The District's top cops were angered last month when WTTG reported Chandra Levy may have been tied up before she died, but the station says the story didn't compromise the investigation.
WTTG was careful to not report how Miss Levy may have been restrained, News Director Katherine Green says. "We would never report something if we thought it would compromise a police investigation," she says.
Reporter Paul Wagner broke the story May 23, citing unnamed law enforcement sources. In a published report the next day, Terry Gainer, then the District's assistant police chief, said the sources who leaked the information should be "shot or put in jail."
Mr. Gainer, now chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, could not be reached for further comment. A source close to him said he didn't blame the station for reporting the information, he was just angry it was leaked.
The report was the latest exclusive for Mr. Wagner, who has covered the Levy case for more than a year. Last year, he was the first reporter to disclose police planned to search the home of Rep. Gary A. Condit, a California Democrat. Police have repeatedly said Mr. Condit is not a suspect.