Another one skates, for much worse

The Washington Post has a series of articles on how politics and policework conspired to screw up the investigation into the murder of Chandra Levy:

Post reporters Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham from the paper's Investigative unit were assigned to produce an in-depth reconstruction of the case that would reexamine all avenues of the investigation. Sylvia Moreno joined them from the newspaper's Metro staff. They began by interviewing those closest to Chandra: her parents, Robert and Susan Levy; her aunt, Linda Zamsky; and friends in Washington and in California.
The reporters also spoke to the key police officials in charge of the case: former chief Charles H. Ramsey, former executive assistant chief Terrance W. Gainer, former assistant chief Alfred J. Broadbent and former chief of detectives Jack Barrett. Also interviewed were U.S. Park Police officers, a former FBI agent and a federal prosecutor involved in the case, as well as other women who were attacked and accosted in Rock Creek Park around the time of Chandra's disappearance, on 1 May 2001.
The lead detective in the case, Ralph Durant, and his partner, Lawrence Kennedy, declined to talk to reporters.
The reporters discovered that the police investigation was overwhelmed with the white-hot media coverage fueled by the possible involvement of Representative Gary Condit, a congressman from California. As part of their reporting, Horwitz and Higham spoke to Condit on 30 June and 3 July in the first newspaper interviews about the case the former congressman has granted.
The Post series provides a rare look at an unsolved homicide case from the inside, following the twists and turns of an investigation that was filled with false hopes, false leads and false suspects. It would tarnish a police department and wreck a reputation. It would move with tremendous energy and purpose in one direction and end up in another. It would be marked by an enormous effort by police, and a chain of mistakes that got longer and longer.

Rico says you should click the post title and read the whole series...