Former suspect in Chandra Levy murder deported
A man accused of killing Chandra Levy has been deported to his native El Salvador, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday.
ICE called Ingmar Guandique-Blanco “a documented MS-13 gang member” who “unlawfully entered the United States at an unknown location and date.”
{mosads}“His criminal record was lengthy, dating back to May 2001 when he was arrested on local charges by Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department,” it added.
“In February 2002, he was sentenced to 10 years of incarceration on each of two counts of assault with intent to commit robbery. In February 2011, he was convicted of first degree murder, but after requesting a new trial, his case was later dismissed.”
Levy, a 24-year-old interning at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, went missing in Rock Creek Park in 2001. Her remains were found there the following year.
Guandique, now 35, was convicted of killing Chandra Levy, but federal prosecutors dropped the charges against him last year following a retrial.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said that it believed it could no longer prove the murder case against Guandique “beyond a reason doubt.”
The case hinged on a jailhouse informant who said that Guandique had confessed to killing Levy.
Guandique’s attorneys argued during his retrial that his onetime cellmate gave false or misleading testimony during the original proceedings.
Levy’s disappearance sparked national headlines after it was revealed she was romantically linked to then-Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.).
Condit, a married lawmaker from Levy’s native California, was later ruled out as a suspect.
–This report was updated at 2:44 p.m.
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