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The father of Chandra Levy reportedly says the man convicted of killing his congressional intern daughter a decade ago should be set free if new evidence exonerates him.

Image by wikipedia

As reports swirl about possible new evidence in the sensational case, Robert Levy, told a San Francisco TV station that convicted killer Inmar Guandique must not be imprisoned if someone else killed his daughter.

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“If he’s innocent of murder, he shouldn’t be in jail for it,” Robert Levy said.

Levy’s body was discovered in a Washington, D.C. park a year after her 2001 disappearance, which captivated the nation. An intern at the U.S. congress, she was revealed to have been having an affair with then-congressman Gary Condit.

An immigrant from El Salvador, Guandique was convicted of Levy’s murder in 2010 after a trial in which the main evidence was testimony from a fellow prison inmate who said Guandique confessed to killing Levy.

There was no physical evidence linking Guandique to the crime scene or any testimony that he knew her. He was linked to several other attacks on joggers in Rock Creek Park, the leafy enclave where Chandra Levy’s remains were found.

Guandique’s attorneys have been meeting secretly with prosecutors and a federal judge in recent weeks, according to the AP.

“It’s all secret,” Chandra Levy’s father Robert Levy told Fox News said of the meetings between federal prosecutors and defense lawyers. “No one is allowed in there. It’s about some witness.”

Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher said the secrecy regarding the trial is for “safety concerns,” but refused to elaborate.

Media groups are pressing for a court order to have the hearings held in public. Such hearings are only held behind closed doors in extremely rare circumstances.

Guandique was sentenced in 2011 to 60 years in prison for the murder of Levy, who was 24 when she disappeared. Guandique is scheduled to appear at a court hearing on his appeal of his sentence on Feb. 7.

Condit disappeared from public life after losing his congressional primary in 2002. He was never named a suspect in Levy’s death. He has run ice cream stores and written a book since leaving public life. His son, Chad Condit, ran unsuccessfully for congress in 2012.

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