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The murder of a beautiful young Washington Government intern in 2001 became one of America's great mysteries, casting a baleful light on the behaviour of powerful politicians and prompting soul-searching among the country's media.
Now the killing of 24-year-old Chandra Levy in 2001 looks set to be
solved after it emerged yesterday that police were close to making an arrest in the case, focusing on a man already in jail for similar attacks on women.
The news could finally clear the name of former congressman Gary Condit, who had an affair with Levy before she died.
Levy disappeared while running on a popular jogging route in downtown Washington and the search for her led to the uncovering of the relationship between the young woman and the older married politician.
While police hunted for Levy's body, Condit endured feverish speculation about his actions, effectively destroying his career.
The media frenzy was no doubt helped by Levy's stunning good looks, and she came to be a symbol of innocent youth, vulnerable to the approaches of a much older, more powerful man with a lot to lose.
However, far from being the dramatic victim of a powerful and sinister cover-up, it now seems that her death was a far more ordinary type of murder.
The man about to be arrested is Ingmar Guandique, a former construction worker who is serving time in a Washington prison for similar brutal random attacks on two women in the same area that Levy's body was found.
Indeed, after the discovery of Levy's body in 2002, the media focus gradually switched from Condit to Guandique.
Levy's decomposed remains were found by a man walking his dog. They were scattered in a remote area of the forested park, though not far from a jogging path.
That led investigators and the media to look again at Guandique, a Salvadorean citizen who had attacked two female joggers. He had surprised the women, one in May and one in July 2001, and tried to drag them off a jogging trail and deep into the woods. Both women escaped and Guandique was eventually arrested and jailed. He is set to be released in 2011.
However, television reports have claimed that police in Washington are pursuing an arrest warrant for Guandique and are set to indict him this week. Levy's parents, who now live in San Francisco, have been told about the developments.
Levy's mother, Susan Levy, told a Californian television station that she was pleased about the news. "You want justice. You want the person incarcerated. It is still painful, no matter what. Your child is dead and gone. But we are glad the police are doing something and making a difference," she said.
If the Levy case is indeed coming to an end, it still leaves many questions about the role of the media in reporting a criminal investigation.
Unhampered by tough libel laws, the US media had a field day with the case as police hunted for her body.
Condit perhaps did not help his defence by refusing to answer questions about aspects of the case during a notorious television interview and by trying to hide the affair - although his actions were perhaps not too surprising.
Levy was younger than Condit's daughter when they were having their affair and Condit had a reputation as a staunchly pro-family politician.
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