Other park victim also had Congress ties

WASHINGTON -- A woman attacked in Rock Creek Park two weeks after intern Chandra Levy vanished also had ties to Congress.

Halle Shilling, who was assaulted close to the park area where Levy's remains were found, covered Congress as a reporter for States News Service. The late Levy, who had an affair with Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., turned up missing May 1, 2001.

On May 14, 2001, Shilling, 30, said she was "jumped" by a man brandishing a knife while jogging along Broad Branch Trail, where Levy's remains were found on Wednesday. The two struggled, but she was able to escape by clawing her assailant.

Just two weeks earlier, Levy, 24, disappeared after looking up a map of Rock Creek Park. She logged off her computer at about 1 p.m. May 1. Her keys and a ring, but not her ID, were missing from her apartment.

At the scene where her remains were discovered, investigators recovered a USC sweatshirt, leotards, a jogging bra, sneakers and strands of dark hair. Levy was scheduled to return to USC to attend her masters graduation ceremony just before she disappeared.

Police also found a portable radio with Levy's remains. Shilling said she was wearing a Sony Walkman headset when she was attacked from behind. So was Christie Wiegand, 26, who was assaulted by a man with a knife in the same park on July 1.

Both women were attacked by Ingmar Guandeque, a 20-year-old Salvadoran, who in September 2001 pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and this February was sentenced to 10 years in prison (the maximum penalty for his crimes was 35 years).

Guandeque admitted in D.C. Superior Court that he pursued and grabbed the female joggers last year in a failed attempt to steal their Sony Walkmans. He never took any property from his victims, and the judge said he acted more like a predator, who enjoyed physical confrontation with his victims, than a thief.

Shilling said U.S. Park Police warned her after she was attacked to avoid wearing headphones while jogging, since they make it harder to hear possible attackers coming up from behind.

Roll Call, a Capitol Hill paper, reported yesterday that D.C. police interviewed Guandeque after Levy's disappearance. But they told the Washington Post he's not a prime suspect in her death.

Between the time Guandeque was arrested last July and his sentencing in February, no media linked Guandeque to the Levy case in any way, according to a Nexis search of media reports. In fact, up until yesterday, there was just one story on Guandeque -- a Metro brief in the Washington Post about his guilty plea.

Guy supposedly attacks women with Sony Walkman radios, but doesn't actually take the radio. Chandra still had hers with her too. He's foreign, probably not too bright, and has in court admitted guilt to two previous assualts and was given a small sentence.

How did they catch him in the cases involving the two women if he came up from behind? Did both women ID him? Or was it just the one with congressional contacts who did? Or did neither of them ID him?

And both of these cases occured AFTER Chandra turned up missing.

How much would it cost to get a dumb foreign bum to 'wrassle' with two women and then let them go? Enough to make him lose interest in a Sony Walkman?

Hmmmmmmmmm.

DOJ Press Release: District man pleads guilty in two separate Rock Creek Park assaults

United States Attorney's Office, District of Columbia - Press Release

	U.S. Department of Justice Roscoe C. Howard, Jr. United States Attorney for the District of Columbia
	Judiciary Center 555 4th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 2001	For Information Contact Public Affairs Channing Phillips (202)514-6933
District man pleads guilty in two separate Rock Creek Park assaults Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Roscoe C. Howard, Jr. announced that Ingmar Guandeque, 20, of the 1400 block of Somerset Place, N.W., pled guilty today before Superior Court Judge Noel A. Kramer to two counts of Assault with Intent to Commit Robbery. Guandeque now faces up to thirty-years' imprisonment, and will be sentenced on December 11, 2001. According to the evidence summarized by the government at today's hearing, on May 14, 2001, at approximately 6:30 p.m., a female was jogging in Rock Creek Park in the District of Columbia. Guandeque began running behind her and grabbed her in an effort to steal her yellow Sony Walkman with headphones. The victim reported that he brandished a silver knife with a black handle, that he grabbed her around the neck, and that eventually he pulled her to the ground where her Walkman and headphones fell off. The victim also reported that Guandeque bit her when she pushed his face with her hand. Guandeque denies many of these details but acknowledged grabbing and restraining the victim in an effort to obtain the Walkman. Guandeque fled the scene due to his fear of being detected, and the Walkman was left behind along side the victim. On July 1, 2001, at approximately 7:30 pm, a female was jogging in Rock Creek park in the District of Columbia. Guandeque began running behind her and as she reached the crest of a hill, he grabbed her from behind. This victim reported that he pulled her off the trail and the two rolled down the hill into a ravine. She also reported that he held a knife to her chin, covered her mouth because she was screaming, and told her to be quiet. She reported that she continued to struggle and ran from Guandeque when she felt him begin to relax his grip. Guandeque denied many of these details although he acknowledged that he grabbed the victim in an effort to steal her Sony Walkman and that they both fell into the ravine. The victim immediately reported the incident to the U.S. Park Police who were able to locate Guandeque and arrest him after he was identified by a witness. In announcing the result of this prosecution, United States Attorney Howard praised the efforts of the United States Park Police Detective Joseph Greene. United States Attorney Howard also praised the efforts of Assistant United States Attorney Kristina L. Ament, who prosecuted the case, and paralegal Christopher A. Angell and Robyn Cantor who assisted throughout the investigation.

Return to Top of Page

Return to Press Release Page

Return to Home Page

Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 202-514-7566, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, 555 4th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.

This page updated November 6, 2001.

Something stinks. Some slobbering half wit that grabs women, (not Clinton in this case), doesn't rob them or rape them. Odd. The Salvadorian on the grassy knoll.

Did Condit vote the wrong way on something?

Lol! I don't know.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'll tell you what I really suspect is happening. I think we're getting ready for war and there's a government clean-up underway--kind of getting our house in order before the hostilities start in earnest.

I don't know who killed Levy or why-but I believe Condit certainly does.

Whatever happened, somebody shoved the murder under the rug originally. Now somebody's insisting that it be dealt with and cleaned up (whether justly or not is anyone's guess) to end the security risk. The body has surfaced to end this thing, and we'll soon know how this is going to play out.

The reason I suspect the appearance of the body is war-related is just because of the timing and the big picture currently before us. All the resignations and retirements, the cleaning out of Hansen and the Cuban spy, the cleaning out about to begin in the FBI...Then there are all the various warnings to educate the public about the myriad of ways we may be attacked and to get them a bit more alert. The list of recent meetings Bush has had with various world leaders (not to mention Cheney's trips). When you couple all this with the problems in the mideast, the tensions in Pakistan/India, the 6-months war games by China, the Canadians pulling out of Afghanistan, and even the increased incursions and tension on our own southern border--well, it just smells like war on the horizon to me.

Of course, sometimes when you look at the forrest, you can fail to notice that it's made up of a variety of different trees that really have no relationship to each other :)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.