Ingmar Guandique, 29, is charged with murder, kidnapping, attempted sexual assault and other counts. Authorities say he attacked Levy while she was jogging alone in a park in May 2001.

Levy's disappearance - her body was not discovered until more than a year after she went missing - caused a national sensation when she was romantically linked to then-Rep.

Gary Condit, a California Democrat. Authorities once considered Condit a prime suspect but no longer believe he had anything to do with her death.

Levy, 24, had just completed an internship with the US Bureau of Prisons when she disappeared. When Guandique was charged last year with killing her, the illegal immigrant from El Salvador had been serving a 10-year sentence for separate assaults in the same park where Levy's body was found.

In court Monday, jurors filled out an 11-page questionnaire that sought to determine their exposure to pretrial publicity and whether they can sit as jurors on a case that could stretch six weeks. Their answers to the questions about their exposure to the case were not disclosed.

Guandique appeared in court Monday before a pool of potential jurors in a beige blazer and a cream-colored turtleneck that covered a series of gang tattoos. He introduced himself to jurors in Spanish, using the phrase “buenos dias.” It is unclear what role Condit will play in the trial. A spokesman for Condit says the former congressman expects to be called as a witness, though he has not been subpoenaed.

Jury selection is expected to take most of the week, and opening statements might not begin until next Monday.