Nine years after victim’s disappearance, Chandra Levy murder trial kicks off

In the summer of 2001, the killing of congressional intern Chandra Levy captivated the nation. With the early focus of investigation centering on California Democratic Rep. Gary Condit -- who admitted to having an affair with Levy -- the case played out in the media like a John Grisham novel.

The Sept. 11 terror attacks eventually chased the scandal from the headlines, and the case remained an unsolved mystery for years. But then last year came a break in the case: An illegal immigrant from El Salvador named Ingmar Guandique was charged with murdering Levy. On Monday, just over nine years after she vanished, jury selection began in the Chandra Levy murder case.

Prosecutors believe that Guandique murdered Levy while sexually assaulting her in Washington's Rock Creek Park.

That's where her remains had finally been discovered; the park had also been the site of two robberies Guandique has been serving time for. With no physical evidence or witnesses tying Guandique to the killing, D.C. law enforcement officers began corresponding with the inmate while he was serving time for other crimes. The idea was to elicit a confession in a series of letters. To advance the ruse, the officers conducting the epistolary campaign pretended to be a young Latina named Maria Lopez. The ploy didn't produce a full confession, but prosecutors hope to use some of the material in the letters as evidence in the trial, together with statements that Guandique allegedly made to fellow inmates.

Levy's parents say they are still haunted by the loss of their daughter.

"Something inside of me knew it was going to be the last time I ever saw her," Robert Levy told the Washington Post recently about his last meeting with his daughter. "I just wish I had done something. I wish I had said something."

As for Condit, the case destroyed his political career as a thick fog of suspicion hung over him and never really dissipated. In 2002, the six-term lawmaker lost his re-election bid to a former aide. After his defeat, Condit and his family moved to Arizona, where he tried his hand as a small-business man, without much success. In 2008, a judge ordered Condit to pay Baskin-Robbins more than $44,000 for money he owed the company after a failed turn as an ice cream shop franchisee. Condit also sued Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne unsuccessfully for slander. Otherwise, he has remained largely out of the public eye.

In an op-ed for the Daily Beast shortly after Guandique's arrest, Susan Levy refused to let Condit off the hook for his behavior after her daughter's disappearance. She wrote:

Congressman Gary Condit dodged direct questions about Chandra and seemed solely focused on salvaging what was left of his political career. We've had to come to terms with Chandra's relationship with Condit and realize that it played a major role in the coverage of the case. However, it hurt to watch a trusted elected official do everything in his power to deter police efforts and show a complete disregard for the investigation into Chandra's disappearance.