Calling him “lower than a cockroach,” the mother of slain federal intern Chandra Levy swore at the man convicted of killing her daughter and demanded answers before he was sentenced to 60 years in prison Friday.

“Did you really take her?” Susan Levy asked Ingmar Guandique, as she delivered a victim impact statement at D.C. Superior Court. “Look me in the eyes and tell me.”

Guandique eventually did look up at Susan Levy, whose daughter's skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park about a year after she went missing. His sentencing Friday signals the end of a case that caused a national stir in the summer of 2001, before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks knocked it from the front pages.

“Do you have a mother or sister?” Susan Levy asked. “Can you answer me that?”

Levy told Guandique, who had faced a life sentence without the possibility of parole and her family was sentenced to “days of sadness and tears and heartbreak.” She ended her statement by cursing at the Salvadoran immigrant, who appeared in court in a bright orange jumpsuit.

“Finally, fuck you,” Susan Levy said, pointing at Guandique. “That is it.”

Guandique did not testify at his own trial during the fall, but made a statement before he was sentenced. He appeared emotional before he spoke, rubbing at his eyes and pausing before he turned to address Levy in the courtroom.

"I am sorry," he said through a translator. "I'm very sorry for what happened to your daughter. But I had nothing to do with it. I am innocent."

Guandique, whose 60 years must be followed by five years of supervised release, was convicted in November of killing Levy. At least two jurors, including the foreperson, were in the courtroom for the sentencing.

Guandique’s attorneys had filed a motion seeking a new trial, saying that the government’s closing statement left jurors speculating about what happened to Levy, whose bones were discovered by a cabinetmaker searching for turtle shells in the woods. They declined to comment after the sentencing.

Levy, who was intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, went missing in May 2001. After she failed to return for a graduation ceremony on the West Coast, her parents traveled to Washington to meet with local police. The story exploded that summer when a suspected romantic connection between Levy and then-U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., surfaced. It remained national news until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 knocked it from front pages across the country.

Guandique was charged with the Levy murder in 2009 and was convicted last year by a jury of three men and nine women after more than three days of deliberations. A long list of witnesses, including Condit and Levy’s father, Robert, testified at the trial, though it was challenging to directly tie Guandique to the crime.

No forensic or eyewitness testimony linked Guandique to Levy's murder, so prosecutors relied on two similar attacks that Guandique had served prison time for and the word of a jailhouse snitch, who told the court that the defendant had confessed to killing Levy. Armando Morales, who once shared a cell with Guandique, testified that Levy was killed in a botched robbery, and said Guandique hadn’t even realized that she was dead at the time.

"He said 'Homeboy, I killed that bitch, but I didn't rape her," Morales testified.

Condit also took the stand for the government but remained defiant, refusing to detail the nature of his relationship with Levy. He described the aggressive press coverage that summer, aired his gripes with local authorities who were working the case, and eventually left the building without answering the questions of reporters who followed him outside. During his testimony, Condit was asked how he felt about appearing in court for the case. He responded: “Breaks my heart.”

The jury was shown a pair of black running tights discovered at the crime scene, along with a grungy T-shirt that was recovered with the remains. They listened to voicemails left by Condit for Levy and they watched as the bones that had been identified as Levy’s were flashed on a projector screen.

The case left D.C.’s law enforcement community with a black eye and the lack of evidence presented at the Levy trial often didn’t seem to make it better. One day of testimony was filled with experts who only seemed to highlight flaws in the government’s case. The man who found Levy’s remains was critical of responders who reported to Rock Creek Park that day, saying he found their unprofessional behavior at the scene appalling.

Still, Judge Gerald I. Fisher on Friday said he didn't think the government had presented a weak case, though he added "I wouldn't say it was necessarily the strongest case." Fisher said he didn't factor in the case's notoriety when issuing his sentence, but did note that the victim was a "young and vibrant person with her whole life ahead of her."

"I think he is a dangerous person," Fisher said. "I think he is dangerous to women in particular and I think he will remain so for quiet some time."