The Chandra Levy Chronology (Rev. #10)

Various published news sources | May 26, 2002 | NetValue

[let freedom sing]

she said in a live TV appearance that when she mentioned to him that Chandra was missing that his FIRST reaction was to say, "Well, I will donate $10,000 to help find her." She and Dr. Levy was TOTALLY shocked, if I remember correctly.

That TV appearance would be recorded-- appx. when was that interview, and who was it with? I've seen a lot of interviews with them, but I missed that one.

[Howlin]

Chandra Update
Three new developments.
By Mickey Kaus
Updated Thursday, May 23, 2002, at 5:48 PM PT

Three new Chandra developments:

1. "[O]ur information was that she did not often jog outdoors. She usually used a treadmill" says D.C. Executive Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer--although there is a bit of conflicting testimony on this point. See the LAT's account.

2. Boy, did WaPo's reporters get a rise out of Gainer when they asked him about a local Fox TV scoop claiming that "evidence at the scene indicated Levy may have been tied up."

"If it is true, the individual who released it should be shot or put in jail," [Gainer] said. "That type of specificity should never be discussed. That type of specificity could limit our possibility of solving this case and have a negative impact on the prosecution.

"How disappointing it is that some alleged professional is doing that type of talking in a case. It is the worst breach of investigative protocol."

Guess it's not true, then, huh? 

3. The Washington Times reports that police believe Levy's body "was dumped in Rock Creek Park," although it seems that they don't know when that happened. Since the 'dumping' could have occurred immediately after the killing, the real lede of the Times piece should have been "police don't believe Levy was killed where her body was found." A police source notes that Broad Branch Road, the nearest actual street, "has no shoulders or sidewalks" -- i.e. it's a bad place to jog. (The Times might have added that it's a narrow winding road where cars come around corners at alarmingly high speeds.) "There are several nature trails but none within half a mile on the side of the stream where Miss Levy's remains were found."

Levy still may have been accosted while jogging somewhere (even if she was ordinarily a treadmill person, she'd already quit her health club and might not have had access to any treadmills). But the idea that she was jogging near where her body was found (the theory propagated by Condit/Winona mouthpiece Mark Geragos) appears less and less plausible. ...

P.S.: It's not noted on the various maps linked below, but one landmark is very close to the now-famous Klingle mansion -- namely, the condo where Condit lived. It's less than a mile away. ... [Thanks to alert kf reader D.J.]

P.P.S.: After Condit was caught clumsily disposing of a watch box in a Virginia park, a common, and not unpersuasive, exculpation of him (offered by Newsweek's Michael Isikoff, for one) went something like, "He can't even get rid of a watch box. How could he ever get rid of a body?" But if Levy's body was just dumped in a corner of the park, doesn't this method of disposal appear not altogether dissimilar to the method by which Condit disposed of the watch box? Just asking! ... 

Thursday, May 23, 2002

Gary Condit may well be cleared of the Chandra Levy murder – that would be intensely disappointing, but  it's possible. Condit's lawyer, Mark Geragos, was quick to jump on the D.C. Police for missing possible evidence that Levy was killed by a random criminal while jogging. ("If, as reported, she left with only her tennis shoes and her keys, and was going jogging, wouldn't you look on the jogging trails?")  But before you go pinning the blame on, say, the imprisoned Salvadoran assailant, discussed here and here, whose victims were Rock Creek Park joggers, take a close look at this map generously provided by WaPo. (Or at this even more detailed map.)  It's a 3.2 or 3.3 mile schlep from Levy's DuPont Circle apartment to where her body was found, if you could travel in a straight line. If you actually ran between the two spots, skirting obstacles and traffic, etc., you'd probably have to go at least 3-and-a-half, probably 4 miles. That's a 7 or 8-mile jog, round trip, even if you assume her body was found near the spot at which she was planning on turning around. Was Levy training for a marathon? Most joggers fall into the 2-5 mile camp, no?  … True, Levy could have taken the subway to Cleveland Park and started her jog further north. But who takes the subway to jog (when the run from Levy's apartment through the park to the Klingle mansion, the destination she'd scoped out on the Web, is a pleasant, manageable 2 miles)? And how was Levy going to get back – there are no subways near the spot on Broad Branch road where the body was found, and it's not a place where you can hail a cab. … Isn't it much more likely that Levy was just walking, not exercising? And if she was walking, how likely is it she'd walk almost two miles north of the Klingle mansion—in the opposite direction from her house -- unless she was walking with someone? …Note: On CNN yesterday, Geragos said "This apparently is on a jogging trail that is, if you will, if you scout out between Chandra's house and this mansion that was found or was located on her Website, that this was apparently on a direct line or at least arguably a direct line along that path." Yes, it was on a direct line, but in the wrong direction –i.e. it was on the line going from the mansion directly away from Levy's house. … Plus, D.C. Police tell WaPo their investigators in the Levy case earlier "interviewed [the convicted Salvadoran assailant] and cleared him of any connection to the disappearance." ...

[Howlin]

Condit-Obsessives' Corner: Watch the Watch!
Mickey Kaus
Posted Thursday, August 23, 2001, at 9:54 AM PT

I'm probably way behind veteran Conditizers on this, but the more I think about it the more the watch seems important. That is, the TAG Heuer wrist-watch whose box Rep. Gary Condit was caught disposing of in an Alexandria, Va., trash can shortly before the police were scheduled to search his apartment.

The widely accepted innocent explanation for this escapade--that Condit was trying to hide evidence of yet another affair, since the watch was given to him by a mid-1990s girlfriend, Joleen Argentini McKay--doesn't make a great deal of sense, as has been noted by Joshua Micah Marshall (and, undoubtedly, countless Web posters). Why throw out the watch box, when surely the most important evidence of the romantic gift would be the watch itself? If the watch exists, what extra harm would the box cause Condit? If the watch doesn't exist ... well, doesn't that raise the interesting question? What happened to it? Why would Condit not want people asking what happened to it?

Was Condit really worried that the police would say, "Congressman, there's a watch box here, but no watch. You wouldn't have kept the box because it has romantic significance because the watch came from yet another paramour, would you?" That's a plausible, but not especially obvious scenario. (It's a watch, not a bouquet of red roses!) If the watch was innocently lost, but Condit kept the box for sentimental reasons, that might justify folding it up and sticking it in the back of his hardware drawer. It wouldn't seem to justify a risky excursion to Virginia. Did Condit throw out any and all other gifts from his women? (And if the box had romantic significance obvious to the police, mightn't Chandra Levy have been suspicious too? Yet Condit kept the box throughout their relationship.)

The FBI's 9/11 Prophet The Warm, Fuzzy Side of Texas Justice My Priest, the Child Molester

Two other scenarios suggest themselves. (Note to Bernard Kalb: Sorry! When public figures who are also logical murder suspects are caught furtively throwing out possible evidence before police searches, people will speculate.) First, the watch may not be around, and Condit may not have wanted police asking where it was because there is something suspicious about where it is, or about the watch itself. (Irresponsible B-movie suggestion: blood!) Second, the watch box might not be for the watch McKay gave Condit after all, but rather for a replacement watch Condit more recently bought to stand in for the now-disappeared original.

There are a couple of things about this last, replacement-watch, scenario. First, it would explain--as well as the sentimental-attachment possibility--why Condit still had the box lying around to dispose of. (Do you keep all your watch boxes?) Second, it better explains the urgency to dispose of the box. If the box goes with the original watch, which has now disappeared, presumably Condit could say, "Oh, yeah. I lost that watch a year ago." Or, "That damn watch never worked and I gave it away." (Having owned a TAG Heuer watch myself, I would find the latter explanation extremely plausible.) But if the box was new and demonstrated clearly that a replacement watch had been recently purchased, it might, in the paranoid mind of someone caught in a bind, seem like potentially damning evidence to be disposed of at all costs.

Third, this replacement-watch scenario is potentially easily checkable--all the police have to do is show the actual box they found to McKay and see if it's the same box she gave to Condit, or if it's a box for the same model watch she gave to Condit. If she doesn't remember, maybe it could be checked against the records at the store where she bought it.

I wish I had enough confidence in the D.C. police to think that they have already done this.

[cynwoody]

With the e-mails it is likely that an analysis would reveal inconsistencies in writing styles.

If someone was impersonating her from her computer, that same individual would have had an opportunity to review her "Sent" folder to get a feel for her writing style and learn some context with which to formulate authentic sounding short messages.

[Howlin]

Within the first few weeks, and it was one of the major networks........it may even have been the very first interview they did........who was that with? It was the one where Mrs. Levy first gave their "timeline" in discussing Chandra being missing with Condit.

BTW, I hope everybody will PASTE whatever information they find on THIS thread; links disappear, FR doesn't. :-)

[Howlin]

I swear I believe I remember something about that email having been written on the 30th of April, and them receiving it on the 1st of May, because I thought it was strange!

[Howlin]

RE: apartment manager: another bell just went off; he may have been a friend of Condit's somehow.............these things are just "coming" to me, I'll have to find them.

[let freedom sing]

But I did not know that the police actually found her diary... this timeline mentions it, but I have never heard of that before. I never knew one exsisted. Also when did and why did Abbe Lowell stop being Condit's Lawyer? Does anyone know why, could Condit not pay his attorney bill with Lowell?

Nor I, either-- but I knew it existed, and I always thought it was missing.

Condit "fired" Abbe Lowell, because Condit does things his own way-- from the beginning, everyone thought Condit should come clean about the affair, but he resisted, and he got worried about his PR and his image, because he knew his "friend" Chandra was getting more sympathy than him-- and that's when he hired that PR lady.

[stlnative]

Howlin... If I recall correctly, he helped her find that apartment or he knows the owner of the apartment (not the onsite landlord)

[PGalt]

Thanks for the chronology.

[The Great Satan]

Cool post. The Salvadorean mugger does seem like an alternative possibility to the obvious Condit scenario, but I'm starting to getting the vibe that he's a red herring. Hopefully, this will be clarified in the next few days.

[Howlin]

Serial killers do NOT start out violent and then deescalate their tactics. And besides, if he killed her and buried her there, why would he then commit two more attacks in the same area -- which would draw attention to that area -- PLUS these two attacks were DURING the time the police were searching the park!

[let freedom sing]

I wish I had enough confidence in the D.C. police to think that they have already done this.

I wish the DCPD had SEARCHED the park the first time-- it was the only clue they had. And why use cadets?-- other "professional volunteers" would love to help look-- there were enough people interested in finding Chandra, we could've dug up and moved the whole park, if they just asked.

[Howlin]

Some maps here.

[stlnative]

There are a couple of things about this last, replacement-watch, scenario. First, it would explain--as well as the sentimental-attachment possibility--why Condit still had the box lying around to dispose of. (Do you keep all your watch boxes?) Second, it better explains the urgency to dispose of the box. If the box goes with the original watch, which has now disappeared, presumably Condit could say, "Oh, yeah. I lost that watch a year ago." Or, "That damn watch never worked and I gave it away." (Having owned a TAG Heuer watch myself, I would find the latter explanation extremely plausible.) But if the box was new and demonstrated clearly that a replacement watch had been recently purchased, it might, in the paranoid mind of someone caught in a bind, seem like potentially damning evidence to be disposed of at all costs.

Third, this replacement-watch scenario is potentially easily checkable--all the police have to do is show the actual box they found to McKay and see if it's the same box she gave to Condit, or if it's a box for the same model watch she gave to Condit. If she doesn't remember, maybe it could be checked against the records at the store where she bought it.

I wish I had enough confidence in the D.C. police to think that they have already done this.



Again I remember reading that these boxes are unique and that they also hold a serial number that matches a serial number on the watch also. He may have kept the box to store the watch in when he could not wear it (like a reminder to take it off before he goes home to the wife, as I recall it was engraved with something on the back of it). I think the watch truly means something, that Chandra had it (people at her work remember seeing her wearing a mans TagH watch), maybe she had it and was going to use as proof that he was a cheat if she was ready to go to tell his wife. Like look... he is doing me and here proof he has been with other women besides me.

It is hard to say, but I hope all of it comes out and someone who knows something speaks up. Remember now this is going to turn into a murder case, there is no way on this earth it won't be considered a murder case after they get done with the paperwork. Somebody close to Condit knows something that just doesn't quite add up and my goodness they will start talking if evidence starts pointing to Condit. Condit's political career is dead anyhow now, why continue to protect him, now that it is truly known Chandra was murdered. I am sure some people around him have had doubts about him, but wanted hard evidence and facts pointing to Condit... this may start happening and people will start talking.

[fussybutt]

That time of day not only accounts for the clothing, but the fact the dogs lost her trail in front of her apt building.

[let freedom sing]

How dare they

the comforter by the door.

That's easy-- she could remember when they last had sex. LOL signing off.

Gary: Why are you bringing that?

Chandra: Well, it has been a long time.

Leave it by the door, we won't need it.

[The Great Satan]

True, but this kind of person obviously suffers from some kind of compulsion, so I don't think you can just discount it. However, it seems that his attacks were not particularly close to the place were the body was found, and that he stalked joggers, while Chandra was not even found close to a jogging trail. Chief Gainer is telling reporters that they cleared him of any involvement in the Levy case after his arrest and that he is "not a key person" in the investigation. I imagine they checked him out pretty thoroughly -- after all, if they could have pinned it on him, it would have taken a tremendous amount of heat off the Department. So, I'm not discounting the possibility that Ingmar is the man, but I also think its possible he will be in the clear quite soon. In which case, all eyes will be on Gary.

[Howlin]

I think that's right!

Now, help me out: tonight as you were reading, have you read anything about her body being found near a creek? I thought I did, but I cannot find it.

[Elkiejg]

Condit's political career is dead anyhow now, why continue to protect him, now that it is truly known Chandra was murdered. I am sure some people around him have had doubts about him, but wanted hard evidence and facts pointing to Condit... this may start happening and people will start talking.

I think a key fact is that the dogs lost her scent near her apartment. That sounds like she was picked up by someone in a car. Can we pin down where Condit was that afternoon? If I were the DC police, I would put the pressure on Condit's aide - the one who owned the red car. If the aide didn't pick her up - then Condit must have. My money's on Condit picked her up, they drove to Rock Creek Park, talked, fought, and Condit did it. I admit, he appears to be one who will get others to do his dirty work - so where was his aide, where was his brother????? Chandra had to "know" the person picking her up and that person would have been Condit or someone connected to him who, as she was told, was taking her to meet Condit. Remember, her computer showed she was also checking out his committee meetins on that day.