Parroting the stilted statements of law enforcement agencies, The Asheville Citizen-Times editorial of July 12, 2001, began with a disclaimer, saying; “There’s no reason to suspect that U.S. House Rep. Gary Condit had anything to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy.”

Excuse me? If there was no reason to think Condit had something to do with the young intern’s disappearance, then it wouldn’t be a news story to begin with.

We have seen hundreds of stories about cheating politicians and their wandering libidos over the last 200 years, but this one gets mega headlines because of one very distinct difference: It might be a murder. That’s exactly what’s in the back of our minds, all of us, including journalists, cops, Chandra’s family and Joe citizen. So let’s be honest.

Yes, we must give the benefit of all doubts in our justice system which prides itself on the premise that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. This case is no exception. But, we are still free to suspect. I suspect. You do too.

Most of us know that, without a body or corpus delicti, it is near impossible to prove that a murder occurred at all, which is what any hired killer would bear in mind before embarking on such a morbid task. My 16 years working homicides in Miami taught me how easy it is once the mindset is in place: first the covert killing, the transport to a large body of water (or a remote burial), a sufficient weighting, and then infinite disappearance under the stars at three in the morning.

The victim then becomes a perennial name along side millions of others on a file tab: Missing Person.
There are over 100,000 missing persons reported every year in this nation, none of whom get the investigative attention as Chandra Levy. Within police agencies, Missing Person cases rarely get more than an obligatory report, one or two phone calls and an insert into the computer system, all of which takes less than an hour. A missing child might get a little more effort. Complete investigations are only generated when foul play is suspected. The Levy case has thus far generated over 3,000 manhours and thousands of dollars in resources by a number of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.

No reason to suspect? Give me a break.

Why suspect? Put the pieces together. Condit, a married politician and a notorious womanizer with much to hide, was having a long-standing affair with the intern. The day before her disappearance, she had told a confidant there was something “important” to reveal. This, naturally, conjures up images of possible pregnancy, confessions of the soul, or then again, something totally unrelated. We may never know. But, the fact remains, she was an item desperately to be kept secret by the horny congressman, remembering all too well the nightmare Clinton and his family endured.

Poof! She disappears into thin air.

Enter Mr. Condit’s conduct, who hadn’t counted on so many others knowing about his affair, a deja vu of Monica Lewinsky’s runaway mouth. Now, I don’t fault Mr. Condit’s initial knee-jerk denial, which is standard for anyone first confronted with allegations of infidelity. But, he carried it too far, continually lying to his staff and to the public when he knew he’d been had, then stalling and hiding behind the protective armor of his attorneys. His cooperation in allowing authorities to search his residence is not so meaningful because there was nothing to be found there that would be incriminating.
So, why not?

He had one great opportunity to pull off a psychological coup, by either offering, or at the least agreeing, to take a lie detector test by an examiner agreed upon by both sides, law enforcement and the Condit camp. Instead, he weaseled out and took a clandestine polygraph conducted by an examiner hired by his own lawyers. Hmmm. Are we supposed to be impressed? Well, that backfired, adding more fuel to the fires of suspicion than dousing them.

The best thing Mr. Condit can do is duck from the public limelight and resign his seat in the House. His removal is inevitable, so why not expedite? That way, he would be free to leave the country with a fake mustache, dark glasses and fedora, and then fly off to check out the sarongs in Pago Pago for a lifetime.
As far as it stands at the moment, the news media and law enforcement agencies can spout the party line all they want. We all know he’s a major suspect in her disappearance. He knows it too.

And, if Miss Levy shows up one day with a smile on her face announcing that her big mysterious revelation was her plan to disappear for the fun of it, then I and all Americans will owe Mr. Condit a big apology.

Don’t hold your breath.

(Marshall Frank is a retired Miami-Dade police officer and the author of two police novels who lives in Maggie Valley. He can be reached at mlf283@aol.com)

 

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