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CNN Live Today

Chandra Levy Memorial to Begin Hours After Homicide Confirmed

Aired May 28, 2002 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A memorial service is about to begin in Modesto, California, celebrating the life of Chandra Levy.

About three hours ago, the medical examiner in Washington, D.C. came out with a report confirming that Chandra Levy was in fact murdered. This declaration was based primarily on circumstantial evidence at this point, but it does, at least, officially open a homicide investigation.

And just a short while ago, we heard from the D.C. police chief, Charles Ramsey, announcing that the same two detectives who were investigating this as a missing persons case more than a year ago will be assigned to the case.

There you see Chandra's parents leaving, for the first time. This is the first time that we've actually seen Chandra Levy's parents since her body was found last Wednesday. They are in route to a memorial service in Modesto, California, where family and friends will be gathering to remember a woman whom they now know was murdered. A violent end to a very young life for this 24 year old intern.

Getting back to the investigation, however, investigators do say that they are still processing the crime scene. However, they will not, at this point, be able to say how Chandra Levy's body ended up in that portion of Rock Creek Park. They cannot say where she was killed, or even at this point exactly when she was killed.

They declined to mention a list of suspects. However, they say that they reserve the right to interview and re-interview people whom they spoke with at the time of her disappearance that may or may not include Congressman Gary Condit, who only publicly said that he had a friendship with the girl, but the Levy's as well as the D.C. police have said that she and he had a romantic relationship.

In fact, Chief Charles Ramsey of the D.C. Police Dept. was specifically asked if he would be re-interviewing the congressman, and he only would say, as he said several times, he reserves the right to interview or re-interview, question, anybody that the D.C. police feel might be helpful in this now murder investigation.

Jeffrey Toobin, let me bring you back in here. What specifically are the questions do you think that the detectives are going to be focusing on that will more sharply focus whether someone is a suspect or not? I mean, short of a confession by the person. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right. I think they will focus on the last hours that Chandra Levy was seen by anyone, and any connection between this suspect or witness, anyone they talk to, and the crime scene.

Another thing that is worth thinking about is the clothes that were found there. Were all these clothes Chandra Levy's own clothes? Could someone have brought their own clothes? The murderer perhaps. Those questions will be involved.

Were any items found -- cell phone, keys, pager, anything like that, in the area?

Those will be the subjects that will let the police expand on just the crime scene.

LIN: Jeffrey, hold that thought, because Bob Franken, I think, has the deputy chief of police with him in Washington, D.C. -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, we are at the moment talking to a man who is extremely busy right now. It's the deputy police chief -- I never get your title right. Is that close enough?

DEP. POLICE CHIEF TERRANCE GAINER, D.C. METRO: That's very close.

FRANKEN: Deputy Police Chief Terrance Gainer, who was with Chief Ramsey when he just spoke a minute ago.

What, I think, most of us are curious about, is now we have this official designation. What does it really change?

GAINER: Well, actually it's probably a difference without distinction, because we've been at this full force, 120 percent. We have two very good homicide detectives who have been involved in this missing persons case originally, so we're going to keep at it.

FRANKEN: And does anything, however, change, now that it is officially a criminal investigation? How you approach the witnesses -- that type of thing.

GAINER: Bob, that's going to depend on who you talk to and what questions you ask. It is, again, not so much whether it's a criminal investigation. You give rights or don't give rights, depending on whether the person is a suspect or in custody. So that would have applied yesterday as it does today.

FRANKEN: There are certain people who are considered, at least in the public mind, more suspect than others. Do you have a similar view of them?

GAINER: I'm going to keep an open mind, because if you do anything else, then you may miss an opportunity to gain information or try to solve the case.

FRANKEN: Now, as I understand it, there's a meeting going on right now where strategy is being laid out. Why now? Why would the strategy be laid out in an investigation as old as it is?

GAINER: Well, because we have such new information that's only been revealed to us in the last couple of hours.

Now, we had our strong suspicions that this was the way it was going to go, but now we have to let these detectives and the FBI agents and their command officials sit down and kind of think through the next immediate steps of what they ought to be doing.

FRANKEN: I know you have strong feelings about discussing the possibility that she was bound. I'm not asking about that in particular, but in a more generic sense, why are you and your colleagues so adamant about not talking about precisely what was found out there?

GAINER: Well, because there are things that should be on a need- to-know basis. And the more that the police or prosecutors can know in the area of interview and interrogation, the more you can test the veracity of the person who is giving you that information. And some of it ought to be kept very, close to the chest, until it's time to let the court or a defense attorney know that.

FRANKEN: Can I ask you, however, without being specific, to take us a little bit further, in a generic sense, about what was discovered on the scene?

GAINER: That would be impossible to do. But it's an excellent question and nice try.

FRANKEN: Let me just ask one other thing, and this one is not one you're going to enjoy. The criticisms continue about the performance of the D.C. police throughout. What's your response?

GAINER: I think we've performed very, well. I regret the fact that when we searched those areas on July 24 and July 25, we did not find her remains, and that will haunt many of us until the day we die, because it would have been helpful, first, to her parents, but it also would have been helpful to resolve this case.

We were oh so close in finding her remains, but that just doesn't count in a case like this.

FRANKEN: The chief said that they anticipate finding somebody eventually. The only question I have is, the further away you get, the harder it becomes to solve this.

GAINER: Well, there's ying and yang to that, actually, because sometimes, the further away you get, the more people get guilty consciences, or they're willing to dime someone out. So we see a lot of times, cases that are solve at three years old and 20 years old, and here we are in trials up in Massachusetts that are 25 years old.

So there will be a lot of policemen and detectives who follow the crew that are on this, or follow Chief Ramsey and I, so we don't forget. FRANKEN: Deputy Police Chief Terrance Gainer, who has been such a part of this story, a part of the investigation. An investigation that, on the one hand, is a year old, but an investigation that in many ways is just now beginning -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Bob Franken.

Stay right there, everybody. We're going to bring another player into the discussion -- Mike Brooks, a former D.C. police investigator.

You've heard the remarks from the police chief and from the deputy chief. They seem to be optimistic by declaring, and it is probably the only thing they really declared today, they will solve this case.

You know the investigators who have been assigned to this case. How optimistic are they?

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE DETECTIVE: I think they're very optimistic. I can tell you that the two MPD investigators, Det. Durante (ph) and Det. Kennedy, are very experienced. I've worked cases with them myself, back when I was a detective with the Metropolitan Police.

And the two FBI investigators, the lead FBI investigator, Brad Garrett (ph). He's been involved in some unbelievable cases. Chief Ramsey, during his press conference, eluded to the Starbucks case. That was a case that took three yeas to solve, and Brad, working with the Metropolitan Police homicide branch, they solved that crime. It took three years to do it, but they solved it.

That was a multiple homicide, for people that aren't familiar with it. Three people were killed at a Starbucks up in the Georgetown area of Washington. Very gruesome case. They did solve it.

Just what Chief Gainer was talking about. Sometimes down the road, a year or tow, over a year goes by, people start to talk. People run their mouth.

LIN: Was that the case in the Starbucks case?

BROOKS: I think that's what he was alluding to. People did start talking about it. It was held very close to the vest with the suspects. And they didn't give everything out, just like they're not doing now. But, you know, you don't want to give everything out.

Brad was also involved in the Miramal Conzi (ph) case, bringing a terrorist back to the United States for killing a number of people outside the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Very, very methodical, detail oriented, as the two detectives are also.

It may take some time, but I guarantee you they're going to find someone for this. LIN: So how do the investigators then -- if you want to play off that dynamic, a guilty conscience, how do investigators play that to their advantage? Do they apply pressure in a certain manner, by either the sheer number of people they question, who they question, and what they ask?

BROOKS: Well, they've investigated over 100 people in this particular case. They're going to go back, and I can guarantee you there's a number of people that they want to re-interview. I would, if I were an investigator.

LIN: Who's number one on your list?

BROOKS: I don't want to say. I really don't, because I know...

LIN: Is he elected to office?

BROOKS: No, he's not. No, he's not.

LIN: All right.

BROOKS: On Gary Condit, would they want to re-interview him? There are some things that people who were intimate tell their partners when they're intimate about certain things.

You know, he may know a little bit more about some of her habits. Did she run alone? Did she run up in that area? They probably already asked him these questions, but they may want to go back and be more specific now about some of the questions.

There are other people who I know in fact they were looking at, at the time, not as suspects. But now, they might move into the suspect category, and they'll want to go back and maybe re-interview some people who knew these folks.

So there's a lot to be done. There's a lot of work to be done. A lot more interviews. And I can guarantee you they will not, literally, leave any stone unturned.

They haven't cleared the homicide scene yet, or the body scene.

LIN: Right, they're still investigating the scene.

On that note, very quickly, sum up the physical evidence they were able to extract from that scene, because there is some discrepancy. The chief wouldn't get into whether she was in fact bound or not. What do you know about the evidence found at the scene?

BROOKS: I know that she apparently was bound. In what matter, that's unknown. They're not going to give that out, of course, because you don't want to give every little detail out, especially when you're doing an interview with people.

Physical evidence: they had some of her clothing there. What does that hold? There could be DNA in that clothing, of herself and possibly of someone else. As I said before, there's a lot of other physical evidence, fingerprints, that will stay there, even after a year.

Some of it was apparently covered up with leaves. These are some things they're going to take a look at. There's a lot more to be done.

LIN: You mentioned a Walkman. Was a Walkman found?

BROOKS: There was a Walkman. There was a Walkman found on the scene, and there may be some fingerprints on that. You don't know, because during a struggle, when people are struggling on a scene such as this, you don't know what the person may touch.

What kind of soil -- you know, people pickup soil. Is there other soil there on the scene that may have been left near the body that possibly doesn't belong in the park. You know, there's some soil comparisons that they can do.

You know, everybody says Gary Condit. Well, they can go back -- they did a vacuuming of his apartment when they did the search there back last year. Did they get soil from Rock Creek Park there, probably not. But to totally eliminate him, they can go back and do some comparison of the things that they took out of his apartment. Some of the things, some of the vacuuming that they did there.

So there's a lot of work to be done. They're just starting again, and it's almost like starting over at ground zero. But again, you take everything -- you've got a big puzzle. Take all these little pieces, put them together, and see what we can come up with.

LIN: All right. We'll be exploring that picture with you. Thanks so much, Mike Brooks.

All right, let's go out to Modesto, California right now.

Gary Tuchman, I think the memorial service should be getting underway.

TUCHMAN: Carol, hundreds of people have now filed into the convention hall behind me here in downtown Modesto. We expect the Levys will arrive within the next five minutes. You saw when they walked out of their house a short time ago, it was the first time we have seen them since Wednesday.

It greatly saddened us, when we were watching them come out of the house, because we had been so used to seeing them come out of the house over the past 13 months to talk with the reporters and the photographers out there, for the stated but understandable purpose of trying to find their daughter. And they truly believed there was a possibility that could happen.

This is the first time we've seen them walking out of the house knowing that they have lived through the ultimate nightmare of anybody's life, losing a child.

Dr. Robert Levy, an oncologist to the hospital here in Modesto. His wife, a sculptor and artist, and their son, Adam, walking into the limousine, which is now taking them here to downtown Modesto. They live in the northern part of the city, and they should be here any minute.

When they do arrive here, they'll be greeted by the Modesto Symphony Orchestra that is playing inside the lobby of the Modesto Center Plaza, which is a small convention center attached to a hotel here in downtown Modesto.

The service will be led by the rabbi of their synagogue here in Modesto, Rabbi Paul Gordon (ph). He'll give the introductory prayer. He will also give the closing prayer.

There will be many other prayers and songs, including some of Chandra's favorite songs, including "Turn, Turn, Turn" by The Byrds, and also (UNINTELLIGIBLE). That's a song by Simon and Garfunkle.

You see a live picture right now inside the lobby of the Modesto Center Plaza, where symphony orchestra is playing as people file in. But we can tell you, this was supposed to begin at 11:00 AM Pacific time, 2:00 Eastern time, so everyone is sitting inside right now, and the reason we don't see those people is because cameras are not allowed in during the service.

And that was an interesting issue too. Originally, it was thought cameras would be in the service. We were them told by the Levys they were too emotionally upset to have cameras inside there. Then they changed their minds again last night, and then again this morning changed their minds, and once again, no cameras inside the service.

We will see them, though, as they enter inside the hall here.

One thing you may be wondering about -- there are many dignitaries who are here, including the mayor of Modesto and other local dignitaries, but what about the local congressman of this district, Gary Condit?

It may sound preposterous at first that he might be here, but it's something we felt we had to ask his office here in Modesto. We asked if the congressman, who once described Chandra Levy as a great person and a good friend, will be at this service. His office said they did not know and they didn't even know if he was in Modesto or back in Washington right now -- Carol.

LIN: Gary, I'm just wondering, you know, you mentioned the camera situation inside the service, that the family has had really mixed feelings about coverage of this memorial service. But I'm also wondering how the family feels about how most of the country, if not the world, knows or thinks of their daughter?

I mean, we know her as a 24-year-old intern who had an affair with her congressman. I'm wondering if the family has made any statements to the effect of her character or how it is that they want Chandra to be remembered.

TUCHMAN: We've spent a lot of time talking to Mr. and Mrs. Levy over the last 13 months, and they are greatly appreciative for the support they've gotten from throughout the United States and throughout the world.

Keep in mind, this was a young woman at the beginning of her life. people make mistakes all the time. We all do. But she had a lot of promise. She had a graduate degree. She had her undergraduate degree. She had finished a great internship in Washington. She was coming back to California. And here for 13 months, she has been lying in Rock Creek Park.

These parents are horrified, but they are so gratified for the support. As a matter of fact, they're so gratified about the support they've gotten from people, that on the program, half the program is devoted to a poem that was bitten by a woman named Penny Chirizia (ph) from Virginia.

She doesn't know the Levys, but the poem she wrote about Chandra a few months ago is very symbolic of how many people around the United States feel.

And I want to read just part of it to you. It says: "We do not know her, but feel that we do. We pray every day that she's returned to you. Where is Chandra? Only God is to know, but as time goes on, our fears only grow. Please find our daughter and send her back home, this house is just a house, it is no longer a home. She is part of our family, and as all parents know, each day your child is missing, fears continue to grow. Our faith is in the Lord, who gets us through each day, from sunrise to sunset, as a family, together, we pray. Where is Chandra? Only God is to know, but as time goes on, our fears only grow."

Chandra Levy would have been 25 years old last month. Her parents, very broken up by all accounts. They're coming to this memorial service today. The family spokespeople say they're hoping to gain strength from it -- Carol.

LIN: Gary, do you know who else is going to be speaking at the memorial service?

TUCHMAN: We have been told, scheduled to speak will be Chandra's grandmother, Lee Pollack (ph), that is Susan Levy's mother. Also, Chandra's aunt and uncle, and Adam Levy, her brother, if he's emotionally able to, we're told, is scheduled to speak. He wants to, he just doesn't know if he'll be able to do it.

As far as her parents, Robert and Susan Levy, they are not in any emotional condition right now to go up and speak to so many people.

LIN: Yes. So, I'm wondering, have you heard, then, what direction the family would like to see this investigation go. Have they offered up any names of people they think should be questioned?

TUCHMAN: Well, that brings up an interesting point, Carol.

We asked the family spokeswoman if Robert and Susan Levy are even aware of the news conference held today, and she was telling us that she's not 100 percent sure the Levys even know about that.

I would assume they know. Their lawyer knew about it before the news conference. But they're being very careful here, these spokespeople, to stress that all the Levys want to talk about, worry about, think about today, is their daughter Chandra, celebrate her life, and they don't want to think about this investigation.

To be honest with you, unfortunately, the timing didn't work out very well. They didn't want this to be part of the day's fabric, but it is, and it's something they'll have to deal with.

But, right now, they just want to concentrate on their daughter, and as far as the investigation goes, worry about that another day.

LIN: Yes. We're looking at the -- I think it's a quartet, there, Gary, playing inside the memorial service.

You mentioned some of the music that's going to be played and some of Chandra's favorites.

TUCHMAN: I can tell you a little bit about that, Carol.

This is the Modesto Symphony String Quartet and harp participating also.

The very first prayer that will be sung today is an old Hebrew prayer, put to music. It's called (UNINTELLIGIBLE). That translates to "The One Who Blessed," and it's a prayer for emotional healing. A most appropriate prayer for a service like this.

After that, there will be some speakers, and then the haunting tune, which we hear so much at sad occasions, but always haunting and appropriate, "Amazing Grace" will be sung.

Then some of Chandra's favorite songs, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is a Simon and Garfunkle song. If you're not familiar with it, unfortunately, you don't want to hear me sing it to you. But I can assure you, you've heard it before on the radio.

And also the recessional song, a favorite song of Chandra's, "Turn, Turn, Turn" will be sung after the closing remarks from Rabbi Paul Gordon (ph).

LIN: Gary, as you mentioned, you spent a lot of time with the Levy family over the last year, and I'm just wondering what some of your own observations are of how this family has evolved through this tragedy.

TUCHMAN: Last year, last summer, we had an event, and I know Bob Franken remembers this very well too, but they thought that they had found Chandra's body in a parking lot in Virginia.

I remember that day, the devastation of that family. We actually got to see them after this announcement, coming into their house. They were shell-shocked. They looked forlorn. They found out hours later it wasn't Chandra Levy. They were so greatly relieved, because they truly believed that that meant there was still a chance that Chandra was alive. They were not willing to give up.

And the fact is, in a lot of the stories we cover, you have parents, you have loved ones, who don't want to speak in the past tense, because they just think it's a bad thing to do. These people did not speak in the past tense because they refused to believe that Chandra had passed away.

And as we're talking to you...

LIN: Gary, the motorcade is just -- yes, there you go. Is just pulling up.

TUCHMAN: I was going to say that, too, Carol. We see it also, led by a police car. The motorcade is pulling up to the side entrance of this convention hall, and we expect momentarily for Robert and Susan Levy, and their son, Adam, to come out.

LIN: They must be beyond words today, Gary. You're right. I'm sure the family did not expect that the medical examiner would be coming out with this conclusion on this day of the memorial service, or necessarily to hear once again from the D.C. police chief as to now the official homicide investigation, on a day that they wanted to honor the memory of their daughter, and remember her as a young woman with so much promise.

TUCHMAN: And, I think, Carol, as you alluded to before, with the investigation, there's only more pain to come, because it really appears that they know she was killed, but have absolutely no idea how she was killed.

Obviously, that makes the investigation tougher, and for these parents, who have suffered so much with this mystery, now they're going to have to contend with perhaps not ever knowing who killed their daughter and how she was killed.

Hopefully, police will find the person or persons responsible, but it certainly would have been a lot easier had they found this body months ago.

LIN: Yes. Tell us about some of the people who are attending today. It looked like the service room is packed.

TUCHMAN: It is packed, and that's what's nice about the service. It's open to the public. Modesto is a city of 186,000 people. They're expecting up to 2,000 people to be here. That's 1 percent of the cities population. That's equivalent to 80,000 people turning out in New York City for a memorial service, so it's a huge turnout for a service such as this.

In addition to that, as I said before, the mayor of Modesto will be here, local dignitaries. None of these dignitaries are speaking. That's not the kind of event it is. It's just the rabbi who will be speaking, and then songs sung, and then the speakers, the family members and friends.

Two of Chandra's high school friends will be here participating. I was talking to one of them before. She was telling me how much stage fright she has, that she doesn't like to speak during any occasion, but how Chandra was such an important friend to her and how this is such an important occasion, and she said she wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world, to speak.

The woman you see in front in the white here is Chandra's grandmother. That's Lee Pollack (ph). That's Susan's mother. And she will be speaking. I assume it will be a very emotional time for this grandma to go up and talk about the death of her granddaughter. I mean, what an unusual and horrifying experience, to lose a grandchild, when you live to such a nice, ripe, young age, as this poor woman has. She will be speaking.

LIN: Yes. Gary, there was a cutaway a moment ago, a shot of the media standing by, dozens and dozens of photographers and television cameras gathered outside the church where the memorial is going to take place.

It's a scene, Gary, that, you know, it makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes. We're all a part of the coverage here, and this is how we get these stories out to people, for better or worse. But sometimes it just feels awkward, seeing just this pack of journalists there gathered.

TUCHMAN: Well, I'll tell you one thing, Carol, and this may come as a surprise to some people out there, but generally speaking, we are a very respectful bunch. And you can see out there that everyone is being very quiet, and taking their pictures, and being very respectful, and that's the whole idea.

We all understand what this family is going through. There's nothing worse than what they're going through. And the whole idea is, we're here to do our jobs, not to get in the way of the people who are here today to mourn.

LIN: What do you expect from some of the remarks, some of the testimonials that are going to be shared today?

TUCHMAN: Well, they are going to be talking, friends, family members, about the wonderful life Chandra lived, and they'll be showing pictures to go along with it. They put up a display of pictures throughout the room where the service is being held, pictures that show Chandra as a little baby. Pictures that show her eating cotton candy. Pictures that show her with her brother, and when you look at that picture, you look at that innocent face, you just wonder how something so horrible could happen to somebody.

Pictures that show her on a horse while she was in preschool, and then growing up, on trips with her family. Her family has taken her all over the world. She had wonderful experiences in South America, and Europe, and Asia. And they were very close, by all accounts, she, her brother and her parents. And that will part of what they discuss. This wonderful childhood. A life that was full, but yet should have had 60 or 70 years left to it.

LIN: The music rising now inside as we wait for the family to be seated. Gary was just saying that this is Chandra Levy's grandmother, Susan Levy's mother, who is going to be one of the main speakers today. The parents declining in their grief to actually personally take to the stage to talk about their daughter, on a day when the D.C. medical examiner formally announced that, according to circumstantial evidence, 24-year-old Chandra Levy was in fact murdered.

They cannot say exactly when, and they cannot even say exactly where or how, but this does bring some closure to the family, which had hoped, Gary, am I right, even hours before the announcement was made, that her body was found, that the family was still very optimistic that she could be alive?

TUCHMAN: Well, what's coincidental, Carol, is that Robert and Susan Levy were on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" the very day that the body was found, talking about how they still hoped for the possibility that she would be found alive, and being very genuine about it, I might add. And, coincidentally, they were on that show the day that it happened.

We can tell you, this particular service, although Robert and Susan Levy have been distraught and have not been out in public, they've had a lot of support from their friends and family inside their home for the last six days, and they have designed this entire service.

Everything that takes place, from the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, to the songs that Chandra loved, to the speakers, has all been thought out by her mom and dad.

You're looking right -- Carol, if I could tell you really quick, that woman you see crying right there is her aunt, Linda Zanski Katz (ph). Next to her is Paul Katz (ph). That's Susan's brother.

And we saw a lot of Linda Zanski Katz (ph) during these last 13 months. She served as a spokesperson also for this family. Obviously, a very difficult time as they walk in and hear the music playing from the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. Mournful tunes coming from the string quartet and harp.

LIN: And it was Linda Zanski (ph) whom Chandra Levy confided in about her relationship with Gary Condit.

TUCHMAN: Her aunt was very close to her, Carol, and she confided a lot to her. She also confided to her mother down the road, also. But obviously, it was a very trying time for a young woman, who was having some kind of relationship with the congressman from her hometown.

To this day, Gary Condit has not publicly said that he had an affair with Chandra Levy. Police say -- there's an ambulance passing this way now; that's the noise you hear. Police say that Gary Condit did admit to having an affair with her. He said he had a special relationship with her, but Condit, to this day, has never directly admitted, outside of the police, that he had an affair with her.

LIN: Gary, you mentioned a little while ago, some 2,000 people may be attending today's ceremony, a public ceremony, where really anyone from the community could come. Why do you think this life, this story, has touched so many people so personally there in Modesto?

TUCHMAN: I think because we are talking about a nightmare that any of us can experience. We send our children out into the world, no matter what their ages are, and we are confident that the people they encounter will be as kind to them as we are.

We realize, perhaps, they won't be quite as kind, but that tragic consequences won't result. And when they do, and someone is missing, and someone is found dead, we realize that's a nightmare any of us can live, and that is something that, combined with the fact that this woman had this relationship with a congressman, one of the 435 House members who represent this nation, combined with that, made it the story that it is.

LIN: Are we going to be hearing from any of Chandra's friends during the service?

TUCHMAN: Two of Chandra's friends will be talking during the service, to talk about the life they had with her in high school, how she was a fun-loving girl, how they knew she was going to be a success at whatever she wanted to do.

We also, the cameras, as we said, are not allowed in during the service, but after the service, her friends, her grandmother, perhaps her brother, her aunt and uncle, are going to address us during a news conference and talk a little bit about what they said during the service.

LIN: Yes. You know, Gary, it's just -- it's not going to be the last, I'm sure, that we're going to be asking to hear from this family as this investigation unfolds in the days or the weeks or the months or the years to come.

How has the family adapted to this very public life?

TUCHMAN: I think one of the more interesting things, Carol, is that Dr. Robert Levy is an oncologist. He deals with cancer patients. And he's never stopped performing his job. He's taken days off here and there, but he has felt it has been very therapeutic to help people, many of whom are dying. He has felt it has helped him a great deal to be at work.

I spent some time talking to Susan Levy. While Susan and Robert Levy are Jewish, she also explores other spiritual alternatives, and she's a very spiritual person in many ways. She's studied Buddhism and Hinduism, and that's one of the things that gave her strength, her spiritualness (ph). She really felt that that's why her daughter might still be alive.

As we speak to you right now, Robert and Susan Levy are walking down the sidewalk on the side of this convention center to go inside the building for their daughter's memorial service. On the left is their son Adam. On the right is the family spokesperson, Judy Smith.

LIN: Gary, can you tell what Susan Levy has in her hand? Looks like a stuffed animal.

TUCHMAN: Yes, I can't tell right now, Carol. It looks like a toy. And I'm not sure of the significance of that. As you can see, they're walking in the hall right now. They're being met by another friend of the family who has helped them on the left there. And they're not going to be ushered into the convention hall. And you can see that the symphony orchestra is now playing a new tune as they walk in.

LIN: This is the first that we're seeing of the Levy since their daughter's body was found in Rock Creek Park last Wednesday. They've been in seclusion, Gary, as you've mentioned. But I'm sure trying to just cope with the news that this is now officially a homicide investigation, and hoping for the best that the D.C. police who have assigned the original two detectives who were investigating this as a missing persons case now to a homicide case,

The FBI is going to be involved, as well as experts from the Smithsonian, in high-tech examination of what DNA evidence they can find at the murder scene. We've been talking with Mike Brooks, a former investigator for the D.C. police department, about what that might entail -- some of the evidence found at the scene that was not made public.

During the news conference today, indications that she may have been bound at the time of her death. Some other evidence, fingerprints, a walkman and clothing, that could offer up some clues. All of this happening on a day here as the family tries to memorialize the memory of their 24-year-old daughter, Chandra Levy.

Our thanks to Gary Tuchman standing by at that memorial service. And Bob Franken, who covered the news conference for us in Washington, D.C., as well as Jeffrey Toobin, our legal analyst who added depth to our coverage.

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