Woman says her secret recording revealed lying by jailhouse informant in Chandra Levy case
A woman who befriended a jailhouse informant alleges her secret tape recordings included his admission that he lied when he testified against the man accused of killing intern Chandra Levy.
Testimony by the informant helped lead to the conviction of Ingmar Guandique in Levy’s 2001 death, but a judge granted Guandique a retrial last year. On Thursday, prosecutors announced they were dropping charges against Guandique “based on recent unforeseen developments.”
The woman who says she made the recordings, Babs Proller, tells the Washington Post that the tapes led to prosecutors’ decision to drop the charges. Two individuals familiar with the investigation confirmed in interviews with the newspaper that the tapes were the reason charges were dropped.
Proller told the Washington Post she became friendly with the informant after he was released from prison and began living in the Maryland hotel where she was staying. But she became concerned and began recording their conversations after he threatened to hurt her ex-husband, she alleged.
The Post says prosecutors and its two anonymous sources declined to verify Proller’s description of the tape content. But the sources did say the recordings caused prosecutors to question the informant’s credibility.
Levy’s slaying received press attention after revelations of her previous affair with then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California, who was ruled out as a suspect. Condit’s lawyer released a statement on Thursday saying his client was “extremely disappointed” that the case was being dropped.
