R. CHAMBERS

Robert Chambers was raised by his mother, Phyllis née Shanley, a nurse who emigrated from County Leitrim in Ireland to New York. He served as an altar boy and attended a number of prep schools on a scholarship, as his mother could not afford private school tuition. Chambers did not thrive in an environment where many of his classmates were considerably better than he was, and he struggled with poor grades and antisocial behavior, including stealing and drug abuse. Among the schools he attended are: Saint David's School (New York City), Choate Rosemary-Hall, The Browning School and finally York Preparatory School. Chambers also attended Wilbraham Junior High in Massachusetts during high school.

Chambers was accepted by Boston University, where he completed one semester, but was "asked to withdraw" because of a couple of events, one of which involved a stolen credit card. He then committed other petty thefts and assaults in connection with his drug and alcohol abuse.

Unable to hold down a job, he received a summons for disorderly conduct one night after leaving the Upper East Side bar Dorrian's Red Hand, located at 300 East 84th Street in Manhattan. Chambers destroyed the police subpoena and as he was leaving the scene he shouted, "Damn cowards, you must go after niggers!"

He later entered and was discharged from the Hazelden Clinic in Minnesota, an addiction treatment center. He lived with his mother in an apartment at 11 East 90th Street.

Chambers' girlfriend, Alex Kapp, publicly broke up with him at the Red Hand of Dorrian bar on the night of Levin's death. Kapp was overheard expressing jealousy over the presence of Jennifer Levin, Chambers' secret lover, throwing him a bag of condoms and shouting "You can take those back, because you're not using them on me!" and that's how she ended the relationship. Chambers subsequently left the bar with Levin.

Levin's half-naked corpse, showing strangulation marks, was covered in bruises, bite marks, and cuts, the body was found by a cyclist under an elm (type of tree) on a grassy knoll near Fifth Avenue and 83rd Street, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her bra and shirt were pushed up to her neck, and her skirt was around her waist. The coroner said Levin died of "asphyxiation by strangulation", and police officials had said there were numerous bruises on her neck, both from the strangulation and from her own fingernails as she grabbed her killer's hands and tried to remove them. Later, Chambers closely watched the officers investigating the scene. Investigators had found Levin's panties about 150 feet away.

The police heard Chambers' name from patrons at the bar, who had seen him leaving with Levin. When authorities arrived to question him at his home, he had fresh scratches on his face and arms, which he initially said were "cat scratches". He was then taken in for questioning.

Chambers changed his story several times: "'your cat had its nails clipped'"; him "parting ways with Levin immediately after leaving the bar"; "he separated from her to buy cigarettes". (It was later discovered that Levin did not smoke.) In the final version of his confession, he claimed that some time after he and Levin left the bar, she asked him for "rough sex", tied Chambers' hands with her panties, and injured her genitals with the way she stimulated him, and that she had been accidentally killed when he freed his hands and pushed her away from him.

Confronted with this explanation, examining Assistant District Attorney Saracco said, "You were the first man I know who was raped in Central Park."

Before sentencing, Chambers was allowed to see his father, to whom he said, "What a bitch, why won't she leave me alone?"

The media had dubbed him "The Preppie Murder". Some of the New York media sources had reported the crime in shocking aspects, for example, the New York Daily News wrote: "How Jennifer courted death" and "Sex game turned brutal". Levin's reputation was attacked, while Chambers was portrayed as a Kennedy "playboy altar boy" with a "promising future".

Archbishop Theodore Edgar McCarrick of Newark, New Jersey, later Archbishop of Washington, wrote a letter in support of Chambers' bail request. He had known Chambers and his mother because Phyllis Chambers had been employed as a nurse by Cardinal Terence Cooke. McCarrick, was close to the Chambers family and was Robert's godfather at his christening.

Chambers was granted bail through his family and bar owner Jack Dorrian.
As such, he remained free on bail for the two years of his trial.

The defense sought to portray Levin as a promiscuous woman who kept a "sexual diary"; however, no such diary existed. Levin instead kept a small notebook that contained the names and phone numbers of his friends and common appointment notations. Such tactics were met with public outrage, with protesters (some calling themselves "Justice for Jennifer") demonstrating outside the courtroom.

Jennifer Levin had just graduated from Baldwin High School in New York and was going to attend college at Chamberlayne College in Boston. Chambers went on to describe
Levin as the "most beautiful girl in the world."

With the jury deadlocked for nine days, a deal was reached in which Chambers pleaded guilty to the lesser felony of first-degree murder (a Class B felony), and one count of burglary (a Class C felony) for his robberies in 1986. He was sentenced to serve from 5 to 15 years.

In April 1988, the tabloid television program "A Current Affair" broadcast a home video showing Chambers at a party when he was out on bail. He was shown in the video with four girls dressed in lingerie, choking each other with their hands while making loud gagging noises, and twisting the head of a Barbie doll, saying in falsetto, "My name is... Oops I think I I killed her!"

Chambers served most of his 15-year sentence at Auburn State Prison, but was later transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility due to his infractions. He assaulted a prison guard and was cited repeatedly for possessing bladed weapons and drugs, which resulted in additional criminal charges. Ellen Levin, mother of Jennifer Levin, was also invoked before the New York parole board to deny her parole. Nearly five years of his term were served in solitary confinement.

Phyllis Chambers, Robert's mother, left with Robert in 1988, had been a nurse in Ireland but moved to New York, where she became a caretaker for wealthy New York families. Phyllis hoped that Robert would become a successful businessman. However, his expulsions from a series of prep schools and admission to the Hazeldon substance abuse treatment center undermined his aspirations.

Chambers was released from Auburn Prison on February 14, 2003, having served the entirety of his sentence for his numerous infractions. His release was a media circus, they arrived in front of the prison as early as 13 hours before his 7:30 am release time.

When the prosecution's tactic of "blaming the victim" finally broke the bargain Chambers accepted, Ellen dedicated her life to arguing against this tactic in criminal cases. She has worked to change laws that emphasize the rights of criminals and has used her experience to help counsel other parents who have lost children to murder.
(© 2007 by Daily News LP)

The same day, a documentary was shown on Dateline, interviewing Chambers. Chambers, went on to claim that he accidentally strangled victim Jennifer Levin in a desperate attempt to stop her from harming him during rough sex in New York's Central Park. He also denied that he had any disciplinary problems in prison. However, he had numerous infractions, including assaulting a staff member and was caught with heroin in his cell.

After leaving prison, Chambers settled in Dalton, Georgia with his girlfriend, Shawn Kovell, who had appeared in the infamous video, in which he "plays" with a Barbie doll, made before his sentencing. The two lived there for eight to nine months. He found a job at the Pentafab dye factory. Chambers and Kovell moved into an apartment, vacated by Kovell's mother, in Manhattan on East 57th Street of Sutton Place, New York City, Kovell's mother passed away in the fall of 2003. Chambers found a job at a limousine company in Queens, and later to a sports trophy manufacturer in New Jersey.

Robert Chambers, and his girlfriend Shawn Kovell pleaded not guilty to drug sales and weapons charges at an arraignment hearing, October 25, 2007. Chambers, as shown left on his way to the prosecution hearing , said nothing more than "not guilty". His attorney, Valerie Van Leer Greenberg, declined to comment after the court hearing.

Shortly before Thanksgiving 2004, Chambers was pulled over in his Saab for driving with a suspended license in Manhattan on 139th Street. Envelopes containing drugs were found in Chambers' car. Chambers was charged on November 29, 2004, with possession of heroin and cocaine, driving with a suspended license, and also driving a car without a valid roadworthy stamp.

Chambers pleaded guilty in July 2005, and on August 29, he was sentenced to a reduced sentence of 90 days in jail and a $200 fine.

On October 22, 2007 Chambers was arrested again, this time in his own apartment, and charged with three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree, and one count of resisting arrest. . Kovell was also arrested on a second-degree felony sale of a controlled substance. The New York Daily News reported:

Cops said Chambers, 41, struggled with officers who tried to handcuff him on the criminal charges. One detective had a broken thumb in the scuffle.

The prosecutor released photos found in the couple's apartment. One shows Robert Chambers holding a bag of cocaine. Signs of drug abuse were evident in the shaggy Manhattan apartment, including a mortar and pestle used to grind the cocaine, and powdery residue.

Commenting on his new arrest, former Assistant District Attorney Linda Fairstein, who had prosecuted Chambers for Levin's murder, said:

"That doesn't surprise me. I always believed his drug and alcohol problem would get him into trouble again. He's had the opportunity to detox and take college courses to straighten out his life, but that's clearly not in his best interest. . He hasn't learned anything in the last 20 years."

Chambers and Kovell were charged with drug trafficking. The defense alleged that Chambers had become an addict by the age of 14 and was using around 10 to 12 bags of heroin a day. It was also reported that he also smoked marijuana and took prescription drugs. Chambers had planned to plead insanity. The prosecution argued that Chambers was a drug dealer and had sold $2,800 worth of heroin in an undercover police moment. Chambers would face life in prison on the drug charges.

On August 11, 2008, the Manhattan DA's office announced that Chambers had pleaded guilty to selling drugs. On September 2, 2008, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison.