WASHINGTON (AP) – Defense attorneys for a man convicted of killing former Washington intern Chandra Levy are making clear that at his second trial they plan to offer jurors evidence pointing to a different one-time suspect in the case: former California Congressman Gary Condit.
Levy’s 2001 disappearance created a national sensation after the 24-year-old Modesto, California, native was romantically linked with Condit, a Democrat. He was at one time the primary suspect in the case but eventually ruled out by police. Defense attorneys argued in a motion filed Wednesday, however, that Condit was “a main suspect” and had a “powerful” and “obvious” motive to kill Levy and or cover up her death.
“Mr. Condit was fully aware of the cost he could pay if his affair with Ms. Levy became public. He therefore had an obvious motive to kill Ms. Levy in order to keep the relationship secret, and an equally powerful motive to cover-up the circumstances of her death if she died while she was with him – either through his intentional conduct or otherwise,” the defense wrote.
A jury ultimately convicted another man, Ingmar Guandique, of Levy’s murder. Levy’s 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. Guandique was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 60 years in prison, but last year prosecutors dropped their opposition to defense attorneys’ request for a new trial.
Prosecutors said they believe the jury’s verdict was correct but the “passage of time and the unique circumstances of this case” had made opposing a new trial more difficult. The trial is now scheduled for October.