Levy May Have Been Strangled, Official Says

Washington Post ^ | Sunday, July 14, 2002; Page B1 | Sari Horwitz and Allan Lengel

[Sunshine55]

D.C. Chief Medical Examiner Jonathan L. Arden said he believes that Chandra Levy might have been strangled, though he does not have conclusive evidence to rule that as the cause of death.

Levy's skeletal remains, discovered May 22 in Rock Creek Park, showed damage to her hyoid, a small U-shaped bone in the upper neck, but it was not broken, he said.

"A young person could be strangled and not have it show on the bones," said Arden, who ruled Levy's death a homicide but said the cause was undetermined.

[Lorenb420]

"It's a tough case," said Ramsey. "Right now we are going over interviews and talking to people who frequent the park or live near the park. I believe there is someone out there who heard or saw something."

What a joke, he can this moron say that with a straight face?

[cynicom]

That camera mugger Ramsey is a piece of work. One day he had the audacity to say that the DC police force was one of the finest in the country. I fell out of my chair with laughter. He and several of his toadys wear stars, self appointed generals I guess.

[aristeides]

A longtime rider at the stables said she and other riders think Levy was killed elsewhere and dumped in the woods. They believe that their horses would have picked up the scent of a decomposing body or that riders would have seen animals attracted to a corpse.

A thought I have never heard expressed before.

[Focault's Pendulum]

But Madison said the smell could have been missed by horses and riders because Levy's remains were found down a hill, in a pocket of the park where the wind could have hit a wall and "ricocheted upwards."

I believe it.

[Diogenesis]

Mandatory Ramsey donut pictures.

"Chief Ramsey said there are no suspects."

[Betty Jo]

So where are the grand jury leaks?

[SlickWillard]

This is the most important quote from the piece:

One man police know about is Ingmar Guandique, 20, who was convicted in February of attacking two women last year in the park, not far from where Levy's remains were found... Law enforcement sources said that last year, before Levy's remains were found, another inmate at the prison contacted D.C. police and said that Guandique had told him he killed Levy. But when investigators traveled to North Carolina to interview Guandique, he denied the story – and subsequently passed a polygraph test, according to law enforcement sources. The other inmate failed the polygraph. Police have strongly discounted Guandique as a suspect.

If Guandique is no longer a suspect, then Condidit is the only remaining suspect in this case.

[Fred Mertz]

They think there is a good chance she was killed in daylight, partly because of her sunglasses and clothing.

I agree with them, but I wonder how they confirmed that the sunglasses were hers.

I wonder who leaked the alleged details to the comPost? This story barely mentions Condit nor his enabling staff.

[Betty Jo]

Maybe DNA or fingerprints on the glasses?

[stlnative]

PING

[The Great Satan]

They think there is a good chance she was killed in daylight, partly because of her sunglasses and clothing.

Plus the prime suspect was only free between 1 and 6 pm.

[JudyB1938]

I've always believed her recovery site was a secondary spot. That bit about the horses confirms it! I think that's a much more important bit of information than how she may have been killed.

[Spunky]

They suspect that Levy was sexually assaulted, because the leggings she was wearing when her remains were discovered were turned inside out, with each leg knotted.

If she was sexually assualted I doubt whether the pervert would take the time to completely remove her leggings. On the other hand if she was having a rendezvous with a lover, off they would come.

[Howlin]

Maybe you were right a while back, Fred, when you said there may be a lot we haven't heard yet.

[terilyn]

Thanks for the heads-up Fred.

""You now have a crime scene," said a law enforcement source close to the investigation. "You now have to investigate everything around the crime scene."

Now they have a crime scene? Too bad these idiots didn't check the whole park a year ago when the dogs surely would have picked up the scent and the evidence would have been much more likely to produce a valid suspect.

[cyncooper]

Now they have a crime scene? Too bad these idiots didn't check the whole park a year ago

I totally agree with this. I remember the police saying at the time that they did not consider her web surfing to be a clue to her whereabouts! They used phrases like "no leads". Well, what was her looking up that park on her computer, if not a lead??? arghhh

[MozarkDawg]

Been saying ever since her remains were found at that spot that I am hard pressed to believe that she actually met her demise there. Those rookie cops would surely have smelled the decomposing body even though they did not search that exact spot -- other people who frequented the park, walked the trails, bike riding, etc., would not have mistaken the telling odor to have been garbage or "some animal" rotting away, not for the period of time the smell would have been around.

But the way the DC cops have bungled this mess, I'm afraid we're never going to have the full story.

[MozarkDawg]

Thankee for the ping-a-roony.

[terilyn]

They obviously were looking for a red "X marks the spot" kind of a lead.

It's just a darn lucky thing for Condit, er...whoever did this, that they didn't leave a trail of donut crumbs. They would have found her within 20 minutes.