Washington intern's murder trial under way

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Attorneys in Washington presented opening statements Monday in the murder trial of intern Chandra Levy, killed more than nine years ago.

Prosecutors said Ingmar Guandique encountered Levy, 24, along a jogging trail, raped and killed her.

Levy disappeared May 1, 2001, and her body wasn't found until a year later.

The Washington Post reported former California Rep. Gary Condit, who was questioned in Levy's disappearance, may testify. Condit, married at the time of Levy's disappearance, admitted having an affair with her while he was in Congress and she was an intern at the Bureau of Prisons. Police now say they're convinced Condit wasn't involved in Levy's death.

Guandique, 29, is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador and faces life in prison if convicted.

Curiously, Guandique took a lie detector test, and the examiner said Guandique wasn't being deceptive when asked if he knew anything about Levy's disappearance.

Prosecutors have no DNA or other evidence connecting Guandique to Levy's killing, but he allegedly told cellmates he killed her.

At the time of his arrest, Guandique was in prison for assaulting two female joggers on the same trail.

The early investigation into Levy's killing was plagued by problems, the report said, including the destruction of a security video of the of the parking lot for the apartment where Levy lived.

The trial is expected to last about five weeks. There are four alternates for the 12-person jury; normally there are just two, the newspaper said.