The case riveted Washington and the nation, particularly after it was revealed that she had a romantic relationship with California congressman Gary Condit, a married lawmaker 30 years her elder.
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Guandique will be given to immigration authorities for deporation.
Susan Levy, Chandra’s mother, wants to make sure that the government continues its investigation into the murder of Chandra Levy and that her family can eventually get some answers and closure.
Here is everything you need to know about the case.
“It’s weird, all of a sudden it’s no longer there and he’s released”, Levy said.
Ingmar Guandique is escorted from the Violent Crimes Unit by police in Washington, D.C., in 2009. With Condit’s help, Levy landed an internship in 2001 at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and settled into an apartment near D.C.’s Dupont Circle. She was scheduled to return home to California for a visit. On May 1, 2001, Levy vanished.
FILE – In this May 28, 2002 pool-file photo taken at the Modesto Centre Plaza in Modesto, Calif., photos of Chandra Levy are on display as musicians, right, stand by at the memorial service for Levy. Extensive searches were conducted but nothing was found until over a year after her disappearance.
A link between Gary Condit and the disappearance and murder of Chandra Levy was never proven, but many conspiracy theorists believed that Levy was “eliminated” to prevent exposure of her relationship with Condit. Condit was not charged in the case. They scoured Rock Creek Park for clues, after finding she had looked up a location inside the park on the day she disappeared. He was found guilty in 2010 of Levy’s murder but granted a new trial previous year.
Guandique’s conviction was also based on testimony from his former cellmate, Armando Morales, who claimed that Guandique confessed to him that he was responsible for Levy’s death. “We all want our truth”, she added. The government’s key witness in the trial that resulted in a 60 year sentence for Guandique was, himself, a convicted felon. The statement does not elaborate, and Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney, declined comment.
According to ICE sources familiar with deportation procedures, it is highly unlikely that Guandique will be a free man in the USA again, despite the fact he has now been cleared in Levy’s murder.
Guandique’s lawyers in the public defender’s office issued a statement Thursday saying their client has been vindicated.
Guandique will then have a hearing to determine if he is eligible for bond prior to his deportation hearing.
Guandique has been jailed awaiting retrial. A jury found Guandique guilty the next year of first-degree murder and other charges, but his attorneys accused prosecutors on appeal of taking liberties with closing arguments that they likened to “narrating a horror movie”.
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Recently, NBC Washington reported that Ingmar Guandique, who had been previously convicted of killing Levy, will now be released after prosecutors agreed to drop all charges against him on Thursday.
