Suspect in Levy death described as violent

updated 8:46 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2009

WASHINGTON - Since Washington intern Chandra Levy disappeared in 2001, one name had been familiar: Gary Condit, the former congressman who was questioned by authorities in her disappearance.

But a man named Ingmar Guandique was never far away. The Salvadoran immigrant lived in an apartment near the park where Levy's remains were found. He's now serving time in federal prison for assaulting two female joggers there weeks after Levy disappeared.

An arrest in the Levy case is imminent, and two people with knowledge of the case have told The Associated Press that Guandique will be charged.

Relatives and court records offer a glimpse of Guandique, who was described by prosecutors as a violent predator with drug and alcohol problems.

But there are still few answers for why it's taken so long to make an arrest in a case that some say brought down a popular congressman and embarrassed District of Columbia police.

Guandique left the San Miguel area of eastern El Salvador for the U.S. about eight years ago. He had been in the Washington area since at least 2000, moving often and taking day-laborer jobs like carpentry and construction, according to court records.

Quickly turned violent
But he quickly turned violent. The Washington Post, which explored the Levy case in a 12-part series last year, reported that Guandique was an illegal immigrant who had abused his ex-girlfriend, Iris Portillo.

Sheila Phillips Cruz, Guandique's former landlady, told The Post that around the time Chandra Levy disappeared, Guandique had scratches on his throat and a swollen lip. She said Guandique told her he'd been in a fight with Portillo, who denied that she hit him.

Cruz said Guandique began drinking around that time, and "just got really strange."

"Half the time he didn't know where he was," she told the newspaper.

Attempts by The Associated Press this week to reach Cruz were unsuccessful and Portillo declined comment.

In May 2001, Guandique was arrested for breaking into a neighbor's apartment and stealing a gold ring. He pleaded guilty to attempted burglary and was sentenced to nine months in jail and one year of supervised release.

The same month, he assaulted his first victim in the park, grabbing her from behind while she was jogging. Then two months later, he attacked another woman the same way.

AP Ingmar Guandique

Park as 'hunting ground'
Guandique "appears to have used Rock Creek Park as a hunting ground, waiting beside popular running trails; selecting victims and stalking them," prosecutors said. He committed both assaults in isolated parts of the park, and dragged one of the victims off the trail and into a ravine.

Prosecutors cautioned that if released he could continue attacks on women if released and he "may act out impulsively and may have trouble controlling his anger."

In May 2001, before those two assaults, Levy, a 24-year-old intern for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, disappeared after leaving her Washington apartment in jogging clothes. A man walking his dog found her skull and bones in Rock Creek Park a year later.

The case attracted widespread attention over allegations that Levy had been romantically involved with married U.S. Rep. Gary Condit. It was cited as the main cause of his re-election defeat in the March 2002 primary.

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