Documents in the Chandra Levy case will be unsealed more than a decade after the Washington, D.C., intern’s death after a lengthy dispute between the court and the media over what level of secrecy was necessary in the case.
After Chandra Levy’s death, a months-long search of the area failed to turn up the missing intern. In the ensuing weeks, the career of Gary Condit — a politician with whom Levy was inextricably linked — was shattered due to her unexplained disappearance.
In the end, the body of Chandra Levy was found about a year later in the woods of park where she was known to jog, yielding little about the young woman’s fate.
Ultimately, Salvadoran immigrant Ingmar Guandique was convicted in the death of Levy — and had been previously convicted in similar attacks in the same park .
Contra Costa Times explains that after 2010 proceedings in the case, certain evidence pertaining to a former cellmate of Guandique, Armando Morales, was sealed for safety reasons:
“The newly released transcripts made public after a hearing Monday cover five hearings held earlier this year. Though they are in part redacted, they provide some new details about post-trial proceedings, but because more recent hearings including Monday’s have been largely open, the majority of what they contain was already known… News organizations including The Associated Press, had objected to the secrecy, but the judge overseeing the case said it was necessary for safety concerns.”
Morales is said to have had concerns about coming forward regarding claims of responsibility for Levy’s death allegedly made by Guandique — and court documents reveal that he had previously offered similar information in prior cases.
The Chandra Levy documents ordered unsealed this week will be revealed by the end of the week.
