Chandra Levy ... don't know how she was murdered?

In
this (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20020528/ap_on_re_us/chandra_levy_7) story from Yahoo! News (Associated Press)
they say that “Chandra Levy was murdered, by means unknown, the Washington D.C. medical examiner said Tuesday…” How do they know that she was murdered if they don’t know how? Or do they know how and just don’t say to ensure they can confirm the story of a potential confessor?

If you follow the link at the bottom of that article, you get this story:

I think that they’re assuming she was murdered based on the fact she was missing for a year and they found her bones in Rock Creek Park. Plus, some of the news reports have said that the leggings found with her body were knotted as though she had been tied up. The odds of a presumably healthy young woman dropping dead in the middle of a popular jogging area (without any outside assistance) seem pretty slim to me.

I wondered that briefly too. However, there are rumors that there was a pair of stocking tied in a knot consistent with binding someone. If they found something like that, it would indicate that someone else was involved even though it may not tell you exctly how she died.

I wondered that briefly too. However, there are rumors that there was a pair of stocking tied in a knot consistent with binding someone. If they found something like that, it would indicate that someone else was involved even though it may not tell you exactly how she died.

They need to go over the remains (presumable mostly skeletal) to see if there are any perimortem cut marks on bones or (if they’re lucky) in remaining flesh. Without these or any crush damage to bones or any bullet holes through bones, then one would have to reason she’d ben killed in some non-stabbing, non-smashing, non-shooting way. Given that she was most likely jumped suddenly in the park, this would rule out a drug OD against her will and pretty much narrow it down to strangulation and/or suffocation.

IMHO, the focus on scandal vice criminal action drew the focus of the investigation somewhat away from finding the missing person and the perpetrator. Given the facts of life in DC, her having been done away with in a “normal” sort of crime is far, far more likely than her being done away with as a part of some grand political conspiracy/scandal.

There is always the possibility that the police are holding back information to screen “confessions” to the crime. If Joe Blow, pathological attention seeker, confesses to the crime but gives the wrong manner of death, they know it wasn’t him.

Good question! With skeletal remains it is possible to determine the CAUSE of death (e.g. a bullet hole in a skull, incisional marks (from a knife) on bone, a fractured hyoid bone (strangulation) etc. There was some unelaborated comment that Ms. Levy’s skull was “not pristine,” whatever that meant…

The presence of binding ligatures not normally found in suicidal deaths (e.g. by autoasphyxiation or hanging), would point to homicide.

Also, if the remains were unnaturally covered up (i.e. “buried”) post-mortem, that would be a strong indication of foul play. I’m not aware of any suicides or accident victims who bury themselves.

I’d certainly like to hear exactly why the coroner concluded this was a homicide and not a suicide.