www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index www.justiceforchandra.com
Justice for Chandra Levy and missing women
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Would Bloggers Have Cracked Chandra's Case?

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index -> Chandra Levy and missing women
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 1:11 am    Post subject: Would Bloggers Have Cracked Chandra's Case? Reply with quote

Suzanne Smalley of Newsweek asks "Would Bloggers Have Cracked Chandra's Case?". I don't know, but this blogger is going to correct all the errors and misinformation in the article. Settle back, it'll take awhile.

So without further adieu... italics are quotes from article

http://www.newsweek.com/id/238159
Would Bloggers Have Cracked Chandra's Case?
By Suzanne Smalley
Newsweek Web Exclusive
May 18, 2010

When Chandra Levy went missing in 2001, she left a road map to her body.

Chandra spent over three hours searching on Congressman Gary Condit on the internet that morning. As part of that search before disappearing, she searched on Rock Creek Park by typing in Rock Creek Park.

It would take a strong argument that the search was not a continuation of focusing on Gary Condit, a focus which included checking for voice messages from him constantly previous day.

Given that she logged off her computer and Condit left a meeting with VP Cheney and both disappeared after that, Condit to resurface five and half hours later, Chandra never to resurface alive, the normal conclusion would be that Condit had left the message she was looking for and mentioned getting together at time she logged off with mention of Rock Creek Park.

His wife was in DC for first time in anyone's memory and they would not be able to get together at his condo as usual.

The argument that Chandra's search on Rock Creek Park was not related to her other three hours of searching on Condit has not even been attempted. But better yet, just tell people the facts and let them decide.

To learn about what Chandra was searching on that day, read Chapter 9. On Her Computer


The 24-year-old intern quit her gym the day before she disappeared...

No, she tried to quit and had to give a thirty days notice. She was still a member of the gym and had spent several minutes with the gym manager the evening before she disappeared discussing where she could use her remaining month of membership when she returned to Modesto.

For accurate information about Chandra giving her 30 day notice to the gym the evening before she disappeared, the last time she was seen, read Chapter 8. The Scream


...and spent her last known moments searching online for jogging paths in the same Washington, D.C., park...

We analyzed the web sites listed by police and determined that a MapQuest map of Rock Creek Park was obtained with a search on Rock Creek Park. The problem with MapQuest is that it only showed a green blob for Rock Creek Park. Literally.

It showed no details of Rock Creek Park whatsoever. Klingle Mansion and even the road to it are not shown, no indication of where any trails are, no points of interest shown. And the only way it was obtained is mapping the address of Klingle Mansion (park headquarters), the same address displayed at the top of the Washington Post Entertainment Guide page on Rock Creek Park.

Yes, the Entertainment Guide page listed some points of interest and said there was 11 miles of horse trails, but there is nothing a person could do with the MapQuest map in finding where they were.

To get the facts about the map of Rock Creek Park included with sites police listed and how it's found from a search on Rock Creek Park, read Chapter 10. Klingle Mansion

So all we have is a search on Rock Creek Park. The jogging trails is strictly in the imagination.

Now why would reporters do this? Why would they report to you that Chandra was searching for jogging trails when there is no search for jogging trails that was done, no results with jogging trails listed in sites that were visited that morning.

More importantly, a reporter tells you that Chandra was searching for jogging trails despite Chandra never having been known to jog by anyone that knows her. Despite the jog from DuPont Circle to the top of a dense forest is something no sane woman would do with a shotgun, and Chandra without even a cell phone, or pepper spray she carried, or much of anything really.

I have posed that question as The Chandra Levy Jog in the Park Challenge.

To all who toss off Chandra's murder as a walk in the park gone bad, please take a walk from DuPont Circle to grove 18 at the top of Ridge Road and then on out the No Horses path off of the horse trail, starting at 1 pm and with nothing but a walkman, 14k bracelet, ring, and a key, and then come back and tell us about it, including how you got there, what time you got there, and your thoughts on walking back on this "walk in the park".

Oh, and the only prep you get is a MapQuest map of Rock Creek Park which is obtained with the address of Klingle Mansion, as shown in the Entertainment Guide in the Washington Post at the time. No peeking until just before you leave.

We will wait with bated breath.

For an account of what that might be like for a woman, read Chapter 23. Horse Trail

But yet, police searched a "jogging path in Rock Creek Park, where Chandra regularly walked". How would police know that Chandra regularly walked on a jogging path in Rock Creek Park, a park that runs for miles through the District and alongside Condit's street, Adams Mill?

There were no friends in Washington to tell the police this except Sven Jones, and he didn't tell them this. Jennifer Baker was her closest friend who had returned to California, and she didn't tell them this. So who told the police that Chandra regularly walked in Rock Creek Park, and why?

The same person that told this Newsweek reporter that Chandra jogged?


It seems clear now that the culprit was Ingmar Guandique, who was arrested for the other assaults just weeks after Levy vanished.

It's not clear at all. There's no basis for it whatsoever. For an analysis of the charges against Guandique, read Guandique Murder Analysis and Guandique's Defense


Even though Guandique has confessed to murdering Levy...

Guandique passed a lie detector test given by the US Attorney's office denying any involvement with Chandra. The prison inmate who says that Guandique confessed to him failed his lie detector test. Please, just some simple facts is all people ask. Is that too hard?


I am not proud to say that I was one of the dozens of reporters who succumbed to herd behavior, staking out Condit's home and investigating the underbelly of the Washington party circuit in a vain search for dirt on the congressman.

yeah, that's really dumb. What do think he's going to do, come out and tell you something? You reporters standing around outside holed up politicians are pathetic.

At least a blogger or two like myself tried to figure out some answers. So between you staking out a silent politician and bloggers, you have to give the nod to bloggers as having more of a chance cracking the case, as far as the question goes.


A Vanity Fair columnist suggested that Condit frequented sex parties at Middle Eastern embassies and arranged for foreigners to kidnap Levy into sex slavery.

No, Dominick Dunne suggested he had been told that.

I notice that in mentioning some wild stories that made the rounds you didn't mention Condit making a midnight phone call from a pay phone down the street from Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia about two weeks after Chandra disappeared.

Condit's other mistress Anne Marie Smith told police she had received a call from him when she arrived in DC and all hell was breaking loose in the news about Condit and the disappeared intern. What was she supposed to think, she left on his voice mail, getting a call back from him from a mysterious number that turned out to be a payphone outside of a McDonald's closed for the night.

For that matter, what are we supposed to think?

That seems pretty wild to me, wild enough to mention along with Hell's Angels and such, don't you think? Well, since you don't want to mention it I guess I will. Maybe a reader or heck, let's get really wild, maybe a reporter can help shed some light on what Gary was doing that night. For the facts about that, read Chapter 15. Luray


Of course, we know that Condit was not a murderer...

Actually, we don't. I'd love to be able to say that's true, but it would take Condit answering questions he's never answered.

If you actually want to know what we know about whether Condit could have been involved in Chandra's disappearance that Tuesday afternoon, read Chapter 17. Alibi

I know, I know, facts, they're so inconvenient. Just like some women that disappear.


The summer of Chandra Levy seems like yesterday, though almost a decade has passed. I'd like to think I'm a better reporter now, less likely to follow the pack.

I would too, but doesn't show by this reporting.


Now, when I cover any high-profile crime, I make sure to check out Web Sleuths, an Internet forum for armchair detectives who analyze cases and post court filings.

yes, excellent site, we post there occasionally as well. However, info on Chandra Levy is a little lean on other sites. I hope everyone can find the info they're looking for on Chandra here on www.justiceforchandra.com - if not, please let me know at ralph@ee.net and I'll check our archives and see what we may have on it.


Some nice commentary from Smalley on how blogging on crime works out. Please see link for it:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/238159


...police dished on Condit, suggesting repeatedly that when the congressman was pressed for information regarding Levy, he was shifty and uncooperative.

That's because he was. Please read Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy
for an analysis. Too pervasive throughout book with seven or eight versions from Condit of what happened, changing each time more was learned about Chandra, to list here.


In fact, as Horwitz and Higham reveal, Condit disclosed his relationship with Levy in his first interview with police...

This is a blatant lie from Horwitz and Higham. What the police were told by Condit initially is well documented. For accurate information on what police were working with when Chandra disappeared, read Chapter 16. Obsessed


...agreed to three more interviews...

How Condit strung the police out and changed lawyers each time before agreeing to another interview, read Chapter 14. Stonewalling


But press coverage at the time propagated police officials' incomplete portrayal.

Actually police were doing their darndest to help Condit clear his name and everyone move on. He just made it practically impossible for them even though they weren't investigating him. For the facts on this, read Chapter 13. Investigation


Meanwhile, even five months into the case, The New York Times published a credulous 5,700-word story [on Duke case] relying far too heavily on prosecutors' claims.

Gee, where have we seen that?


We now know what happened to Chandra Levy.

Actually, we don't. But we do know that we won't find out with reporting like this.

Don't know if we bloggers will crack the case, but I do know we're the only full source of information left on the Chandra Levy case.

rd

click to read the online true crime mystery novel Murder on a Horse Trail: The Disappearance of Chandra Levy

www.justiceforchandra.com home page
_________________
ralph@ee.net
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Wed May 26, 2010 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That we weren't searching public reports of other attacks in Chandra's case is major league bogus from this reporter. I will put up what we did in Chandra's case against anything done in any other case. I document what internet sleuthers found in Murder on a Horse Trail.

More than what this dufus reporter found hanging around outside Condit's place like an idiot.

/rant

rd
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Rainbow



Joined: 29 Jun 2006
Posts: 866
Location: THE LEFT COAST

PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 2:07 pm    Post subject: Bloggers May Very Well Have Solved Chandra's Case Reply with quote

. . . and those answers could very well be found in this blog.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe you're right, Rainbow. And we're going to make sure everyone has a chance to find them right here when the media starts covering this case with no answers.

rd
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Rainbow



Joined: 29 Jun 2006
Posts: 866
Location: THE LEFT COAST

PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:33 pm    Post subject: An "Innocent" Comment Reply with quote

. . . And who will the masses believe, the jailbirds or the actual detectives on the case, who made it known to certain (potential) witness(es) at the time, that Guandique had been completely cleared?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

depends on whether they can see anything about it.

rd
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
sigsky



Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 209
Location: South Carolina

PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:40 am    Post subject: NPR interview with Higham and Horwitz Reply with quote

http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/7997699

I came across this today. It was posted 5/25/2010 and runs about 30 minutes.

Higham sure doesn't let facts stand in the way of a good story. He states that if police had found Chandra's body in the initial search it would have been obvious that her murder was a random act.

This is from National Public Radio. Don't know the actual broadcast date, but obviously after the book was announced.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi sigsky, thanks for that FYI. It's a May 25 interview. I have the NPR transcript posted in our archives under Transcripts.

It's sad to say this, but as an internet blogger I wrote a more objective book in Murder on a Horse Trail than two Washington Post reporters did in Finding Chandra.

Their stuff is National Enquirer level writing, without the obscure phrasing to keep from being sued.

National Enquirer stuff does sell, but it's only partly about money. It's more as being part of a government propaganda steamroller. It's like Pravda meets National Enquirer.

rd
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
peripeteia



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 1173
Location: Nova Scotia

PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:42 pm    Post subject: Had the police followed up on reports! Reply with quote

The description of where Chandra was found was given to police in Aug 2001; almost the exact location but they did not search there, or Chandra's body was placed thereafter. I provided detailed information to the Washington police, granted bases on a vision; rocks, steep grade hill off a path, grade 9/9, bush and tree covered, off a secluded path, in Rock Creek Park. What the vision was based on was after searching Rock Creek Park aerial photograph, I literally got ill when searching the large rocks, later very near in the park where Chandra was found.

Bloggers lobbied for a grand jury to investigate Condit, myself included wrote to President Bush after his comments about Condit's involvement with Levy was just a rumour, and wrote every congressman, senator and assemblyman in the US, re: calling for a grand jury to investigate Obstruction of justice on Condit's part. Lot of good calling a grand jury, in that Condit seemingly was exempt from rules that apply to normal citizens. Even though there is every indication that Gary Condit obstructed justice in this case. After Chandra was missing it should have been he that should have been phoning police and looking for her, but he even lied to Susan Levy when she asked him where Chandra was, he said he didn't know, he waited several days before contacting police as requested by Susan, and did not tell her about Chandra leaving by train which he told Connie Chung in an ABC interview.

Also, the DC police did not interview Grandique, but this was done by Park Police...., even though very early on (within days) bloggers were lobbying for him to be interviewed, he could have been eliminated then and saved the state the money spent on his trial, and now likely to be another trial

We also know that Chandra's case sat on the desk of DC detectives gathering dust, as indicated by the police chief appointed after Ramsey; yet bloggers suspected and stated that the DC police were incompetent during this investigation of Levy's disappearance and murder.

The police totally bungled this and the powers that be have protected Gary Condit from prosecution and left it for a jury to decide his guilt or innocence.
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for that insight, kate. They were intent on inaction and coverup despite your efforts, that's for sure.

And still are.

rd
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index -> Chandra Levy and missing women All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group