Chandra Levy’s mother isn’ t rock-solid sure who killed the vivacious intern from Modesto 16 years ago in Washington, D. C. But Susan Levy is satisfied that Salvadoran native Ingmar Guandique, whose murder conviction was overturned, has been deported.
Chandra Levy’s mother isn’ t rock-solid sure who killed the vivacious intern from Modesto 16 years ago in Washington, D. C. But Susan Levy is satisfied that Salvadoran native Ingmar Guandique, whose murder conviction was overturned, has been deported.
“Yes, he should go back, ” Susan Levy said Monday, taking a break from preparing for an art show opening next week in Modesto that was inspired by her daughter’s death. “I’ m glad he’s not walking the streets of America attempting to hurt other women.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Monday that Guandique, 35, was flown Friday to El Salvador and transferred to authorities there.
A jury convicted Guandique in 2010 for the death of Chandra Levy, whose 2001 disappearance became a national obsession after she was romantically linked to former congressman Gary Condit. Police in Washington at one point considered Condit a suspect, but later said they had cleared him.
Guandique’s conviction was overturned after a jailhouse informant’s testimony came under scrutiny.
Officials said Guandique has been in ICE custody since June. The news release issued Monday described Guandique as “a documented MS-13 gang member” – an ICE video of his deportation shows the letters MS tattooed on the back of Guandique’s hand. President Donald Trump has frequently offered the MS-13 street gang as a rationale for his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
When Guandique was charged in 2009 with Levy’s murder, he was already in prison for attacks on other women in Rock Creek Park in the nation’s capital, where Levy’s remains were eventually found.
Although Susan Levy said “he should go back” to El Salvador, she is troubled that authorities did not have solid proof that Guandique killed her daughter.
“As we get older, things change, ” she said. “We’ re all going to the same place – where Chandra is. But you want to know that (the guilty) person is brought to justice, or there is no justice.”
At his 2010 trial, another inmate, Armando Morales, testified that Guandique confessed to him that he had killed Levy. But evidence emerged casting doubt on the truthfulness of Morales’ testimony. A judge in 2015 granted Guandique a new trial. In 2016, prosecutors announced that they would no longer seek to retry Guandique, clearing the way for his deportation to his Central American homeland.
Check back for a full story on Susan Levy’s art show, “A Mother’s Tears, ” hosted at Modesto Junior College May 15 through June 1.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
