Chandra Levy Intern Murder Case to be Tried in Wash., D.C., Where She Disappeared in 2001

WASHINGTON (AP) The disappearance of U.S. government intern Chandra Levy in Wash., D.C. riveted the nation's attention in the summer of 2001. Nine years later, a judge has decided the trial of the man charged with killing Levy will also take place in the nation's capital.

Twenty-eight-year-old Ingmar Guandique appeared Friday for a hearing in D.C. Superior Court, where Judge Gerald Fisher denied a motion from defense attorneys to change the venue of Gandique's October trial.

Attorneys for the Salvadoran immigrant had argued their client would not get a fair trial in Washington due to extensive publicity.

Levy's disappearance in May 2001 triggered a frenzy of speculation about sex and scandal in the corridors of power, and exposed an affair with then California congressman Gary Condit.  Her remains were found a year later in Rock Creek Park.

Guandique faces a first-degree murder charge in Levy's death.