear that the jailhouse informant, who was central to the government’s case, was a perjurer who too easily manipulated the prosecutors," Laura E. Hankins said in a statement.

    Levy, a 24-year-old California native, was living in Northwest D.C. when she vanished on May 1, 2001. Her disappearance made national headlines after she was romantically linked to then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, also from California.

    Her remains were found in Rock Creek Park a year after her disappearance.

    Condit, a California Democrat, was ruled out as a suspect, and authorities turned their focus to Guandique, who was accused of attacking Levy while she jogged in the park.

    Prosecutors argued Levy's death fit a pattern of attacks Guandique committed on female joggers. At the time, he was serving 10 years in prison for attacking two other women in Rock Creek Park.

    But prosecutors lacked hard evidence against him, presenting neither eyewitnesses nor DNA evidence. The prosecution admitted evidence was mishandled as the early investigation focused on Condit.

    A jury found Guandique guilty in November 2010 on two charges of felony murder in Levy's death.

    Guandique was sentenced to 60 years, when he was 29.

    Guandique's conviction was based primarily on the testimony of Guandique's former cellmate Armando Morales, who said Guandique told him he was responsible for Levy's death. Guandique's defense lawyers argued Morales' testimony was unreliable and that there was no physical evidence linking Guandique to the the murder.

    Levy's mother, Susan Levy, attended Guandique's initial murder trial every day. Last year, she said she was upset to hear Guandique would be released.

    "I hope that we find the right person, that if it was Guandique, that he doesn't go on and do anything else to other people," she said.

    http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...#ixzz4pomKS6Bm
    Last edited by CharlesMartel; 08-15-2017 at 05:30 AM.

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