An attorney for Ingmar Guandique sought to raise questions about former congressman Gary Condit and testimony from one of Guandique’s ex-cellmates during closing arguments in Guandique’s trial for the death of federal intern Chandra Levy.
Public defender Santha Sonenberg questioned why the cellmate, Armando Morales, waited until he heard on the news in 2009 that Guandique was about to be charged in Levy’s May 2001 death in Rock Creek Park to come forward. Morales testified Nov. 4 that Guandique admitted to killing Levy.
“It’s easy to frame someone when there’s a lot of media attention,” Sonenberg said. She said Morales didn’t know details about the case that could have only come from the killer.
“He’s filling in details with the way he expects the story should go,” she said.
Sonenberg also raised questions about how then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.), with whom Levy was romantically linked, has responded to the investigation into Levy’s disappearance.
“He does things like a guilty man,” Sonenberg said, saying Condit didn’t cooperate with police and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when testifying before a grand jury in April 2002.
