As police announce they're close to making an arrest in the eight-year-old Washington, D.C. murder of Chandra Levy, Valleyite and former California Congressman Gary Condit tells a newspaper he's planning a book on the case.
District of Columbia police are seeking an arrest warrant for Ingmar Guandique, an immigrant from El Salvador -- which means Condit's cleared of involvement in the young government intern's death.
Condit, whose political career was brought down by the case, has maintained his innocence all along. He represented California's 18th Congressional District, which includes Modesto, for seven terms. He served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Guandique's in prison, say press reports, for attacks of other women in the same Washngton park where Levy's body was found a year after she went missing.
Condit admitted having an affair with Levy, 24, but adamantly denied involvement in her disappearance and murder. A story on AZFamily.com printed excerpts from a statement Condit released to a television station in Washington after news came out that police were investigating the Salvadoran immigrant in the killing:
"It is unfortunate that an insatiable appetite for sensationalism blocked so many from finding the real answers for so long," Condit stated. "I had always hoped to have the opportunity to tell my side of the story, but too many were not prepared to listen."
Now, Condit tells the New York Daily News he's ready to write a tell-all book. And the timing seems right. Maricopa County Assessor's records show that Condit and his wife own a home in Anthem. According to the Daily News article, they moved to Arizona sometime after September 11, 2001 and opened two Baskin-Robbins stores. The family was said by son Chad Condit to have lost about $250,000 on the now-defunct ice cream business.
An advance and royalties on a Chandra Levy book could be profitable for Condit. And, who knows, maybe the book will lack the "insatiable appetite for sensationalism" Condit bemoans in his statement.
