The father of slain intern Chandra Levy took the witness stand Tuesday afternoon and refuted statements he gave to law enforcement more than eight years ago, when he believed then-Rep. Gary Condit was responsible for his daughter’s death.
Dr. Robert Levy said he told police in 2001 and 2002 that his daughter was very cautious and would never go jogging in the woods alone, and that she and Condit had secretly been dating and had a five-year plan to get married. But on Tuesday, Levy said he didn’t think those things were true.
“I just said whatever came to mind just to point to him as the villain,” Levy said.
Prosecutors have admitted that the investigation was botched from the beginning and focused too much on Condit, who was hiding his affair with the 24-year-old intern. Police have since cleared Condit. Last year, police charged Ingmar Guandique, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, with Levy’s slaying. Guandique was in prison after he was convicted for attacking two women in Rock Creek Park two months after Levy disappeared.
On the second day of his daughter’s murder trial in D.C. Superior Court, Levy said he was certain Condit was “guilty until we learned about this character here,” pointing to Guandique.
A detective who oversaw the case in the first month testified that the focus on Condit — a Democrat who represented Levy’s hometown of Modesto, Calif. — hurt the investigation. Sgt. Ronald Wyatt said when he complained to his bosses that their second-guessing and need for constant updates were hampering the probe, he was yanked off the case.
Wyatt described missed opportunities in the first nine days.
Wyatt went to the Levy’s Dupont Circle apartment and found her laptop computer still on. He browsed the computer to see what sites she had visited, then turned it off to get a search warrant. When he returned the next day, the computer wouldn’t work: “The operating system was obliterated.”
It would take weeks for computer experts to retrieve information from the laptop that would lead them to believe Levy went jogging in Rock Creek Park.
Earlier Tuesday, for the second day in a row, a woman testified how she survived an attack by Guandique while jogging in Rock Creek Park.
The athletic, nearly 6-foot Christy Wiegand said Guandique grabbed her from behind and forced a knife to her face and a covered her mouth.
Wiegand said her mind was racing and she decided to go limp. She said Guandique whispered to her, “Shhh. Be quiet. It’s OK.”
Guandique released his grip, and Wiegand fought with all her might.
“I was going to struggle until I died,” she said.
Guandique got up and fled, and within 40 minutes police had Guandique in custody and she positively identified him.
