What did they think, that a 24 year-old girl just falls asleep in a park and never wakes up?? Duuuuuuh!

Chandra Levy Was Murdered, Examiner Says Tue May 28, 3:47 PM ET

By Niala Boodhoo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The death of Chandra Levy, the intern romantically linked to a U.S. congressman, was formally ruled a murder Tuesday but authorities may never know how she died, the D.C. medical examiner said.

Dr. Jonathan Arden said Levy's death was ruled a homicide largely because of where her body was found and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, rather than evidence gleaned from the remains.

"In this case there was not sufficient evidence to ascertain conclusively the specific injury that caused her death," Arden, the District of Columbia's chief medical examiner, said at a news conference.

"It is possible that we will never know the specific injury that caused her death," he added.

The 24-year-old former intern's body was found last week in a remote area of Washington's Rock Creek Park, just over a year after she disappeared.

"The circumstances of her disappearance and her discovery, having been secluded in the park and taking in account the personal effects that were found at the scene allows me to conclude her death was a homicide," he said. He would not provide details of what else was found.

Thousands of people disappear in the United States each year, but Levy's case drew nationwide attention because of her relationship with Rep. Gary Condit.

Police have said the California Democrat is not a suspect, but he lost a bid for re-election earlier this year in part because of controversy over their relationship.

Condit, who is married with grown children, has denied any involvement in Levy's disappearance and has also never publicly divulged details of their relationship. But her family is convinced Levy was romantically involved with him.

Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey said the examiner's findings mean the Levy death investigation would be officially classified as a homicide.

"We're taking this investigation, looking at it from a fresh perspective now that we know we have a murder," Ramsey said at another news conference.

Levy was last seen at a gym on April 30 last year and police believe she spent much of the next morning on the Internet, shopping for an airline ticket home to California to receive a graduate degree.

When police searched Levy's apartment, they found her wallet, computer and luggage packed at the door. Only her keys were missing.

Levy's remains, which were positively identified through dental records, were found last week in a thickly wooded area by a man looking for turtles and walking his dog.

POLICE CRITICIZED

Police, criticized for not pursuing the case more vigorously, had searched the park repeatedly.

Ramsey said the search at the Rock Creek Park crime scene would end later on Tuesday or early on Wednesday, with evidence sent to FBI (news - web sites) labs for testing.

"We have a lot of evidence that has been recovered from the scene that has to be analyzed," he said.

He said it was premature to talk about suspects but that police had many people that needed to be interviewed.

"We'll be looking to see whether or not there is anything that we can run any kind of DNA analysis on," he added.

Media reports have speculated that Levy was the victim of a serial killer and that her skull was cracked and her body bound when it was found.

Arden would not give details on the corpse's condition and could not say whether Levy had died where her body had been discovered. "I cannot determine whether she died there or was brought there," he said.

As Ramsey spoke, dozens of people filed into a memorial service for Levy in her hometown of Modesto, California.

-- duuuh (no@shit.sherlock), May 28, 2002

Answers

"I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, there's no way you can prove anything!"

-- (Gary Condit @ Modesto.molesto), May 29, 2002.

I'd like to believe that a perfect murder is pure fiction. But I doubt this will ever be solved, same as Ramsey's murder.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), May 29, 2002.

Agree. The big three requirements: means, motive & opportunity don't fit our favorite suspect.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), May 30, 2002.

Obviously a frame job by the Repugs. They had someone spy on condit just like they spied on Clinton. They knew he was having an affair with Levy so they hired some goon to whack her in the park, knowing that Condit would eventually become a major suspect and it would ruin his political career. It worked.

-- (fuckin@repug.scum), May 30, 2002.

Hah. Why would they do that? Condit was the Jim Jeffords of the Democrat party. The Republicans liked him. Bush even considered him for a cabinet spot. Whew, dodged a bullet.

-- (lars@indy.net), May 30, 2002.