Cops Eye Convicted Attacker in Levy Case

May 24, 2002 -- A man who attacked two women near where Chandra Levy's body was found in a Washington, D.C., park has been questioned by police and could be grilled again as investigators try to determine what happened to Levy.

Police have been scouring the area around where Levy's remains were found early Wednesday, just over a year after the former federal intern went missing. They have been looking for any kind of clue as to what happened, and say they still have not determined whether she died in the park or somewhere else.

The 24-year-old California native was last seen on April 30, 2001, and last heard from in an e-mail to her parents the following day.

Investigators are not yet treating the case as a homicide, and the cause of death is pending a coroner's investigation. All that was found of the woman was her skull, some bones and some of her jogging clothes.

But Billy Martin, one of the attorneys representing the Levy family, said today he believes Chandra was the victim of a homicide, and that he was confident the Metropolitan Police Department would find her killer. He said she was not a young woman who would "walk over to that park, fall down that hill and die."

"This is not an accident," he said. "Somebody did something to Chandra and we hope that we can find the person or personswho've done that."

Metropolitan Police Chief Charles Ramsey said today on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America that investigators have spoken to a man named Ingmar Guandique, who is serving a 10-year prison term in connection with two attacks on women that occurred in the area of Rock Creek Park where Levy's remains were found.

Law enforcement sources told ABCNEWS that Guandique, 20, is likely to be questioned again, but Ramsey said today that any new conversation with the convict would come only after coroners made a determination about whether Levy was murdered.

"We have not gotten a ruling from the medical examiner as to cause [of death] yet," Ramsey said. "The presumption is made that this is a murder case. It may be, but we have not yet been officially informed of the circumstances around the death. If there is a need to re-interview, we will not leave any stone unturned in the investigation."

Guandique was first questioned in regard to the Levy case several months ago, after U.S. Park Police told Metropolitan Police that he had been arrested.

"He said nothing to implicate himself with her, but then again we didn't know she was in Rock Creek Park," Ramsey saidThursday.

A Shallow Grave?

Washington medical examiner Dr. Jonathan Arden has declined to comment on the condition of the remains or what has been learned from them. He said it was unlikely there would be any determination as to cause of death until next week.

Though Ramsey refused to say whether there was anything to indicate that Levy was the victim of a crime, Deputy Police Chief Terrance Gainer told The Associated Press that her skull was "not in pristine condition." However, he said he could not determine whether the damage was done before or after Levy died.

Questions about the thoroughness of the original hunt for Levy, when investigators combed through Rock Creek Park a year ago, were raised again today when The Washington Post reported that the site where the remains were found was overlooked in a gap between two sweeps through the dense woods.

"It is difficult terrain to search," Ramsey said on Good Morning America. "It's an urban forest. The remains were found at the base of a cliff. It's difficult to even get to. We did the best we could to try to search 1,700 acres of parkland. If the body was there during the search, we would have missed it, but you could have stood next to it and not seen it.

"That is the presumption that the body was there at the time of the search and not dumped afterwards," he added.

Ramsey would not confirm or deny reports that the remains were found in a shallow grave, but said that they were "covered with a thick underbrush of about a foot thick."

Studying Similarities

Guandique may have caught investigators' attention not only because of the location where he committed his crimes, but because Levy was apparently jogging with a Walkman radio when she disappeared, like the man's two victims.

Those two women, who were attacked in mid-May and on July 1, 2001, were both jogging with Walkman-like devices. Both were grabbed from behind and threatened with a knife.

However, each of those women was taller than Levy and one was trained in self-defense, and both were able to get away, though he shoved one of his victims into a ravine just off the jogging trail before she was able to elude him.

The judge who sentenced Guandique rejected his defense that all he wanted to do was steal the women's personal radios, and said his behavior was "more predatory," according to Amy Keller, a senior staff writer for Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Congressional matters.

The victims described the attacks as vicious, Keller said on Good Morning America.

Searched Three Times

Still, police do not have much to work with. Law enforcement sources told ABCNEWS that Levy's remains are so decomposed they may never learn how she died.

The Levy case generated national headlines after reports surfaced that the young woman had been linked to Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif. More than 200 members of the media arrived in Rock Creek Park within hours of the announcement that a body had been found there.

Levy's remains were found Wednesday morning by a man walking his dog, looking for turtles in the park.

Levy's apartment was near the park, which police searched three times last summer after analysis of her computer revealed she had done a search for directions to the Klingle Mansion, a historic home in Rock Creek Park, the day she disappeared.

The young woman's body had apparently been in the park for a long time, and the bones were not all in one location, Ramsey said on Wednesday. Investigators still did not know this morning whether the area where the remains were found was where Levy died, or whether the body had been moved.

Ramsey said Susan and Robert Levy, the young woman's parents, learned of the identification of the remains while watching the news, despite his efforts to make sure they were informed first.

Sources have said Rep. Condit, 54, admitted to police that he had an affair with the young woman — whose hometown, Modesto, is part of his district — right up until she disappeared.

Police have stressed Condit is not considered a suspect, but the scandal hurt the once-popular lawmaker's standing with his constituents. The six-term congressman, who is married, lost his reelection bid to a former aide in a Democratic primary in March.

A memorial service for Levy will be held Tuesday at Modesto's Community Center, a family spokeswoman said. ABCNEWS' Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.