Prosecutors finished presenting their case Wednesday against Ingmar Guandique, the man accused of killing federal intern Chandra Levy in Rock Creek Park in May 2001.
Defense attorneys began their case by trying to discredit the prosecution’s key witness, one of Guandique’s former cellmates, who testified that Guandique confessed to killing Levy.
Prosecutors also dropped two charges — attempted sexual assault and a related murder count — against Guandique. Four other counts, including first-degree murder, attempted robbery and kidnapping, still stand.
Testimony from one of the prosecution’s last witnesses underscored the lack of forensic evidence linking Guandique to Levy’s slaying.
FBI analyst Alan Giusti testified that DNA from former congressman Gary Condit, D-Calif., was found on underwear from Levy’s apartment. Condit, with whom Levy was romantically linked, was once considered a key suspect in the case.
The DNA on the underwear of the 24-year-old Bureau of Prisons intern was tested in May 2001, when she disappeared. But no DNA was recovered from underwear or tights found at the crime scene at Rock Creek Park, where Levy’s body was found in May 2002, Giusti said.
When Condit testified earlier in the trial, he said he would not answer any questions about his and Levy’s relationship out of “common decency” and respect for Levy and her family. “I did not commit a crime, and I did not do anything wrong,” Condit said.
The prosecution’s final witness, Sue Fisher, assistant administrator for Federal Bureau of Prisons, testified that Guandique and Armando Morales shared a cell — Guandique in the lower bunk, Morales in the top bunk — at Big Sandy federal penitentiary in Kentucky for three months in 2006.
Nathan Webel, acting captain at the Virginia prison where Morales is now incarcerated testified that the facility has a strict dress code for visitors that prohibits revealing clothing. Morales had testified that he refused to meet with a defense investigator because she was scantily clad when she asked to talk with him.
The trial is on break until Monday, and testimony is expected to conclude early next week. One defense witness is incarcerated, and Judge Gerald Fisher and attorneys were exploring videoconferencing options on Thursday.
