Man finally convicted over murder of Chandra Levy

A Washington DC jury yesterday convicted a Salvadorean immigrant of the murder in May 2001 of the government intern Chandra Levy, drawing a final line under a mystery that seemed destined to remain unsolved.

After four days of deliberations, the jury found Ingmar Guandique guilty on two counts of first degree murder of Ms Levy while she was jogging in a wooded park in the north-west of the city. He faces a jail term of 30 years to life. Washington has no death penalty.

The case was unusual for the lack of direct evidence linking the victim and Guandique. Ms Levy's remains were no more than scattered bones when they were discovered in a remote part of the park a year after she disappeared. No murder weapon was found. There was no eyewitness, and no DNA evidence.

Guandique however had been convicted of assaulting two other joggers in the park at roughly the same time. While serving a jail term in California, he apparently admitted to a fellow inmate that he had killed Ms Levy.

The case hit the headlines after it emerged that Ms Levy was having an affair with congressman Gary Condit, who was at first considered a suspect. The police decided that he was not involved, but his reputation was destroyed.