A note to listeners before we begin. Today's episode deals with a string of
attacks and ultimately a murder in Washington, DC. In light of the recent
domestic terror attacks on our capitol, we want to offer this trigger warning a
note that we do not condone the events in this episode or On January sixth,
twenty twenty one, Hello again, Dead Time Storians. I'm so happy
to be back with you in twenty twenty one. Right after last week's historic
inauguration, I've been thinking a lot about Washington DC lately. I've only been
one time when I was a toddler, and honestly missed the whole point.
There are three things that I remember. The first is that when we took
the Metro, my dad always requested the orange train, to which my sisters
and I told him he said orange wrong. At the Korean War Veterans Memorial,
my sister told me that their heads move at night and they'll chase me
down if I'm bad. Finally, when we went to the Marine Corps War
Memorial, which as you'll remember, is the one of all the soldiers raising
the American flag, I tried to spot the hidden door and one soldier's leg,
which allegedly led to a room of workers inside the statue. When I
looked up what exactly that is, I didn't find anything, so I don't
know who, if anyone told me about this little door, or what the
origins behind it are. If anyone knows this conspiracy theory, please tell me
on social media. Thank you. One place we did not visit while in
the Capitol was Rock Creek Park. I had no way of knowing this at
the time, but roughly five years later, the one thousand, seven hundred
and fifty four acre park would become the host of a string of terrifying crimes
on young women. On May fourteenth, two thousand and one, thirty year
old Hallie Shilling ran through the park while her yellow walkman blasted in her ear
for My Gen's Ears. A walkman is an early portable cassette player, and
a cassette is post records and pre music streamers. As the writer jetted across
the parking lot, she vaguely noticed a young Hispanic man sitting on the curb
and kept running onto a trail with a somewhat steep endcline. She didn't realize
it right away, but this man took off after her. Hallie's heart beat
faster as the runner mimicked her pace, whether she sped up or slowed down.
Maybe he wants to pass. Hallie stepped aside so the man could pass
her, but her fears came to life when he leapt onto her back.
The man grunted as he gripped her throat. Cars caught in rush hour roared
on the streets below, drowning out Hallie's shrieks as the man drew a knife.
What the assailants didn't take into account, however, was hallie self defense.
Classes She shoved a hand into his mouth and dug her nails into the
flesh under his tongue. He let go, but not before giving her a
bite. Hallie managed to get away and contacted the park police. Yes,
Officer, I don't think he was going to rob me, because he never
tried to get my jewelry or walkman, he was going to rape and kill
me. Hallie Shilling had no idea that this was the beginning of one of
America's craziest tales of murder. Welcome to Deadtime stories. Two women looked up
at the giant Roman columns outside the Rayburn House office building on Capitol Hill.
One of them had a head of bushy brown hair, freckles and a friendly
smile. Her friend sighed, come on, Chandra, I want to grab
lunch. Is this gonna take all day? No, Jenny, I want
to stop inside to see if we could talk with Congressman Condit. But you
know his aid is going to say he's busy, as if interning for the
mayor of Los Angeles wasn't enough for you. Are you really that worried about
not getting a job after graduation? You can never be too careful. Besides,
if I want to work for the FBI, I need to know powerful
people. There's his office. I promise it'll just be a sec Oh,
good afternoon, ladies. Congressman Condent, Yes, ma'am, can I help
you? Oh my god, he looks just like Harrison Ford. I don't
quite see that. But Gary Condit was handsome, with a perfectly straight smile
and carefully calmed gray hair. Well, ladies, I wanted to talk to
We've been interning all semester and we wanted to set up a lunch date with
you, mister Condit. Well, I'm not busy today. If you want,
I could show you around Chandra and her friend were speechless. And I
mean, it's not every day your hometown representative shows you around Washington, DC
that the original President's desk. Gary Condent was a unique representative too. He
was one of the few Democrats who encouraged Bill Clinton to be honest about his
affair with Monica Lewinsky just a few years earlier. He grew up the son
of a Baptist preacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, lived a rebellious life as a
teenager, then met and married Caroline Barry. In nineteen sixty seven, he
moved to hear He's, California, where he became the mayor at just twenty
six years old. By thirty five, he was a state assemblyman and was
elected to Congress at forty one. People loved him because he was an all
American boy who never forgot where he came from. Yeah, history is pretty
cool, girls. Oh smile, ladies. We'll take a picture to commemorate
today. Chandra, you mentioned you're still wrapping up your internship with the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. But Jennifer, how do you like to come work for
me? Oh? I love that, mister Condit and Chandra here's my phone
number. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need any advice. I think
you have a great career ahead of you. Thank you, mister Condit.
Oh my gosh, did you see that he winked at me? Oh?
Please, he was just being nice. He's not like in love with you.
I've never been this excited to have such a sexy young woman walking to
my office. Please, Gary, the pleasure was mine. Chandra and Gary
gently kissed as a movie played on HBO and two bowls of pasta steamed on
the table. It seemed Jennifer was wrong and Gary was actually quite interested in
Chandra, though he still has done all but admitted. The two began having
an affair not long after he gave her the tour. By Thanksgiving A two
thousand, Chandra was stopping by his apartment up to three times a week.
You want to spend the night. Might be too dangerous to go home?
Now. You haven't told anyone about us, right, No, Gary,
Jennifer keeps asking where I'm going all the time. I told her an FBI
agent doesn't reveal where he goes. Good girl, I have an early meeting
tomorrow, so we could leave together. But if anyone gets in the elevator
before we reached the lob, you need to get off at the next floor.
Aye, Aye, sir. And that's how their relationship ran. Gary
never allowed Schandra to appear with them. Of course, nobody could keep something
this exciting secret for long, and Chandra eventually confided in her aunt about the
relationship. Gary's the sweetest man in Linda. He loves basking Robbins and gave
me the most beautiful gold bracelet. And his wife, Oh, we have
a five year plan. Gary promised that after five years to leave his wife
for me, so long as we keep our relationship under wraps. Oh,
they just had to tell you that. All sounds wonderful, dear, But
be careful. Your parents and I want to watch you graduate. Good afternoon.
My name is Robert Levy. My daughter, Chandra is an intern with
the Federal Bureau of Police who was supposed to be home for her graduation.
But I haven't heard from her in five days. It was May sixth Anne,
Schandra's parents, Robert and Susan, nervously paced their California home. I
understand your concern sir, I'll put together a team to investigate. Oh,
they don't understand how serious this is, Robert. We have to dig into
this ourselves. Who is she talking to? Last the Leaves pulled up Chandra's
phone bill and noticed that one number popped up over and over. Robert dialed,
you've reached the Congressional office of Gary Condit. I don't believe it.
Call his home number. I'm sure it's in the phone book. Ah,
here it is. Robert first got ahold of Gary's wife, who promised to
relay the message to her husband. An hour later, Gary returned, Hello,
mister Condit, My name is Robert Levy, Schandra's father. She's an
intern in DC, but she's been missing for a few days. Can will
help us at all? I think Chandra was a friend of one of my
old interns. Let me see if I could talk with police. I'll start
a reward fund for two. Thank you, mister Condit. Honey, Linda
mentioned something to me about Gary. I think he was dating Chandra. What
the detectives need to know? The next day, Robert called Detective Ralph Durant,
the man assigned to their daughter's case, and her aunt Linda called the
day after to confirm what Chandra had told her. Detective Durant readjusted his ponytail
and side. Even though he had spent thirty three years with Metroped, he
was used to working with drunks and petty thieves and not possible homicides. Detective
Durant, good afternoon, Detective. This is Gary Condit returning your call.
Chandra often came to me for career advice, but I haven't heard from her
in about a week. Last time with both she seems happy. Did you
have an intimate relationship with miss Levy? I don't think we need to go
there, and you can infer what you want with that, am I suspect,
Detective No, sir, we'll call if we need anything else. Ah,
My search warrant for her apartment arrived. Yes, sir, here's our
unit officers. Thank you. The detectives fanned out and were surprised when they
found Schandra's credit cards, ID, a cell phone inside of her purse,
and partially packed suitcases for her return home. She obviously left in a hurry.
If her IDs still here, you have twenty five new messages. It's
eleven five. Sorry, I've been tied up the last few days, so
give me a call. Give me a rundown on kind of what your schedule
is. Things are looking pretty good for me today. Wait a second,
bug, can't waste that big graduation Call us soon. It's six thirty.
I haven't heard from you anyway, give me a call and of messages.
There's no mistake who that is. But why is Gary Condent calling Schandra so
much? Sir? We found a pair of black underwear with seamen stains.
Bag him up for testing. Whoa shit? I guess I missed that one
up. The technician awkwardly held up Schandra's blue laptop. I was trying to
go through her search history and I might have accidentally deleted everything. What oh,
yes, that actually happened. All of Schandra's emails and search history were
totally wiped because a man who was not skilled with computers tried to conduct this
search. More on that later. Early on in those summer months, everyone
started to feel the pressure. Gary Condit, who built himself up as a
smalltown hero, was losing popularity in his home district as people demanded to know
what he did to Chandra. It didn't help that he denied having an affair
with the intern. While Chandra's aunt Linda was telling police and the media what
her niece told her about the relationship. In addition, women like Anne Marie
Smith, a flight attendant, were coming forward about their affairs with the congressman.
Gary became furious with police because it was now clear they were leaking details
of his private conversations with them to the media. Gary wanted to clear his
name once and for all, so, against his better judgment, met with
detectives on June twenty third. Can you tell us what you were doing in
the week leading up to Schandre's disappearance? On April twenty eighth, rode my
bike to the gym. I spent the next day with my wife, but
called Andrew around now. The day Chandra vanished, I was meeting with Vice
President Dick Cheney and we discussed energy policy. Look, Fellas, I gave
you any useful information I had at our first meeting. I have nothing to
do with this, but there's nothing juicier than a political scandal, right and
any tips detectives received weren't helpful. People claimed all kinds of things, from
Chandra being pregnant and dying from a failed abortion, to Chandra dying during a
suicide bombing in Israel. Though detectives looked into plausible leads, nothing checked out.
They needed her computer search history or Congressman conduit to admit that he had
an affair. Look, Congressman, I want to clear you from this thing,
which is why I want your DNA sample. If it doesn't match the
seamen on her panties, then we know she was seeing someone else who might
have hurt her. So will you please meet me behind the safe Way tonight
at ten, Gary, his lawyer, and Detective Durant met behind the grocery
store on July ninth. Nobody said a word asked. Gary's mouth was swab
and the sample was sent to Quantico. Detective Durant. Uh huh, So
the panty seaman matches Gary. Excellent, Let's get a search warrant for this
fucker's home. Okay, babe ready. About a week before this ALIVA test,
on July first, Christie Wygand popped on her walkman asked her and her
fiance prepared for a run through Rock Creek Park. Are you going to leave
me behind again? Come on, you're telling me a Princeton Varsity rower only
has upper arm strength. I'll race you to the top of the hill.
You're on. The couple was seven weeks away from their wedding and began their
usual jog around seven thirty pm. Christie shook her head but smiled as her
fiance pulled ahead. She pressed on at a comfortable pace until suddenly someone's arms
were wrapped around her neck. A Hispanic man pulled her down into a ravine
and drew his knife. As Christie screamed, he covered her mouth and held
the knife to her throat. Shut up. Christie obeyed, but her mind
was racing. She stopped struggling, so the attacker relaxed a little, but
then, seeing she wasn't going to be an easy target, the man ran
into the woods and allowed Christie to get to the park. Police. Yes,
officer, he was a Hispanic man in a white tank top, longer,
black shorts and sneakers. Don't worry a young lady. We'll find him
and you, he looked at her fiance. Don't leave your girlfriend alone at
night, yes, sir. Police scanned the park for the next forty five
minutes until they spotted the attacker by a golf course. He was locked up
until early the next morning, when Joe Green and his team entered the cell
with a translator. Can I get you anything to eat? The man shook
his head. What's your name, son Ingmar? You attack anyone tonight,
mar Ingmar. No, maybe you bumped into them and they thought you were
attacking them. Yeah, that's it. I was running and then my niece
started to hurt, so I bent down and to look at it, and
this lady bumped into me, and we felt I wanted to help her out,
but she didn't understand it. Screamed. She said you had a knife.
No, no, no, my bracelet must have reflected the sun.
And she assumed, uh huh. And did you attack any other young ladies?
Nah? Never, Maybe you accidentally bumped into someone else. Oh yeah,
there was this other girl with a yellow walkman. She turned as I
was running and lost her balance. I tried to help her out too,
but she screamed and ran away. Thank you very much, mister Grundique.
Oh and one more thing. Have you seen this young lady before he sat
down Chandra's photo? Oh yeah, she was in a parking lot by Pierce
Mill. She's fine. Having now attached himself to the two park attacks,
Ingmar was charged with assulted kidnapping Christie but Hallie Schilling would need to see a
photo line up and I d Ingamar before he could be charged for that attack.
And as for Chandra, Joe put it in his report but never told
any other officers or metroped. It's not important to this case. That's fair,
I suppose, though, one of many errors in this story. And
speaking of errors, let's check back in on Chandra's computer. Okay, after
a month of waiting, here's what we have. Schandra logged on at ten
twenty seven am. She visited Gary Kannat's website, Southwest Airlines, a weather
report, and finally Rock Creek Park. Maybe she was meeting Gary at that
Pierce Klingole mansion. It's a good spot for that. We don't know if
she was meeting Gary because we didn't get her apartment security footage. It could
have been anybody or nobody. Let's search the park. Having the team look
within a hundred yards of every road and trail dred yards off of every road.
You got it. Three sergeants and twenty eight cadets searched along Glover Road
and nearly half the park on July twenty fifth, but found nothing. The
case was starting to get out of hand. Gary was working to clean up
his image after outlets said he purposely hindered investigations. He nervously sat down with
Connie Chung on ABC's Primetime Thursday, and after the usual questions, she threw
him a curveball. Did he kill Chandra Levy? The answer was no,
But the entire interview was incredibly awkward for both him and Connie, and none
of the twenty four million viewers' opinions really changed. Oh God, Lee,
when were his nine men? And Good Morning America was in progressed in the
East Coast and the mid West. But we're joined by the entire network.
Just to show you some pictures at the foot of New York City. This
is at the World Trade Center. Obviously a major fire there and their husband.
Just when Gary Condit thought the spotlight would never get off of him,
two planes hit the World Trade Centers. On September eleventh, The world Man
police turned their attention to the Middle East. It seems Chandra Levy's murder would
be put on the back burner for now. As the world was looking to
New York. An inmate named Armando Morales was looking at his lawyer. You
said, you have information on Chandra Levy. Yeah, man, my boy,
Igma, we've been working out, you know, last month, he
said, Yo, Armando, something's eating me up inside that woman, Chandra.
I killed her role because Gary Condon gave me twenty five k to do
it. I didn't know who Gary was to last seen his face on the
news. Oh my god, how did he do it? Oh man?
He got high as fuck. Gary told him she was always in the park.
Sol. He jumps her, stopped on the stomach and covered her up.
And the money send it back to its broadcast family in Osavado. Man,
Armando, if he told you this a month ago, why are you
sharing this now? Oh man? I saw her family on the news and
I'll feel bout for them. Thanks, Armando. I'll tell the authorities,
but they'll probably make you take a polygraph test. Shit, bring it.
The authorities weren't quite sure what to make of all of this, but they
knew they'd need to talk with both Armando and Ingomar. Ingomar probably made the
part about Gary up wanted to look like a big man in prison. I'll
get to the bottom of it. Hello, Armando, I understand you aren't
fluent in English, so this woman will translate for you. Is that okay?
See malparido? The test proceeded smoothly until did Igmar tell you he stabbed
Chandra Levie? Yes? Did Igmar tell you he received twenty five thousand dollars
from Gary Condent? Yes? The results of those final two questions seemed to
be lies. Kmar was brought in on February fourth, two thousand and two.
Were you involved or did you cause Chandra Levi's disappearance? No? The
results weren't conclusive, most likely because he too was given a translator, so
the answers were not in sync with the questions. It's not a perfect science.
Detectives didn't press into Ingmar again, and after pleading guilty to the attacks
on Halley and Christie, Ingmar was sentenced to ten years. What the sand
hill is that? Phil Palmer was out on his usual hike through Rock Creek
Park with his dog. It was May twenty second, two thousand and two,
over a year after Chandra went missing. As Phil got closer to the
round white object, he realized it was not the usual animal bone or turtle
shell he was used to coming across and ran to a payphone. Yeah,
Hi, my name is a Phil Palmer. I was walking my dog in
the woods this morning and I came across a human skull. You sure,
absolutely, I don't know anything else. It looks like it. Detectives roped
off the area and found sunglasses, an inside out usc T shirt, leggings
with the legs side and knots, tennis shoes, and other bones. Detective
stormed into medical examiner Jonathan Arden's work area. Well, is it her?
The gentle records are a match. There's less to work with here than i'd
like. It's possible we'll never know specifically how she died, the damaged to
her high art bone, and enough evidence to say she was murdered. My
guess is someone strangled Chandra. The Leavy family held a memorial for their daughter,
but wanted more answers. Police Chief Ramses scratched his head as Robert Levey
scowled, how in the hell did your team miss my daughter? She was
just seventy nine yards off the trail. Well, Sir, there seems to
have been a slight misunderstanding. The team only searched within a hundred yards of
the road, even though we said roads and trail. It's still unclear how
they fucked that up, but they did. The Leavy family wasn't so trusting
of Metroped anymore, so hired their own team of investigators to search the area
on June six, two thousand and two, and they found more bones the
police had missed. Not wanting to look foolish, Metroped suggested, Yeah,
it was probably wildlife moving it around, or maybe Phil Palmer brought it back
after realizing it was human. But we didn't miss it. Phil Palmer confessed
on tape that this was not the case. To try and set things right,
doctor Kim Rossmo, a geographic profiler and director of research, was brought
in to look at the murder and layout of the park. Look attacked here
aren't too common. Igmore lived on the outskirts of the park at the time
and didn't go into work the day thunder disappeared. Hallie and Christine were attacked
within a relatively thought span of time, and miraculously the attack stopped after Igmore
was put away. Wouldn't surpribe me if Chandra was its first unlucky victim,
though logical investigators didn't feel they could say Ingmar did it beyond a reasonable doubt,
and the case once again went cold. Fast forward to two thousand and
eight, when the Washington Post prints a series of articles examining the case.
They tore the story apart and perhaps for the first time, pointed to Ingmar
as the suspect. The public now clearly saw all the blunders in this case,
and the police, well, they didn't want their image stained, so
started to look at Ingmar a bit closer. Hello, Ingmar, My name's
Amanda Haynes. Can I talk to you about Chandra Levy. Amanda Haynes,
the senior homicide prosecutor, was known for telling great stories for the jury.
When the team visited Ingmar in prison, they immediately noticed that he had a
magazine photograph of the victim and attack two that suspiciously resembled her as well.
Seeing this and Armando's testimonious enough evidence, they set a trial for October eighteenth,
twenty ten. The courtroom was packed with eager spectators. Here was the
problem. This case was about a decade old, and the prosecution had no
DNA evidence or even a cause of death. I'd like to call Gary Condit
to the stand please. This was so the defense couldn't list him as a
suspect. Mister condit, can you tell us about your relationship with Ms Levy?
Chandra and I were friendly. I was her mental, but had nothing
to do with her disappearance. And did you two have an affair? I
failed to see what that has to do with this case, and you,
sir, have nothing that can frame me. Are we done here? Yes,
no further questions. It wasn't the juicy story everyone wanted, but I'm
sure Gary con It was eager to get the hell out of that court.
The lawyers called forth both runners, Christie and Halley, who told an emotional
story about Ingmar's attack on them. Then Armando was called to the stand.
He certainly didn't look like a heartened criminal in his glasses. Yes, I
was a gang leader, but prison changed me. Igmar was my bro and
told me everything. He wasn't at it and needed money quick, so he
jumped Chandra. He got the cash and left her unconscious, but he had
no idea she was gonna die. The jury hung on to Armando's every word,
and after ten days of testimony, were sent away to deliberate. Three
and a half days later, they returned your honor on account of murder in
the first degree. We find Ingmar Guandique guilty. Yea. As soon as
he heard the news from his translator, Ingmar tossed his headphones down in frustration,
while the lead's clutched each other in sad relief. Their daughter's case
was finally closed, even if she would never return. And surprisingly, that's
not the end of our story. Meet Bab's prawler, a background actress.
Oh my god, buddy, somebody my dog is stuck in the door.
Hang on, I got you. Thank you. You must love dogs,
nah, just love being a hero full five female like you. Phoenix Morales,
Bab's prawler. Oh could I get you a drink or something as a
thank you? Babs, who was staying at a hotel after her recent divorce,
was attracted to this bad boy that we've come to know as the informant,
Armando Morales. The two saw a lot of each other over the next
few days, and Babs, who cautious him in full I was locked though
for a hell of a long time and learned a bunch of shit, like
how to make a shank out of fucking spyrofoam cups to stab someone in the
eye. Oh my yeah, that's interesting. I'll put most of that behind
me. But this dude who stole your jewelry, that's fucked up. Man.
I'll kill him for you if you want. For her own safety,
bab started to record her conversations with him. That's when he shared something interesting
that she had to share with Susan Levy, the Washington Post and authorities.
Yes, he said on the recordings that he testified in the GUANDK hearing,
but made the whole story up so we'd get less prison time. I'll share
the audio with you now. Though they never hear Armando say this, A
deeper dive into his past showed that he was not the most credible source and
perjured himself on the stand when he said he had never been in an informant.
Before a new trial was set from March twenty sixteen, the defense planned
to frame Gary Condent with past girlfriend's test to find about his obsession with bondage.
The prosecution, however, having their star witness thrown out the window,
announced, your honor, we no longer wish to proceed with this trial.
Instead, we'd like to seek to deport ingmar back to El Salvador because he's
here illegally, and with that the case returned to square one. Chandra Levy's
murder officially remains unsolved, and honestly, that's only one of the sad parts
to this story. Gary Condit obviously did not win his bid for reelection and
his political career was shot. He went on to own a Baskin Robin's ice
cream parlor, but has sense quit. The Leavy family hated Babs for coming
forward because they didn't think she had any reason to other than to get a
few minutes of fame. Ing Mark Guandique was deported in May twenty seventeen,
and I should mention that since the conviction was vacated and charges dropped, he
could still be charged under a new judge and jury. Like so many others,
he maintains that he's innocent. To be honest, this whole story makes
me so sick. Yes, Gary Condit was obviously wrong for having an affair,
but for God's sake, why must we still live in such a puritan
society that we derail an entire investigation to look at a man's sex life.
I'll feel like a damn fool if he is later found guilty of Chandra's murder,
but as of now, there was never any evidence linking him to it.
Oh and if you think having an affair means someone's getting murdered, then
fuck, I have bad news for you, because we'd have a lot more
murders on our hands if that was the case. I am very thankful to
the Washington Post for pointing out all the blunders in this investigation and would like
to ask the park Police why they failed to mention anything to metroped about Ngmar
recognizing Chandra when he was shown her picture after being arrested for the jogger attacks.
Ranger Joe said he didn't think it was important since he was just trying
to solve Halley's attack. But if that was the case, why did you
show him the picture in the first place. I mean, clearly it was
somewhat important. Perhaps if everybody involved with this case wasn't so fucking absent minded,
the murder of Chandra Leeby would be solved. I did not have sexual
relations with that woman was written and narrated by me Skyler Faston Now An executive
produced by Daniel Jones. Our voice talent was provided by Rainy Blake, Vince
Perez, Marissa pa Stone, Jeanette, Zosh Jordan, Catcher, Ariel Dale,
Daniel Jones, Matt McNelly, Walker Barnes, Jeremy Staple, Shitara Irwin,
and Alan Anthony Morion. Our beautiful theme song was written and performed by
Tracy Zailes. Thank you, ask always for joining us for another episode of
the Original Deadtime Stories. People have asked me how they can help our show,
and the best way is to leave a five star rating and review on
your favorite podcasting an app. You can also join our Patreon for exclusive goodies,
or follow us on social media at the Original Deadtime Stories and the links
for all of those are in the episode description. As a reminder, we
will be back in one week with an episode sure to get your toes that
tappen. Until then, stay safe out there. I don't want you to
become the next chapter's topic on the Original Deadtime Stories