In closing statements in the trial of the man accused of killing federal intern Chandra Levy in May 2001, prosecutors painted a picture of a life cut short and stressed Ingmar Guandique’s history of attacking women in Rock Creek Park.
“By the time Ms. Levy makes it to the woods, she only has a few hours left to live,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines told the D.C. Superior Court jury. “Mr. Guandique is in the woods.”
Haines described the similarities between Levy’s death and the assaults of the two other women in the park during a two-month span. Both women testified at Guandique’s trial. All the victims were young women who were exercising, and the attacks were in isolated areas, Haines said. And, she said, Guandique claims the assaults were not intentional.
“He minimizes,” she said. “He calls them all accidents.”
She also recounted the testimony of Armando Morales, a former cellmate, who testified that Guandique told him he attacked Levy from behind, but said he did not know she was dead.
“If you believe Mr. Guandique, she lived,” until she died of starvation, dehydration or exposure, Haines said.
She urged the jury to convict Guandique of murder charges.
“Justice is what needs to happen for this young girl,” Haines said. “Just because it’s been nine years coming does not mean it should be denied.”
