A fellow inmate of Robert Chambers has detailed what the "Preppy Killer" confessed to him behind bars about the murder of Jennifer Levin.
Chambers, who became notorious in the late 1980s after the killing of Levin in New York's Central Park, was serving time when he allegedly spoke about the crime to John J. Lennon, a prison journalist.
When Chambers was asked to describe the night Levin died, he struggled, Lennon wrote in his book, "The Tragedy of True Crime." He wrote that even decades later, Chambers still seemed unable to explain fully what he had done.
Lennon wrote that as a 19-year-old, Chambers initially denied involvement in Levin's death and even told police that the scratches on his face came from a cat, according to the New York Post. Later, he changed his statement, saying that they came from fooling around with Jennifer.
"I liked her very much. She was a very nice person. Easy to get along with. Easy to talk to. She was just too pushy," Chambers told detectives.
He revealed to Lennon that he panicked when Levin didn't respond to him. He said, "'Come on, let's go.' Then she didn't move. And I looked at her, and her eyes were open. And then I freaked out, backing up, all the way to the rock wall by the path."
When Lennon pressed him decades later about why he still couldn't just "own it," Chambers went silent. One moment, he was just walking and talking with Levin in the park, and the next, he had strangled her, Lennon said.
Chambers served 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Levin's death. Lennon notes that when Chambers was released in 2003, he was "an untreated addict." Lennon said a few years later, Chambers was caught in a drug sting and was sentenced to 19 more years.
Chambers later told Lennon that, although he was 36 at the time, he still felt like a 19-year-old in his mind. He also revealed that Chambers struggled with guilt and even envied the way Lennon was able to show guilt to the family of his own victim.
"I guess I feel like, how could I not have figured out how to do that? I think it was always something I felt like I needed to earn," Chambers told Lennon.
Chambers was released from New York's Shawangunk Correctional Facility on July 25, 2023, after serving 15 years of his 19-year sentence. He will be under post-release supervision until July 2028, according to CNN.
