# Missing Intern: Whodunit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 21, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631 "2001-06-21T14:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/21 "2001-06-26T04:37:03Z")
Two propositions I’d lay money on: 1. She’s dead. 2. There’s more to the Condit-Levy relationship than “just friends”. While it’s still a long stretch to accuse “Mr. Blow-Dry” of any crime, the case has some interesting parallels to [this one](http://www.cnn.com/US/9903/16/missing.secretary.03/). ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/22 "2001-08-13T18:33:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > \*\*I don’t have a firm theory about where Chandra Levy is, but I doubt she’s alive, alas. I also think that Rep. Condit is looking guiltier by the day. He’s either responsible, in some small or large way, and doing a rather poor job of covering it up, or he’s completely 100% innocent and has _really bad_ advisors telling him to act coy and remain elusive… > > I suspect this will be really big news in the next few weeks. I’d rate the odds of Condit having to resign at better than 1% at this point. \*\* **Montfort’s** 6/23 post deserves a prognostication award. My guess is that GC is guilty, for two reasons: 1. He had a (potential) motive for killing her if she was threatening to expose the affair. He had a (possible) motive for disposing of the body if she was pregnant with his child. No other person had known motives. 2. He has behaved like a guilty person: hiding his connection, lying about it, encouraging other past girlfriends not to talk, refusing to be interviewed by the Levy’s lawyer, refusing to take a police-administered polygraph test, not making a comprehensive public comment, etc. Assuming that GC committed murder to save his career, how must he feel now that his career is over anyhow? Does he fantasize about going back in time and undoing the deed… ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/23 "2001-08-13T19:40:45Z")
Maybe Sandra had a big fall-out with Conduit, so she decided to make herself disappear in hopes that her disappearance will turn an uncomfortable spotlight on her ex-beau? I wouldn’t be half-surprised to find out that Levy is right now incognito in Spain, relaxing with a pina colata while maniacally laughing her head off at the news reports of all the heat Conduit’s been subjected to… ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/24 "2001-08-13T19:57:28Z")
Gary Condit looks to me to be guilty of being a sleaze, but not a murderer. He looked totally caught by surprise when this whole thing came down. On the other hand, I’ve got to wonder about _Mrs._ Condit. She’s seldom in Washington, a fact explained by Gary as her being a virtual invalid, yet she was in town when Chandra disappeared. Certainly she’s got motive…her husband screwing around on her right and left and telling people that he doesn’t have a fully functional wife? And, as the cheated-on wife, she’s getting tons of sympathy, while he’s getting all the suspicion. If she did it, she’s watching her husband squirm like a stuck pig while having done away with the competition. Verrrrrry interesting… ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/25 "2001-08-13T20:19:10Z")
Here’s my take: [Speculation] Condit and the Chandra are having hot monkey sex in some motel. She’s really into kinky stuff and ask him to choke her as she is coming to heighten the orgasm. He complies and in the heat of the moment accidently chokes her to death. Now, Condit is in a room with a dead, young intern and he freaks. He calls some of his “friends” to clean up the mess and goes about his business hoping no one will notice her gone because people do turn up missing everyday. Only, he didn’t count on the mom raising such a stink. [/Speculation] Anyway, thats my take. All my co-workers and fellow students think I am crazy. Even my wife. They say it sounds to much like Hollywood, but, truth is stranger than fiction. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/26 "2001-08-13T20:23:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cmkeller \* > \*\*On the other hand, I’ve got to wonder about _Mrs._ Condit. She’s seldom in Washington, a fact explained by Gary as her being a virtual invalid… \*\* I’ve seen Mrs. BTW GC’s story about his wife being a “virtual invalid” turns out to be just another lie. In fact, she’s a vivacious, active (and good-looking) woman. I speculate that the story of Mrs. C being an “invalid” may have been a line that GC used on his girlfriends… ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/27 "2001-08-13T20:42:10Z")
Of course, there is no evidence at this point that any crime whatsoever has been committed. She may be still alive, or even if she is dead it may not be because of foul play. I am not saying what is likely to be true, but it is hard to have a suspect without a body. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/28 "2001-08-13T20:53:53Z")
december: > [@](#): > > I’ve seen Mrs. BTW GC’s story about his wife being a “virtual invalid” turns out to be just another lie. In fact, she’s a vivacious, active (and good-looking) woman. Agreed. My first thought when I saw her picture was “Meg Ryan.” My second was “Or possibly, Tea Leoni.” > [@](#): > > I speculate that the story of Mrs. C being an “invalid” may have been a line that GC used on his girlfriends… No doubt…and boy, if she found out, she must have been _major_ p.o.'ed… Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/29 "2001-08-13T21:02:00Z")
I really don’t have any theories…BUT…to me, it seems less and less likely she’ll ever be found. At least, not alive. And I think that like the OJ and Jon Benet cases, the exposure is making things worse. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/30 "2001-08-13T21:02:13Z")
I think her parents are making this investigation harder than it has to be. By keeping their focus on GC, they are ignoring potential other leads. I don’t know what they have against him, but I really think they are persuing with him such a single minded effort that they are hurting the investigation more than helping it. Furthermore, I’m tired of seeing GC objectified as such a villian for having a sexual relationship with her. It was unprofessional, and depending on where you coming from, unethical, _however_, it takes two to tango. I’m really sick and tired of her parents acting like she had no active part of the affair, that she was being held against her will or something. It’s not like she was being raped on a regular basis by GC, they were both consenting adults. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/31 "2001-08-13T21:06:19Z")
[Chaim Keller](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1507089#post1507089) has elucidated the reasons for suspecting **_Mrs._ Condit.** Of course, this seemed obvious to me when the story first broke. As I said [in June:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1391769#post1391769) “Besides, it was the congressman’s wife. Place your bets.” But do the news agencies follow up on this? _No-o-o._ What? Don’t journalists read murder mysteries? ---
**Author:** ![Cheese\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cheese\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheese_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/32 "2001-08-13T21:19:01Z")
Condit did it. Or Geraldo did it to improve ratings. ---
**Author:** ![buddy1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/33 "2001-08-13T21:29:55Z")
Anybody remember the scene in “THE GODFATHER”, where the Senator from Nevada has killed the prostitute in the Coleone-owned brothel?; Senator:…we…uh…did this all the time…I swear, I din’t kill her… Tom Hagen: relax senator-this girl has no family, no one knows her. Call your office,tell them you had to stay at Michael Corleone’s house. Just my suspicion, but SOMEBODY knows who got rid of the unfortunate Ms. Levy. At this point, we should be examining who owes Rep. Condit any favors ---
**Author:** ![Allworthy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Allworthy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allworthy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/34 "2001-08-13T22:03:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by buddy1 \* > \*\*Anybody remember the scene in “THE GODFATHER”, where the Senator from Nevada has killed the prostitute in the Coleone-owned brothel?; > \*\* C’mon buddy1…the Senator was set up by the Corleones to put him firmly in Michael’s pocket. When the Senator asked for an exorbitant bribe and insulted Italians generally when he was asked to help secure a new gaming license, Michael told him that he (the Senator) would provide the license without a bribe and pay for the license fee himself. Lo and behold, the Senator wakes up in a whorehouse with a dead girl and no memory of how she had gotten that way. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/35 "2001-08-14T03:15:09Z")
First off, I’m 99.9…% certain that the girl is dead. I dispensed with the “random victim/serial killer wacko” theory about two weeks into the story. Statistically, the odds of her being attacked and killed randomly are slim. I just finished up a criminology class, and we were taught that 90something (92, I \*think) percent of homicides were killed by someone they knew. In addition, she (or her body) has not turned up in over three months. Again, this has happened with random killings, but I return to my statement about percentages. Now. Motive, motive, who had a motive? Welp, Mr. Condit could have had a pretty good motive if Chandra was threatening him. She could have been pregnant or possibly had hard evidence that he was into something really freaky (bestiality, kiddie porn, whatever). He knows she’ll expose him (heh) if she doesn’t get what she wants - mainly him. He’s fostered an image as a religious family man and has sustained himself as a Democrat in a highly Republican area. This might ruin him, he thinks. He freaks out, kills her, gets professionals to get rid of the body. OR, alternately, he tells a pro, “She’s a problem, you know what I want, I don’t wanna know nothing from here on in except what I read in the papers, and here’s your brown paper bag” _POOF_! She’s gone. And as for the, “They were both consenting adults” thing. He was a powerful, handsome 53 y.o. pol. She was a 24 y.o. intern. Yeah, she was probably very savvy, but even the savviest 24 y.o. people CAN be taken advantage of. I’m from the NYC area, where kids grow up pretty savvy, and it happens more often than you might think. ESPECIALLY if people in authority like your aunt don’t wring your neck for dating a married man. As for Mrs. Condit as a suspect, I doubt it. I don’t think that this woman got all freaked out over this one affair…The man is, apparently, a serial philanderer, a la Clinton. And didja really think Hillary had _no idea_ about Gennifer Flowers or Paula Jones or Monica? Rubbish. She stayed with him because of her ambition. Mrs. Condit has tolerated Gary’s messing because it pays to stay married to him, and I doubt that one more affair pushed her over the edge into killing this girl. It could be argued that Mrs. Condit knew about the freaky shit Chandra was holding over Gary’s head and killed the girl to protect her own lifestyle, but I find that unlikely. Divorce would be MUCH simpler for her. And there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/36 "2001-08-14T04:30:53Z")
Not quite. Dismissing a serial killer is easier if there is no activity in the area but this is not the case: “Cmdr. Jack Barrett, the Metropolitan Police Department’s new chief of detectives, said they have been trying to link her disappearance to other women who have disappeared. He said the case that most resembles Miss Levy’s is that of Joyce Chaing, who was last seen in Dupont Circle in February 2000. Her decomposed body was found in the Potomac River three months later. Cmdr. Barrett said detectives could not determine whether Miss Chaing committed suicide or was killed because of the poor condition of her body when it was found.” June 30, 2001 –The Washington times GC not calling to describe the affair in a promptly manner was bad. But other Levi family members not coming forward with the info sooner was also bad. I think they also need to explain more. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/37 "2001-08-14T05:01:20Z")
You know, this is nothing about nothing, but it might be worth saying to that misty horizon out there that is the world outside of the Beltway. I have yet to hear a single creditable rumor about the disappearance of this girl. Not a whisper. I should add that rumors of Condit’s infidelities rolled through town and subsided within days of the first bits of publicity. Speculation was rampant, but the good stuff–the little turds of wisdom which so often precede the big chunk hitting the fan–those never came across my desk. What does this mean? Everyone in this town is two telephone calls away from knowing everyone else, and nobody seems to know jack. I’m thinking nobody knows, and nobody dares start a rumor because we all, every single damned one of us, have our ears perked for the slightest ring of truth. Washington doesn’t do a very good job of taking care of anybody else, but we do take care of our own. That’s not much of an observation, but perhaps you can factor it into your theories. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/38 "2001-08-14T13:59:50Z")
foolsguinea: I’ll give you the credit for thinking of it first. I must say, that notion made a lot more sense to me after I learned of this “he tells people she’s an invalid when she’s really not” thing. Cosmopolitan: > [@](#): > > As for Mrs. Condit as a suspect, I doubt it. I don’t think that this woman got all freaked out over this one affair…The man is, apparently, a serial philanderer, a la Clinton. And didja really think Hillary had _no idea_ about Gennifer Flowers or Paula Jones or Monica? Rubbish. She stayed with him because of her ambition. Mrs. Condit has tolerated Gary’s messing because it pays to stay married to him, and I doubt that one more affair pushed her over the edge into killing this girl. I disagree. Bill Clinton carried on with his wife constantly around his life, and if the _American Spectator_ stories are true, even co-opting others into his procurement schemes. In addition, her obvious power-ambition and political activism lent an obvious motive for why she’d stay with a philanderer. Mrs. Condit, on the other hand, was almost never in Washington DC, which is where Gary was careful to carry on his affairs out of her sight. In addition, while she’s not exactly a recluse in her California community, she hasn’t shown any penchant for the spotlight or anything that she’d lack as the ex-wife, rather than wife, of an obscure (until this scandal) congressman. Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/39 "2001-08-14T14:07:58Z")
I say it’s very unlikely that Condit was involved at all. It is very difficult for an obvious suspect to avoid getting caught, especially a relatively well known person as a US Congressman. Condit has been through an enormous amount of scrutiny already, and if they couldn’t nail anything down on him I can’t imagine that he did it. Even more unlikely is the notion that Condit killed her by accident or on the spur of the moment. The likelihood of him being able to pull something like that off with no planning is extremely small. My best guess would be some random violence, or an acquaintance of hers who is being obscured by the more glamorous Condit. But I haven’t followed it too closely. ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631/40 "2001-08-14T14:21:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cosmopolitan \* > \*\*He freaks out, kills her, gets professionals to get rid of the body. OR, alternately, he tells a pro… \*\* The improbable part of this is the actual procuring of a professional killer. Where would a busy Congressman find one–in Roll Call? Wouldn’t Condit then become ripe for blackmail? (I’m guessing hit men aren’t the most principled lot, inasmuch as they will do “anything” for money.) Seems your hit man would have to have impeccable credentials to win over that level of trust from a Congressman who would be ruined (and jailed) were the plot botched and uncovered. The wife-as-killer theory is interesting, but I think few 50-ish women could lift a 120-pound body and dispose of it. A strong Congressional aide who himself is being blackmailed could, however. (cue chilling music…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-intern-whodunit/69631.md?page=3)