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Tonight, ABC News’ 20/20 will speak with actress Babs Proller, who has become an integral part of the trial of Chandra Levy, who was murdered in 2001.
In 2010, authorities convicted an illegal immigrant named Ingmar Guandique of 24-year-old Levy’s death. They were initially informed about Guandique by one of his cellmates, Armando “Mouse” Morales, who testified that Guandique admitted to killing Chandra Levy while the two men were serving time in prison together.
Proller recently told authorities that Morales wasn’t honest about Guandique’s confession, and that she has the evidence to prove it. Read on for details, and to learn more about Babs Proller.
1. She Taped Conversations Between Herself and Morales
Proller knew that Morales had recently served time in prison– in fact, he told her so directly. She believed, however, that he was a changed man– particularly after he’d been so nice to her dog, Buddy (who he watched while she was out of town).
During one their conversations, Proller became weary of Morales’ criminal history when he mentioned he had been a gang member and was a “career criminal.” WFIN writes, “Proller said once Morales started talking about paying retribution to someone he had harmed, Proller began recording him for her own protection. She started secretly recording their conversations everywhere they went together, including the car, the hotel and to a storage locker near Annapolis, Maryland, where she had asked him for help organizing her stuff since she was between homes.”
During one of the recorded conversations that took place in a storage locker, Morales admitted to lying about his testimony. In the tape, Morales can be heard saying, “The dude that I testified- he committed a homicide.” When Proller asks him if he’s sure, Morales says, “I don’t know. I can’t answer that.” Proller eventually succeeds in pulling a confession out of Morales. She told ABC, “I never in my life thought he would be talking about the case or for him to admit at any point that he lied. I honestly thought, ‘He’s going to kill me in the storage unit and they’re going to find my body one day.’”
2. She Is an Extra in ‘House of Cards’, ‘The Originals’, and ‘Notorious’
ABC News describes Proller as a “part-time television extra” who has appeared in shows like The Originals (playing a CSI Detective in one episode), House of Cards (playing a Clerk of Courts), and Notorious (playing a news reporter). She is also set to appear as a casino patron in the film Sleepless, which will be released next year.
You can check out Proller’s IMDB page here.
3. She Met Morales While Temporarily Living in a Maryland Hotel
When Proller met Morales, she had just been evicted from her home, and was temporarily living in a Maryland hotel where Morales was coincidentally staying as well. Proller tells ABC that Morales was nice to her dog, Buddy, and introduced himself as ‘Phoenix.’ “He was very kind, and very friendly.”
4. She Was Arrested for Theft in Pennsylvania in 2012
ABC News reports that “Proller has credibility and legal issues of her own.” She was arrested for theft in Pennsylvania in 2012, and received three years worth of probation as a result. The actress defends herself, however, by saying that all she did was move around prices on toothbrush labels. While discussing the case, Proller stated, “I have never taken anything from anybody. I have not taken money, what am I trying to scam out of this?”
5. She Believes She Is the Reason the Case Against Guandique Was Dropped
Based on her own interactions with Morales, Proller believes that that he is a liar and “cannot be trusted as a witness.” On July 28, 2016, prosecutors announced that they would not be moving forward with Guandique’s retrial, and would instead seek to have him deported.
Proller tells ABC News’ 20/20, “I think it was absolutely my tapes that blew it out of the water.”