Robert Chambers made national headlines in August 1986 when he was dubbed "The Preppy Killer" after he was charged with killing Jennifer Levin, a young woman he met up with in a New York City bar. He went home that night. She was found dead in Central Park.
Police didn't believe Chambers' first version of the events, so he changed his story. He was eventually charged with murder. Then he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and served 15 years in prison. When he got out, he spoke to Troy Roberts for 48 HOURS, in what remains his only interview, which is featured in an updated encore of "The Preppy Killer" to be broadcast August 20, 2016 (10:00 PM ET/PT) on the
CBS Television Network.
"I was responsible for her death. There's no question about that," Chambers told Roberts.
"I don't believe I intended to kill her at all," Chambers added.
As the 30th anniversary of the death of Levin nears,
48 HOURS explores the case that was ripe for tabloid headlines. It's a story that began on August 26, 1986, and features a handsome murder suspect and a beautiful, well-liked victim, who was pulled through the mud as Chambers tried to clear his name at all costs. The case picked up steam - and lurid attention - when Chambers told police that the petite Levin was "having her way with me without my consent...with my hands behind my back." He claimed he was hurt and that he swung his arm, striking Levin's throat, which inadvertently led to her death. The case drew so much attention it was made into a TV movie.
Only one person alive knows what really happened that night: Chambers. And when he spoke to
48 HOURS after being released from prison, it was expected to have been the end of the story. It wasn't. In reality, Chambers' story was far from over. Also not over was the heartbreak of the Levin family.
"After you killed Jennifer Levin, you walked home, you got undressed and went to bed...do you know how callous and unfeeling that sounds?" Roberts asked Chambers.
Chambers replied: "Do you know how callous and unfeeling it feels?"
"Everything he said about how she died is absolutely untrue," former prosecutor Linda Fairstein told Correspondent Richard Schlesinger. "She was frantically fighting for her life."
"Am I a monster? No," Chambers told Roberts. "Because if I was a monster, I wouldn't care, but I do."
Chambers hoped to put his life back together after finishing prison. He planned on getting a job. What happened? As
48 HOURS reports in "The Preppy Killer," Chambers' plan didn't quite work out. Leaving prison was just the start of another story.
48 HOURS: "The Preppy Killer" is produced by Jamie Stolz and Jay Young. Linda Martin, Lourdes Aguiar and Mead Stone are the update producers. Pedro Casais, Gregory F. McLaughlin, Ken Blum and Kent Harrington are the editors. Al Briganti is the executive editor. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.
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