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Robert Chambers: CBS’ ’48 Hours’ Takes Look Back At Jennifer Levin’s ‘Preppy’ Killer’ With Update On Where He Is Today

By Traciy Reyes
Published on: 02:03 PST, Aug 19, 2016

Robert Chambers, the handsome “Preppie Killer” who killed Jennifer Levin in Central Park three decades ago, can be heard in his own words in an interview with CBS’ 48 Hours.

In the 48 Hours episode titled, “Preppy Killer,” which was first aired in 2003, corespondents will go back in time to that fateful day to give everyone an inside view of what Chambers says really happened. Robert Chambers was convicted for Jennifer Levin’s murder and sentenced to five to 15 years in a New York State correctional facility. He was released in 2003 and gave an exclusive interview to 48 Hours. The episode will re-air in acknowledgement of the 30th anniversary of Jennifer Levin’s death and will provide an update on where he is now.

A Dead Body In Central Park

It was August 1986 when Americans woke up to the news that a young 18-year-old woman had been found dead in New York’s Central Park. The crime scene and the blanket-covered body of the victim, who would become known as Jennifer Levin, was plastered on the front page of every major newspaper or magazine.

An autopsy report revealed that the woman had been strangled to death. All tips led to Robert Chambers, a drop-dead gorgeous man who had been talking with Jennifer Levin that night at a bar.

For the next several months, the nightly news reported on every piece of new information that became available about what became known as the “Preppie Killer,” which was sometimes spelled “Preppy Killer.” The story fascinated the public because Jennifer Levin was the beautiful victim who died at the hands of a man who had attended prep schools and who had all sorts of chances to succeed in life, though it seems that he never could.

If you go back and read the first accounts of what happened and listen to the interviews with Jennifer Levin’s mother, Ellen Levin, you will remember the face of a heartbroken mother who fought tirelessly to see her daughter’s murderer behind bars.

Robert Chambers’ own mother desperately made all of the right moves to make sure that Robert was successful in life. However, Robert kept getting himself into trouble, and at the time, it appeared as if he really didn’t care.

Old 1980s news reports capture a cocky Robert Chambers walking with extreme confidence as police ushered him back and forth inside the courtroom. And then, of course, there was that notorious video that was aired on A Current Affair, which showed Robert Chambers snapping off a Barbie doll’s head and joking about killing her.

However, the Robert Chambers you’ll see on the 48 Hours episode is a more somber Robert Chambers. His bright eyes are now cold and intense, and it seems that prison life has beaten him down.

Robert states in the interview that it was all an accident and that Jennifer Levin had not struggled for her life as the media and prosecutors depicted. Chambers says he was too afraid to call the police to get her help. Reflecting on his time in prison, Chambers said he spent every day thinking about the case, CBS News reported.

“Every day, something reminds me of her, reminds me of her family. And every day, I know that I’m in prison because somebody died, and I’m responsible for that. It’s not an easy feeling. You don’t get comfortable with it. And it’s part of my life for the rest of my life.”

Although the man the media dubbed as the “Preppy Killer” was released from prison, life hasn’t been easy on him. Since his release, he has been arrested and has continued to battle with cocaine addiction. The way his life has turned out is far from what his mother had imagined for him, and in the 2003 interview with 48 Hours, Robert Chambers was hopeful that things would be different for him in the years after his release from prison, according to CBS News.

“People say, ‘I don’t believe he’s changed; I don’t believe he’s grown up; I don’t believe he’s going to be any different.’ I will. I really will. I mean, it’s a wake-up call. You know, you may not wake up immediately, like people want you to, but towards the end, there’s something that clicks in your mind, and you realize, you have to change.”

Where is The Preppy Killer Now?

Today, he is back in prison, serving time for selling drugs. A look at his prison record shows that he is due to be released in 2024, according to People.

Watch Robert Chambers in the only interview conducted with him since he was released this Saturday at 10/9 p.m. Central on CBS’ 48 Hours. Last week, 48 Hours aired the story of Jason Bohn.

[Photo by Mario Suriani/File/AP Images]

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