TV Biz: Chandra Levy Miniseries Coming to TNT

[playahaitian]

Talk about impeccable timing. Hot off the successes of other true crime programs such as People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Making a Murderer, TNT announced that it's currently developing a miniseries based on the case of Chandra Levy. The network will be adapting Scott Higham and Sara Horwitz's enthralling book Finding Chandra: A True Washington Murder Mystery, which detailed the aftermath and media frenzy of the disappearance of the 24-year-old Levy — then an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons — in Washington D.C in 2001. Her remains were found a year later in D.C.’s Rock Creek Park.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Levy had an affair with Gary Condit, a former Democratic congressman for California, though he was cleared of any involvement. The case went cold until 2010, when Ingmar Guandique, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who previously pleaded guilty to assaulting two women in Rock Creek Park, was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison for Levy's murder. His former cell-mate told police that Guandique confessed the crime to him years prior; however, earlier this week all charges were dropped against him "based on recent unforeseen developments." (Guandique was granted a new trial last year after "prosecutors acknowledged that they had withheld evidence that cast doubt on the credibility of their main witness.") Higham, Horwitz, and Keith Huff (American Crime) are on board to executive produce the series, with Lawrence Kasdan also serving as a co-executive producer.

 

[playahaitian]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/chandra-levy-miniseries-works-at-915897

TNT is hopping on board TV's true crime obsession.

Following the genre's breakout success with The Jinx, Making a Murderer and People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, the Turner-owned cable network is developing a miniseries exploring the Chandra Levy case, THRhas confirmed.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television, Keith Huff (ABC's American Crime) is set to adapt Scott Higham and Sara Horwitz's book Finding Chandra: A True Washington Murder Mystery. Higham, Horwitz and Huff are set to exec produce with Lawrence Kasdan on board as a co-EP and potential director, schedule permitting.


Levy was a 24-year-old intern with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 2001 when she went missing. The story gripped the nation after she was romantically paired with a congressman, Gary Condit, and the missing person case evolved into a murder investigation after her remains were found in in a park in Washington, D.C., a year later. The California senator was eventually cleared and the case went cold for six years.

In 2007, Washington Post Pulitzer Prize winners Higham and Horwitz were assigned to revisit the case. Through a series of 13 stories — which became Finding Chandra — they explored the case from the police's botched efforts, politics and political scandal and an illegal immigrant from El Salvador named Ingmar Guandique, who was later charged and sentenced to 60 years in prison after being convicted of Levy's murder in 2010. He was granted a new trial last years after his attorneys said a key witness lied to the jury. On Thursday, federal prosecutors announced they were dropping the charges against him, re-opening the search for her killer.

Finding Chandra, should it move forward, becomes the latest true-crime series in the works across the small screen. NBC recently picked up a Law & Order: True Crime-themed drama centered on the Menendez brothers and CBS is working on a shortform entry about JonBenet Ramsay.

 

[playahaitian]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/u...man-accused-of-killing-chandra-levy.html?_r=2

Charges Dropped Against Man Accused of Killing Chandra Levy

Citing “unforeseen developments” that they would not describe, prosecutors said Thursday that they were dropping charges against the man they had long accused of killing a young intern in a Washington park more than 15 years ago. The surprise decision means that the death of the intern,Chandra Levy, remains one of the nation’s most notorious unsolved crimes.


An undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, Ingmar Guandique, was convicted in 2010 of killing Ms. Levy in Rock Creek Park and sentenced to 60 years in prison. But he was granted a new trial last year after prosecutors acknowledged that they had withheld evidence that cast doubt on the credibility of their main witness.


On Thursday, the United States attorney’s office in Washington issued a brief statement that said in part: “Today, in the interests of justice and based on recent unforeseen developments that were investigated over the past week, the office moved to dismiss the case charging Ingmar Guandique with the May 2001 murder of Chandra Levy. The office has concluded that it can no longer prove the murder case against Mr. Guandique beyond a reasonable doubt.”


A spokesman for the office, William Miller, said he could not elaborate.

“I don’t have any additional information to provide at this time,” he said. “We’re not planning on any additional statements outside of court.”


Chief Judge Robert E. Morin approved the dismissal of the charges, and Mr. Guandique, 36, will be handed over to the immigration authorities for deportation.

Ms. Levy, 24, an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, went missing on May 1, 2001, and extensive searches failed to locate her. More than a year later, a man walking his dog found her remains in the park, but decomposition and exposure to the elements left investigators with little usable evidence.


Soon after her disappearance, Ms. Levy’s family members revealed her relationship with Representative Gary Condit, a married Democrat from California, and suspicion turned to him, generating a news media frenzy. Mr. Condit was defeated for re-election the next year, but the authorities said he had been cleared of involvement in the murder.


Mr. Guandique’s lawyers, however, had indicated before charges were dropped that they might have pressed the theory that Mr. Condit was the real killer. The lawyers had said in court that they had been seeking testimony about Mr. Condit’s sexual habits from other women with whom he had had relationships.


Bertram Fields, a lawyer for Mr. Condit, 68, could not immediately be reached for comment; neither could lawyers for Mr. Guandique.

Even before Ms. Levy’s body was found, Mr. Guandique, who had pleaded guilty to assaulting two other women in Rock Creek Park, was considered a suspect in the case, but prosecutors did not charge him until 2009. The case relied heavily on the testimony of a fellow prison inmate, Armando Morales, who said that Mr. Guandique had admitted killing Ms. Levy.


Mr. Morales emphasized that he had never before “snitched” to the authorities. But prosecutors later admitted that they knew of other times Mr. Morales had helped the authorities, and had failed to disclose that to the defense.

 

[playahaitian]

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[gene cisco]

I still don't get why they are allowed to you 'jailhouse snitch' testimony, especially when it's the only evidence. And prosecutors need to be charged with crimes for withholding evidence. This system is fucking ridiculous. Wonder if they finally nail Condit.

 

[Esther]

A series about a whore? Mmmm, okay. No thanks.