‘Preppy Killer’ Robert Chambers, also known as ‘Central Park Strangler’, is released from prison

The man previously known as the Preppy Killer and Central Park Strangler, convicted of a murder that gripped New York City in the 1980s, was released from prison this week after serving a second sentence for drug and assault charges.

Robert Chambers was just 19 when he confessed to the murder of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin, who was found dead and half-clothed in Central Park. He would later claim it was an accident that happened when she demanded rough sex.

Chambers’ case went to trial, but when the jury failed to make a decision after nine days, he accepted a plea of ​​first-degree manslaughter in exchange for a sentence of five to 15 years. He served the full 15 years and was released in 2003.

Chambers again found himself in legal trouble when he was arrested in 2007 for drug trafficking and assault.

He was sentenced to 19 years but released from Shawangunk Correctional Center in New York on June 25, 2023, according to the Department of Corrections website. The whereabouts of Chambers, 56, is unknown now.

Chambers’ case went to trial, but when the jury failed to make a decision after nine days, he accepted a plea of ​​first-degree manslaughter in exchange for a sentence of five to 15 years. He served the full 15 years and was released in 2003

Chambers had only been out of prison for a few years when he was arrested on drug charges in 2005 and again in 2007 for selling drugs from his apartment.

He was 41 at the time of the second arrest and struggled with police when they attempted to handcuff him on the felony charges.

Chambers’ lawyer claimed he became a drug addict when he was 14, and by 2007 was using 10 to 12 sachets of heroin a day. Chambers planned to plead insanity, but prosecutors countered that Chambers was a drug dealer. He was sentenced to 19 years for drug trafficking and released in 2023.

While he has spent much of his life in and out of prison, Levin’s family wonders what life would be like if she were still alive.

The 1986 murder of a promising young high school student at the hands of her classmate Robert Chambers (pictured) was revisited in 2019 in a docuseries called The Preppy Killer

Jennifer Levin, 18, was just weeks away from leaving college when her body was discovered by a cyclist in Central Park on August 26, 1986.

“I think (about) what Jennifer could do, what she would look like,” Ellen Levin told People shortly after Chambers was released for manslaughter. “I think of the grandchildren that I will not have. His dream was to be a designer, but that is no longer the case. And all this loss is profound.

The 1986 murder of a promising young high school girl at the hands of her classmate was revisited in 2019 in a five-part AMC and Sundance TV docuseries The Preppy Killer.

Jennifer Levin, 18, was just weeks away from leaving college when her body was discovered by a cyclist in Central Park on August 26, 1986.

Police quickly arrived on the scene and launched a citywide manhunt for all suspects in the case, going so far as to close all of Manhattan’s bridges and tunnels.

Unbeknownst to them at the time, the man in charge was sitting nearby watching it all unfold.

Chambers would later tell the police while confessing to murdering Jennifer, claiming it was an accident that happened when she demanded rough sex.

Levin was found dead and half-clothed in Central Park. Chambers would later claim it was an accident that happened when she demanded rough sex

Levin had gone out with her friends the night before at Dorian’s, a popular bar a few blocks east of Central Park.

These friends were quick to tell police they remembered the young woman talking to Robert outside the bar, with a few recalling the couple being seen walking away together at the end of the night.

Police attended Chambers’ home the same day, whose face was covered in scratches similar to those found on Levin’s own neck from which they attempted to rip his killer’s hands off.

He initially blamed the marks on his cat, but agreed to accompany police to the station for further questioning about Levin’s death.

Chambers first told police he saw Jennifer late that night outside the bar, but the two parted ways shortly after saying their goodbyes.

Levin had gone out with her friends the night before at Dorian’s, a popular bar a few blocks east of Central Park. Chambers first told police he saw her at the bar

Chambers was questioned later that day by police, who noted his face was covered in scratches similar to those on Jennifer’s neck (Jennifer with friend Peter Davis above)

It was when the police presented him with the fact that eyewitnesses had seen the two leave together that his story began to change, and he told the police that not only did he and Levin go to Central Park that night- there, but that he was also the one who had killed the teenager.

He claimed that Levin asked him for “rough sex” and then tied his hands together with his underpants when stimulating his genitals.

At some point, things got too difficult, said Chambers, who was more than a foot taller than his victim.

He claimed that after he managed to unhinge his hands, he threw Jennifer out of his body and she was killed when she hit the ground.

The police then informed Chambers that he would be booked, but allowed him to see his parents before being sent to prison.

When he saw his father he said, ‘That fucking bitch, why didn’t she leave me alone?’

Preppy killer: Officers learned Jennifer Levin was last seen leaving Dorian’s, a New York bar, with Robert Chambers (above at trial) in the early morning hours of August 26

Chambers faced two second-degree murder charges at trial, during which prosecutors were unable to present evidence they uncovered linking Chambers to more than 30 robberies.

It turned out he had been stealing for some time to fund his cocaine addiction, after being expelled from Boston University after just one semester at the institution.

The defense meanwhile presented Levin as a promiscuous young woman despite no supporting evidence beyond the fact that she was a popular student.

This was enough to stall the jury however, and after nine days without a decision, Chambers and his attorneys agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and burglary.

He was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison and eventually served his full sentence and extensions for his offenses behind bars.

Chambers would maintain even after his release that he strangled Levin to keep him from hurting him during “rough sex”.