In a stunning move, federal prosecutors on Thursday abruptly announced they were dropping murder charges against the man previously convicted of killing former intern Chandra Levy.
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The motion to drop all charges against him made to District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert Morin was based on information that prosecutors received within the last week, the statement said.
Susan Levy speaks to the media after a jury found Ingmar Guandique guilty of murdering her daughter, Chandra Levy in 2001. That starts with her reported romantic connection to Condit, the married congressman, at the same time she was interning for the Bureau of Prisons. The ensuing scandal scuttled the California Democrat’s decade-long political career and his marriage, but he was later ruled out as a suspect in Levy’s disappearance.
Levy disappeared in 2001 and her remains were found the next year.
The illegal immigrant from El Salvador was convicted of first-degree murder in 2010 and given a 60-year sentence, despite protesting his innocence.
Guandique had been scheduled to stand trial in October.
“Based on today’s court action, Ingmar Guandique will enter the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and be issued a notice to appear in immigration court”.
Defense attorneys wrote about knotted tights found near Levy’s remains and believed to be used to restrain her; defense attorneys said two women would testify Condit had a sexual interest in tying them up. A year ago his attorneys petitioned for a new trial, claiming that Morales’ testimony was a lie.
In the statement, the office said it can no longer prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Guandique killed Levy, 24.
The “without prejudice” part of the dismissal means prosecutors reserve the right to prosecute Guandique at a future date if new evidence emerges in the case.
“I am sick to my stomach and am having trauma and grief all over again”, she said.
Following I.G.’s conviction (he was sentenced to sixty years in jail), his defense team tirelessly petitioned a judge to release their client over what they claimed was an unreliable informant.
“We all want our truth”.
Defence lawyers have argued, though, that Mr. Morales lied during the trial and that prosecutors knew or should have known the testimony was problematic.
Ms. Levy’s 2001 disappearance created a national sensation after the Modesto, Calif., native was romantically linked with Mr. Condit, who was a congressman at the time.
“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”, said Hankins, of the Public Defender Service.
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Members of the Levy family could not be reached to comment Thursday.
