Lack of information handicaps Levy inquiry
Posted on 06/01/2002 4:42:52 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Lack of information handicaps Levy inquiry
DC police checking pawnshops for 2 pieces of missing jewelry
06/01/2002
WASHINGTON - Police found Chandra Levy's remains through happenstance and, although they have concluded that she was slain, they'll need another big break to find who did it and how.
For now, the most likely scenarios are that she was strangled or suffocated, authorities believe. Police are visiting pawnshops in search of two pieces of missing jewelry and talking again to cabdrivers, hoping to find someone who dropped her off the day she disappeared 13 months ago.
Ms. Levy's knotted leggings, found near her remains, suggest she could have been sexually assaulted.
The uncertainty about so much of what happened to Ms. Levy, 24, of Modesto, Calif., underscores the difficulty police face in trying to solve the case.
"Was it a sexual assault? An attack by a stranger, by someone she knew? All of these are possibilities," Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said Friday.
Dr. Jonathan Arden, Washington's medical examiner, classified Ms. Levy's death a homicide not through his examination of her remains, but by relying on the circumstances of her disappearance and the discovery of her remains. Ms. Levy was last seen May 1, 2001, and her body was discovered last week in a remote area of Rock Creek Park by a man walking his dog and looking for turtles.
Dr. Arden said he could not determine how Ms. Levy died, noting that he saw no evidence she was shot, stabbed or beaten.
Medical examiners have said the absence of any such evidence makes it more likely she was strangled or smothered. Either would be difficult to prove in Ms. Levy's case because the soft tissues of the body that could lead to such a diagnosis had completely decayed after more than a year.
The question of sexual assault could be answered by the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Va., which is expected to analyze the clothing found with Ms. Levy's remains for blood, hair, fibers and semen.
Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI profiler, said investigators are handicapped in their search for a killer by the lack of information about how Ms. Levy died.
"From a profiler's standpoint, I have to know my victim, and then I have to know what happened to her to be able to develop a profile of who might have killed her," he said.
Police spent more than a week at the park site where Ms. Levy's remains were found. They recovered a University of Southern California T-shirt, an exercise bra and athletic shoes referred to by police variously as tennis shoes and jogging shoes.
Searchers did not find Ms. Levy's keys, which were missing from her apartment when they searched it a year ago, a 14-karat gold pinkie ring with diamond chips on either side of the inscribed initials CL or a bracelet that, according to Ms. Levy's aunt, was a gift from Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif.
Police learned nothing from cabdrivers when they sought help last year, but Chief Ramsey said they have yet to check the trip logs that drivers are supposed to keep. Similarly, investigators checked pawnshop records last year without finding anything, Chief Ramsey said.
But he said it is worth a second look because the jewelry could have changed hands in that time. "If someone has it, they may not have had any idea where it came from," he said.
Just as likely, the jewelry remains somewhere in the park, despite the police search, said David Schertler, a former homicide prosecutor in Washington.
"It could easily have washed away and still be there somewhere under the mud," Mr. Schertler said.
He and former U.S. Attorney Joseph di Genova agreed that the best chance for police to resolve the case is for an informant to come forward. "They need a snitch, and there is a snitch out there," Mr. di Genova said.
Chief Ramsey said there are no suspects. Mr. Condit reportedly admitted to police that he was having an affair with Ms. Levy, but he has denied any involvement in her disappearance. Police have repeatedly said he is not a suspect.
Chief Ramsey also played down police interest in Ingmar Guandique of Washington and Albert Cook Jr. of Bethesda, Md. Both men were convicted of violent crimes that occurred in Rock Creek Park last year, but Chief Ramsey said there are many differences between their crimes and the Levy case.
Inept? I think not. They are hired for their ability to cover up crimes and impede investigations. And they are very good at it.
If the DC police force were hired to enforce the law, too many politicians would be in prison. Think about it.
brings to mind the "BLACK MALE CARRIBBEAN HOMOSEXUAL BIKER" of LeBouttilier's NEWSMAX article....
Reportedly, Chandra had a key to Condit's pad on her keyring.
But consider the terrain where she was found. It would be very difficult to carry a body on that very steep slope. Between dodging branches and slipping on the leaf cover, it would be difficult even with two people.
But tie one leg of the leotard to one ankle and the other leg of the leotard to her other ankle and you've made a sled and can drag her easily with much less chance of falling, getting whacked by branches, getting dirty, etc..
It only takes a couple of minutes to cover up the trail.
Of course that opens up some new options, like being dragged from any direction and not necessarily straight down from where she was found.
Sac
Without that keyring, no, I don't believe there is definitive proof. But according to the aunt, Chandra was in his apartment without Condit frequently, making dinner before he was back from a session, etc. The aunt told of one phone conversation she had with Chandra from the Condit apartment, Chandra was bored and the aunt suggested she rearrange his closet. It would not have been possible for Chandra to get into his apartment without him if she did not have a key to the front door -- unless Condit was in the habit of always leaving the door unlocked.
They did check the logs last year...several weeks (?) after her disappearance, to see if anyone picked her up at her apartment.
This year, they're checking to see if anyone dropped her off at Rock Creek Park, or possibly the Baskin-Robbins place nearby.
Grieving Adam Levy, younger brother of Chandra, surprised all at the memorial service for Chandra in Modesto on Tues., when he suddenly stood up to speak. He said that although he had never taken piano lessons, and had not shown an interest in the piano, lately he'd been able to sit down at the instrument and play his sister's favorite songs. "It's a sign from her," he said, "that she has transformed and is now a part of me. She has become another form of energy." He was applauded. [Welcome to California, land of fruits and nuts]
Large silver tureens filled with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were offered to the 1,000 sympathizers as they filed in to the service. Her uncle offered "a top 10 list" of adjectives to describe Chandra. Among them: "adventurous," "exuberant," "bubbly," "vivacious." [Is is just me, or is the Letterman schtick a tad inappropriate for a memorial service?]
Gary Condit did not attend. But Anne Marie Smith, the Ess Eff stewardess who also had an affair with Condit, did. ...
SF Examiner.
They did check the logs last year...several weeks (?) after her disappearance, to see if anyone picked her up at her apartment.
This year, they're checking to see if anyone dropped her off at Rock Creek Park, or possibly the Baskin-Robbins place nearby.
I suggest they keep their eyes open for Ft. Marcy Park, and Starbucks as possible destinations ;-|
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