- 5 days ago
Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Real people. Real crimes. Real life drama.
00:14The only reason I'm sitting here in front of you is because somebody's dead.
00:19I never intended for anything to happen.
00:24I never even intended to go out that night, let alone hurt somebody.
00:29Robert, anything to say to the Levin daily.
00:31Or kill somebody.
00:34Over here. Over here. Over here.
00:36Cambridge. Cambridge. Cambridge.
00:44Did you think about Jennifer Levin?
00:48Every day.
01:04She's having her wave with me, without my consent, with my hands behind my back, hurting me.
01:09I swung my arm, I struck her neck and throat area, and I pulled her off of me and to
01:16the side.
01:17Did she speak again after she fell to the ground? No.
01:22I had never seen a dead person before.
01:26After you killed Jennifer Levin, you walked home, you got undressed, and you went to bed.
01:31Do you know how callous and unfeeling that sounds?
01:35Do you know how callous and unfeeling it feels?
01:38Here we go.
01:39Robert!
01:40Robert!
01:41Robert!
01:41What do you want to say to the Levin's now?
01:44Robert, how do you feel to be out?
01:45It's your chance to say at least a word.
01:46Robert, can you just tell us how it feels to be out of jail?
01:49And what you're thinking right now?
01:53I got it.
01:56I was responsible for her death.
01:58Okay.
01:58There's no question about that.
02:00You admitted guilt, but you did not intend to kill her.
02:03I don't believe I intended to kill her at all.
02:06It was an accident.
02:07Yes.
02:08But if it was an accident, why wouldn't you call an ambulance?
02:13Why wouldn't you call the police?
02:15Because I was scared.
02:20Everything he said about how she died is absolutely untrue.
02:27This is the left side of his face.
02:29There's one deep severe scratch mark and there's another long mark here.
02:33That tells us that she was face to face with the person who was trying to kill her.
02:37That tells us that she was frantically fighting for her life.
02:41You had your hands around her neck and you squeezed.
02:44No, I did not.
02:45There was not a struggle for life.
02:50Am I a monster?
02:52No.
02:54Because if I were a monster, I wouldn't care.
02:57But I do.
03:02I'll never be termed a great person.
03:05I may never be termed a good person.
03:08But maybe, one day, I'll be a person that learned.
03:14But that didn't happen.
03:16As Troy Roberts and I will show you, Robert Chambers was soon making headlines once again.
03:28I'm Richard Schlesinger.
03:30Tonight on 48 Hours...
03:32The Preppy Killer.
03:4748 Hours will be back in 90 seconds.
04:07In 2003, Robert Chambers walked out of prison after 15 years, a free man still pursued by his own infamy.
04:16...
04:18Robert Chambers, do you think that I would want to be able to be out of jail?
04:21What you're thinking right now?
04:28$44.33.
04:29cents. That's what I got for 15 years. He was 36, but people still remembered him from the summer of
04:381986 when he was 19. In New York, a city where killers get titles, Robert Chambers quickly
04:47became known as the Preppy Murderer. He looked the part and his face was everywhere. The story
04:54of how he strangled a beautiful 18-year-old named Jennifer Levin in Central Park was the talk of
05:01the town. It was a horrible, grisly murder of a beautiful young woman. Pete Hamill was a columnist
05:08for the New York Daily News. There's a rule of thumb in the tabloid business that a murder at a
05:13good
05:14address is better than your run-of-the-mill murder. It happened on Manhattan's Toney Upper East Side,
05:23a neighborhood known more for money than murder. Chambers and Levin had dated before and met the
05:29night of August 25th at Dorian's Red Hand, a bar that catered to the sons and daughters of the rich.
05:37Robert and Jennifer left Dorian's around 4 or 4.30 in the morning. At 6.20, a cyclist in the
05:44park
05:44found her body. Jennifer's body was found under this tree. Linda Fairstein prosecuted Robert Chambers,
05:51who became a suspect within hours of the murder. She was a 48-hours consultant.
05:57The police went to Robert Chambers because they knew he was a friend of Jennifer's. They went there
06:02so that he could help identify how she got separated from her friends.
06:07Oh, so when they first met Robert Chambers, he was not a suspect?
06:10Not in the least. The minute the two detectives, homicide detectives, saw him,
06:14they saw deep, fresh, bloody scratches on both sides of his face.
06:21His first explanation, that his cat scratched him, quickly collapsed.
06:26And after police brought him in for questioning, he admitted killing Jennifer. He said it was an
06:32accident.
06:33I didn't mean to hurt her. I liked her very much.
06:38The story he told police seemed to blame Jennifer. It was shocking and graphic.
06:43She's raping you in the block?
06:45She's having her way with me, without my consent, with my hands behind my back, hurting me.
06:51Simply put, Chambers' story was, in what came to be called rough sex, Jennifer hurt him,
06:57and he struck her to make her stop.
07:00So I reached up like this and grabbed, and I came down like that on my hand.
07:06She came over this way and landed right there, right next to the tree.
07:12Did you believe any of what you heard on that tape?
07:15Everything he said in that statement about how she died is absolutely untrue.
07:23When police undressed Chambers, they discovered more scratches on his chest.
07:28Fairstein says these injuries were not from rough sex, but from a violent struggle in the park.
07:34They argued about something. What it is, we'll never know.
07:38Bob, what did you do it?
07:39Chambers was charged with second-degree murder.
07:42As the trial approached, Fairstein began learning a lot about the so-called preppy murderer.
07:49She believes the only thing preppy about him was his looks, his button-down costume,
07:55covered up a life of crime and addiction.
07:58He looked like a male model.
08:00People treated him like he was a graduate of an Ivy League college and had this prep school background.
08:06And yet, in fact, his days were really spent with the underbelly of New York drug life.
08:11Doing what?
08:12Stealing to get the money to buy drugs.
08:14This videotape gave the public a peek at the real Robert Chambers, Fairstein believes.
08:20It was made at a party Chambers attended while he was on bail.
08:25Chambers, holding a doll, appears to mock Jennifer Levin's death.
08:30I think I killed him.
08:32Jennifer's mother, Ellen, appearing on The Larry King Show,
08:36thought Chambers showed his true colors on that tape.
08:39I was horrified when I saw it, but in a way I was also glad that he showed himself for
08:46what he really was.
08:48During the trial, Chambers' lawyer mounted a defense, some described as lurid and salacious,
08:54that tried to damage Jennifer's character.
08:57I felt like I was burying my daughter every time I opened the newspaper and read the horrible headlines,
09:01you know, attacking her reputation.
09:04After almost three months of testimony and nine days of deliberating,
09:09the jury appeared unable to reach a verdict.
09:11So Fairstein made a deal.
09:14Chambers pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
09:17It was a step down from murder, but as part of the agreement,
09:21Chambers had to admit in open court that he intended to hurt Jennifer when he killed her.
09:27The Levin family have gone through hell because of my actions, and I am sorry.
09:34Despite all the evidence she had against Chambers,
09:37Linda Fairstein could never prove one crucial point,
09:41why Chambers would want to murder Jennifer.
09:44You couldn't stand up in front of the jury and say,
09:46ladies and gentlemen, Robert Chambers killed Jennifer Levin
09:49because they argued about X, Y, and Z.
09:53Absolutely not.
09:53You couldn't say that.
09:53I could not say that.
09:54Did that hurt you?
09:55Oh, yes, it hurt tremendously.
09:57I mean, I can tell you as a matter of law
09:59that the prosecution does not have to prove motive.
10:02I can tell you as a matter of fact that there's nothing
10:04that the jury would like to hear more than why that happened.
10:09There's only one person alive who knows what happened that night.
10:13He never spoke at his trial, and he hasn't spoken since.
10:17Until now.
10:46After his release from prison, we brought Robert Chambers
10:50to a hotel outside of Washington, D.C.
10:53Have you been able to take a walk by yourself yet?
10:58I've been out for walks.
11:00He'd reunite with his parents.
11:02No, there were a lot of people out walking around.
11:03And for the first time, talk publicly about his crime.
11:08Right now, if I had a choice between talking to you right now
11:12and being back in the box solitary, I'd choose solitary in a second.
11:18It's a lot easier than this.
11:21I don't want to be here.
11:23But Chambers felt by doing one major interview,
11:26the media attention might ease up.
11:28And he also had a personal agenda.
11:31Robert Chambers wanted to talk about Jennifer Levin.
11:34Did you think about Jennifer Levin?
11:37Every day.
11:38As the afternoon passed,
11:40the interview would go on for four tense hours.
11:44And every day I know that I'm in prison.
11:46I'm in prison because somebody died,
11:47and I am responsible for that.
11:49It's not an easy feeling.
11:51You don't get comfortable with it.
11:53And it's part of my life for the rest of my life.
11:55Over and over again,
11:58Chambers apologized for the way he lived his life
12:00and the way he had stolen Jennifer Levin's.
12:04Because I can never make up for the death of Jennifer Levin.
12:07I can never make up for the pain I caused her family.
12:10I've been a bad person.
12:13Am I a monster?
12:15No.
12:17Because if I were a monster, I wouldn't care.
12:21But I do.
12:21But to millions of Americans who saw this tape of a teenage party,
12:26a belief had been built.
12:28Robert Chambers had no concern for the Levin family's endless pain.
12:33Oops.
12:35I think I killed him.
12:36The videotape of you at that party was perhaps the single most defining moment in this whole story.
12:43There were people out there who were willing to give you the benefit of the doubt
12:48until they saw you on that videotape.
12:50Mm-hmm.
12:52What were you thinking?
12:54Oh, if I was thinking, I would never have been there.
12:57I was stupid.
12:58I was arrogant.
12:59I mean, everybody was just acting silly.
13:02And I acted silly.
13:03Reenacting a crime?
13:04Certainly not.
13:06It was not?
13:07No.
13:08Not reenacting a crime.
13:09It sure did look like that to me.
13:11I can see how it may be interpreted like that.
13:14You weren't trying to give someone the impression that this was Jennifer Levin, the doll?
13:20No.
13:20Rob, how could you be so dumb?
13:24That seems to be a theme that runs through the many things that I do.
13:27Rehearse lines from a con artist or genuine repentance.
13:32Chambers seemed to want the world that had condemned him to reconsider its judgment.
13:37And I think people at home may suspect that what you're doing right now is playing a role.
13:43A role that you perfected pretty well as a teenager.
13:46Mm-hmm.
13:47What do you say to that?
13:48Would I like to be forgiven?
13:50I wouldn't even think of asking for that.
13:53Would I like the opportunity to apologize with actions behind it, backing it up?
13:57Yes.
13:58Am I acting?
14:00I don't know how to act.
14:01I'm too scared to act right now.
14:03You say I'm well-mannered and everything.
14:05I'm here holding my hands.
14:09I'm scared.
14:10But I'm here.
14:32Robert Chambers was a working-class kid in a white-glove neighborhood.
14:36You know, the museums, all the cultural things, the social situations, the fancy tuxedo balls that they have, the debutante
14:45balls.
14:48It was something that was part of the culture of the area.
14:53His father, Robert Sr., was a credit manager.
14:56His mother, Phyllis, an Irish immigrant, was a private-duty nurse.
15:00It was her determination, not any family fortune, that gained Robert Chambers' access to an exclusive world of privilege, possibility,
15:10and private schools.
15:11You had to work tremendous hours to pay the bills.
15:17Yes, but I never minded doing it, because my parents' education was a very big and important area in their
15:25lives.
15:26And you wanted to do the same thing for your son?
15:28Yes.
15:29She wanted the best.
15:30She always worked hard.
15:32Gave me what, not only what I wanted, but what I needed, which might have been good education, although, you
15:40know, I screwed that up myself.
15:41Robert Chambers bounced from one prestigious prep school to another, in a blur of bad behavior and poor grades.
15:49He eventually graduated and went on to college, but just for a semester, before he was asked to leave there,
15:56too.
15:56I'm running around, partying all the time.
15:59I didn't take life seriously.
16:01I didn't take school seriously.
16:03What were your hopes for him?
16:04That he would pursue a good education, be the best person he could be, and help others.
16:12You disappointed her terribly, Robert.
16:14Yes, I did.
16:15How do you even begin to make it up to her?
16:19How do you do that?
16:22I think probably by letting her know that I take responsibility for everything I did.
16:28But as a teenager, responsibility was the last thing on Robert Chambers' mind.
16:34Get high for three days and sleep for two days.
16:36Get up and do it again and somehow squeeze school in there, if you could manage it.
16:41Partying with people often twice his age.
16:44Women were very attracted to you, even at a very young age.
16:49What did that do to your ego?
16:53Built it up so big you couldn't walk through a door.
16:56But along with the swelled ego came a far more serious problem.
17:00Cocaine.
17:01Cocaine.
17:02How often did you snort coke?
17:04Three times a week, four times a week, somewhere around there.
17:07Would you describe yourself as a drug addict?
17:10Yeah.
17:11Yeah, I have an addictive personality.
17:12So how much money were you spending when you were having it?
17:15Probably two, three hundred dollars a week.
17:18How did you find three hundred dollars a week?
17:20Sometimes money from my family.
17:23Sometimes money from work.
17:24And sometimes doing things that were wrong.
17:27Taking things, selling things.
17:29The homes in the upscale neighborhood were Chambers' targets.
17:33Police estimate he and a partner stole as much as $70,000 in jewelry and other valuables.
17:39So you started burglarizing homes?
17:42Yeah, I did.
17:44It was this Robert Chambers, a petty thief and drug addict, who walked through these doors on August 25th, 1986.
17:52Dorian's Red Hand is a comfortable hangout on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
17:57It was summer's end.
17:59Unlike Chambers, most of the young people at the bar were heading back to college.
18:03Young people full of hope, full of the future.
18:06Young people like Jennifer Dawn Levin.
18:09By all accounts, Jennifer was bright and ambitious, having succeeded in the same types of schools where Robert Chambers had
18:17failed so miserably.
18:18When did you first meet Jennifer Levin?
18:20I believe the first time that I was ever introduced to her was at a party.
18:25Describe Jennifer Levin.
18:26Tall, dark hair, pretty face, funny laugh, smart, compassionate.
18:33Some of her friends say Jennifer found Chambers intriguing, wanting more of a relationship than he was really interested in.
18:41So how many times did you, did you go out with Jennifer before that night in August?
18:48Three times, I think.
18:50Three times.
18:50Yeah.
18:51And you were intimate with her?
18:53Yeah.
18:53She was your friend?
18:55Hmm.
18:56She was a friend to me.
18:58I was not a friend to her.
18:59I wasn't a friend to anybody at the time.
19:01Not even to myself.
19:04Jennifer Levin and Robert Chambers had arrived separately at Dorian's that night, where they met by chance.
19:11I believe I looked over and I saw her sitting at the table with her friends.
19:15Did she approach you or did you approach her?
19:17No, at first it was just kind of like, you know, you know, wave, hey, how you doing?
19:22But something awkward and unexpected came up.
19:26Chambers was dating another girl at the time and she was at the bar, too.
19:30When she saw him speaking with Jennifer Levin, she grew angry, confronted him and stormed out.
19:37The district attorney would later suggest that argument so upset Chambers that it was a motive for murder.
19:43You know, I wasn't angry.
19:44I guess the best way to say it, I was so shallow at the time that, all right, I lost
19:49a relationship.
19:51Well, try something new.
19:54Okay, you yelled at me.
19:55Sorry.
19:56I'll move on.
19:58Chambers says he did not use cocaine that night, that he had a few beers and two tequilas,
20:03and that around by 4 a.m. closing time, he and Jennifer Levin would leave Dorian's together, heading towards Central
20:11Park.
20:12And we started walking and we were talking.
20:14And we ended up walking towards Fifth Avenue and we were near the museum.
20:20Chambers says when he told Jennifer he wasn't really interested in a serious relationship, she scratched his face.
20:27But they then continued their walk into the park.
20:30And what happened next?
20:32We started fooling around.
20:34We never got undressed, undressed.
20:37And she reached down and she grabbed my testicles.
20:41And, you know, in a couple of seconds, you know, talking, fooling around the whole bit, she squeezed.
20:48And between the squeeze and possibly the nails, it hurt.
20:52And in pain, shock, even anger, I reacted.
20:59I sat up, I swung my arm, and I hit her.
21:03How hard?
21:06I would have to say hard.
21:09I made her fall to the side.
21:10I made her fall off of my body.
21:13Where did you hit her, Robert?
21:15In the throat area.
21:17In the throat area?
21:18Yeah.
21:19And when she fell, did she fall silent?
21:24I don't remember any sound.
21:26Did she speak again after she fell to the ground?
21:28No.
21:29At what point did you know she was dead?
21:32When I stood up and tried to gather myself together, and she wasn't moving, and I was saying,
21:39let's go, let's get out of here, it's time to go, let's go.
21:43She didn't move.
21:45Her eyes were open.
21:48Her eyes were open, and I knew something was wrong.
21:51I didn't get down.
21:52I didn't listen for the heartbeat.
21:53I didn't get down.
21:54I didn't do CPR.
21:55I didn't do any of the things that a responsible person would have done.
22:00If this was an accident, Robert, why wouldn't you call somebody?
22:04Why wouldn't you call 911, call an ambulance, call the police?
22:08If this was an accident, if it wasn't your fault.
22:11It was my fault.
22:12But if it was an accident, why wouldn't you call an ambulance?
22:17Why wouldn't you call the police?
22:19Because I was scared.
22:22The shattered night still hung over New York's Central Park.
22:26Jennifer Levin lay dead, and Robert Chambers inexplicably stayed there, staring at the young
22:33woman he told us, as he has always insisted, he killed by accident.
22:39I had never seen a dead person before.
22:41Her eyes are open, and she's not moving.
22:45And I was just scared.
22:48I didn't do anything.
22:49I just sat there.
22:52As dawn broke, Chambers remained at the crime scene, sitting quietly on a stone wall only
22:59a few feet away.
23:00A woman on a bicycle noticed the silhouette of Jennifer Levin's body.
23:05Soon, the police and an ambulance arrived.
23:09I watched as everybody arrived.
23:11It seemed the whole world arrived.
23:14The whole world came to see what I did.
23:17Police started clearing the crowd.
23:20And eventually, it got to me, and they said, you, go, move.
23:23The police told you to leave.
23:25Yeah, they told me to leave.
23:26After you killed Jennifer Levin, you walked home, you got undressed, and you went to bed.
23:32And you slept.
23:34I think I slept.
23:35I don't know if I slept.
23:37You know how callous and unfeeling that sounds.
23:41Do you know how callous and unfeeling it feels?
23:45No.
23:46No, you don't.
23:47But I do, for the rest of my life.
23:51Could Jennifer Levin's death have been an accident?
23:55Chat now on Twitter and Facebook.
24:08When detectives arrived at the crime scene in Central Park on the morning of August 26, 1986,
24:15they found Jennifer Levin's partially clothed body under a large elm tree.
24:20It looked like she had been in a fight for her life.
24:23Cuts and bruises marked her body, and around her neck were bright red hemorrhages indicating strangulation.
24:30The body was lying on the ground.
24:33Some of the clothing on her had been pushed to the upper portion of her body.
24:38The medical examiner estimated the time of death at approximately 6 a.m.,
24:43about two hours after Jennifer Levin left Dorian's with Robert Chambers.
24:48I never intended for anything to happen.
24:51I never even intended to go out that night, let alone hurt somebody or kill somebody.
24:59When police showed up at Chambers' home later that morning, they were stunned at his appearance.
25:05He had deep scratches on his face and arms and injuries to both hands.
25:10Chambers first told police that the family cat had scratched him,
25:13but under questioning at the precinct later that day, he changed his story.
25:18While we were sitting there, I was explaining this to her,
25:20saying I'm interested in other people and that you're going away,
25:23and I don't want to be bothered, and she freaked out,
25:25and she just got up and knolled in front of me, and she just scratched my face.
25:30I had these marks. I didn't even notice until this morning.
25:34The injuries you sustained indicated a struggle.
25:37You had deep scratch marks on your face.
25:40What happened?
25:41She became upset about one thing,
25:44and the one thing was that I did not take her seriously,
25:49and with that, she scratched me.
25:51You're telling me she scratched her face,
25:54and then you decided to still have sexual relations with her?
25:58It wasn't...
26:00That doesn't sound...
26:01It was not...
26:02It sounds ludicrous. You know that.
26:04It wasn't done because I hate you.
26:07You were mad after she scratched you?
26:10I wasn't happy, but, I mean, was I in a rage?
26:13No, I wasn't in a rage.
26:15During the interrogation, Chambers would go on to tell detectives
26:19that Levin tied his arms behind his back with her panties.
26:23He molested me in the park.
26:26How did he molest you?
26:28We're talking about, what, girls? Girls cannot...
26:31Girls cannot do a thing.
26:34The media would call it rough sex,
26:37and it would become central to Chambers' defense.
26:41You're a big guy.
26:43Yep.
26:44You could have defended yourself without hurting her seriously, right?
26:49I could have pushed.
26:50I could have yelled.
26:52I could have pulled her hair to the side.
26:55Why didn't you do any of those things?
26:58Because I wasn't thinking about what I should do in the situation.
27:02If you sought medical attention, they could have saved her.
27:06It's very possible.
27:08And this is something that will be, in my mind, forever.
27:12Would it have made a difference? I don't know.
27:15Would it have helped me?
27:17Sure.
27:18The police precinct is 50 yards away.
27:21Why didn't you go there?
27:22Why didn't I do so many things?
27:25I was scared.
27:26I froze.
27:27But when you hear all these experts say,
27:30it just couldn't have happened the way you're describing it.
27:32Certain experts.
27:33The district attorney's experts.
27:35It's very clear from the medical examiner's evidence
27:39and from the pathologist's
27:40that you choked Jennifer Levin.
27:44It wasn't just a split second.
27:46You had your hands around her neck,
27:48and you squeezed.
27:50No, I did not.
27:51No, the cuts and bruises she didn't sustain
27:54from any talk, any discussion like that.
27:56The bruises that she sustained came when I struck her.
28:01You've done your time,
28:04and this is the moment to set the record straight.
28:08And this is your story.
28:10Yes.
28:11This is the story you'll die with.
28:13Yes.
28:15And my story has not changed.
28:17There is nothing to change.
28:19It's not a story that's pleasant.
28:21It's not a story people like.
28:24It's not a story that fits into people's perceptions.
28:29You know why?
28:30Because it's not a story.
28:33It's the truth.
28:35But according to the evidence in this case,
28:38says Linda Fairstein, who prosecuted Chambers,
28:41nothing could be further from the truth.
28:43She didn't believe Chambers in 1986
28:46when she first heard his version of how Jennifer died.
28:49And she doesn't believe him now.
28:52How would you characterize Chambers' claim
28:54that there was no struggle that night?
28:57I characterize it as ludicrous and completely incredible.
29:02Fairstein studied the pattern of wounds
29:04determined by the medical examiner
29:06to be strangulation marks on Jennifer's neck.
29:09They were lines, long lines,
29:13going in different directions.
29:15Every pathologist who looked at them told me
29:17clear indications of repeated applications of force.
29:21So many marks on the neck
29:25that it's completely inconsistent with one blow.
29:28Jennifer Levin had wounds and bruises all over her body,
29:32far too many, according to Fairstein,
29:34to believe Chambers' story
29:36that she died from a single blow to the neck.
29:39He would literally have her,
29:41and I don't mean to ridicule this,
29:43bouncing down a hill in the park
29:45to have received all of these injuries.
29:48It's just an absurd story.
29:50And Fairstein says those scratches on Chambers
29:53are more evidence of a violent confrontation
29:56than the heated argument he describes.
29:59This is the left side of his face.
30:01There's one deep, severe scratch mark,
30:03and Jennifer had nails.
30:05There's another long mark here.
30:07There's smaller ones.
30:08A long one.
30:09A long one going in a different direction.
30:11Again, a different direction.
30:12Behind that, another one.
30:14What does that tell you she was doing?
30:15That tells us that she was face-to-face
30:18with the person who was trying to kill her.
30:20That tells us that she wanted him off her body.
30:23That tells us she wanted him to stop,
30:25to let go of her, to let her breathe.
30:28And she was frantically fighting for her life.
30:31And on Chambers' hands,
30:32photographed the day Jennifer was killed,
30:35Fairstein says you can see bite marks.
30:37She believes Jennifer bit Chambers
30:40when he put his hands over her mouth
30:42to stop her from screaming.
30:45Chambers argues he did nothing to help Jennifer
30:47after he noticed she wasn't moving
30:49because, in his words,
30:52I was scared.
30:53I froze.
30:54I don't buy it.
30:56He's never reported to his friends that he froze.
31:00Fairstein says witnesses talked to Chambers
31:02while he was sitting on this stone wall,
31:05watching the police that morning
31:06as they worked the crime scene
31:08around Jennifer's dead body.
31:10And when they said,
31:12should we do something to help?
31:14He said, no, there's nothing to do.
31:15The police are handling it.
31:17And then he got up and walked away
31:18and went home and went to sleep.
31:20I don't call that freezing.
31:22What do you call that?
31:23I call that complete sociopathic behavior.
31:28And Fairstein believes Robert Chambers
31:30hasn't changed very much,
31:31despite all the time he spent behind bars.
31:35Is it possible that maybe he thinks now
31:37that maybe he does really have remorse?
31:40He's older and he's done 15 years of hard time.
31:43He's done 15 years of hard time,
31:45made harder because of his own drug abuse
31:48in state prison.
31:50I'm not willing to buy his words.
31:52I'm looking forward to seeing
31:54what his actions are in the next 15.
32:10Robert Chambers' murder trial
32:11had all the electric buzz
32:13of a New York City media event.
32:17The newspaper columnists were dissecting
32:20your entire life.
32:22Sure.
32:23Just as they will when they see this,
32:26they will look at
32:27every time I move my thumb,
32:30if I jiggle my leg,
32:32if I sit forward,
32:33if I lean back,
32:34they're going to look for it.
32:37The plea bargain required
32:39that Chambers admit in court
32:41that he intended to harm Jennifer Levin,
32:44something he had
32:45and always continues to deny.
32:48On March 25th, 1988,
32:51Robert Chambers pled guilty
32:53to Manslaughter One.
32:55And for the first time,
32:56I had to take responsibility for this.
33:00But you didn't want to?
33:03Oh, if I could have, you know,
33:04jumped in an airplane
33:05and flown to the moon,
33:06I would have done it.
33:07How do you feel, Robert?
33:08He would be sentenced
33:09to 5 to 15 years in prison.
33:14It's rough.
33:15It's dangerous.
33:16It's scary.
33:18How were you treated inside
33:20by the other inmates?
33:22Um, I think in the beginning
33:23it was more hands-off.
33:25I think everybody just watched
33:26to see how I would act.
33:28You were never sexually assaulted?
33:30No.
33:32Were you ever assaulted physically?
33:34No.
33:37In your entire 15 years?
33:39Mm-hmm.
33:40Chambers says the older inmates
33:42taught him the ropes,
33:43but how he actually did his time
33:45cut straight to the heart of his story
33:48and perhaps his character
33:49and the question of whether or not
33:51Robert Chambers will ever stay out of trouble.
33:5527 disciplinary violations
33:57for everything from weapons,
33:59possession, drugs, possession,
34:01assault, disobeying, direct orders.
34:03You know, when you hear this,
34:04you're thinking,
34:06this guy hasn't learned anything.
34:07Mm-hmm.
34:09He hasn't learned a single thing.
34:11And, you know,
34:12had you been a model prisoner,
34:14people would have maybe believed
34:16you had changed.
34:17Mm-hmm.
34:17Maybe you had learned something.
34:19Right.
34:21What this demonstrates to folks
34:23is that you haven't.
34:24Chambers says many of the charges
34:26were minor,
34:27even trumped up.
34:29But because of his poor disciplinary record,
34:32he'd spend more than four years
34:34in solitary confinement.
34:37You read.
34:39You write letters.
34:42Do a lot of thinking.
34:44Diploma from the paralegal course
34:45I had taken.
34:46Chambers did take college courses,
34:49even making the dean's list.
34:50Criminal law, 94, 98.
34:52And he claims to have beat
34:53one habit in prison
34:55that he found impossible
34:56to shake on the streets.
34:58You're clean?
34:59Sure.
34:59You are clean?
35:00Yes, I am.
35:01How long?
35:0193, 94.
35:04I smoked marijuana in jail.
35:05It was a stupid thing to do.
35:06Wrong choice.
35:08I did.
35:09Heroin?
35:10No.
35:11Coke?
35:12No.
35:13But this inmate misbehavior report
35:16from Greenhaven Prison
35:17shows that on June 19, 1997,
35:20a corrections officer
35:21found heroin
35:22hidden in Chambers' cell.
35:24So, when it was time
35:26for Chambers
35:27to face the parole board,
35:28they were unimpressed
35:30with his efforts
35:31at rehabilitation,
35:32particularly when,
35:33eight years after
35:34Jennifer Levin's death,
35:35Chambers appeared
35:37anything but remorseful.
35:39I want to read to you
35:40what you told him.
35:41Okay.
35:42I guess I could give
35:43the party line
35:43and say I have learned
35:45my lesson,
35:45but that's not how
35:46I feel at the moment.
35:47Reading this,
35:48it sounds like
35:49you're arrogant,
35:50you're flip.
35:51And you know what?
35:52In many of those instances
35:53that you just said,
35:54you're probably right.
35:55Probably arrogant.
35:56Probably angry.
35:59Robert Chambers
36:00is trying, he says,
36:01to get on with his life.
36:03Setback.
36:05He has a girlfriend,
36:07someone he met
36:07after his arrest
36:08in 1986,
36:09and has supported him
36:11ever since.
36:12She didn't want us
36:13to show her face
36:14or divulge her name,
36:16but she says that Chambers
36:18has learned now
36:19how to be a friend.
36:20She stood by you
36:21for 15 years.
36:22Yes, she has.
36:24Were you surprised?
36:25Yeah.
36:27Did you ever say why?
36:30In a roundabout way,
36:31but sometimes
36:32you don't want
36:33to push your luck.
36:34I don't think
36:35it's too bad out today.
36:36There are some people
36:37who say that
36:39young women
36:40aren't safe
36:40to be around you.
36:41Mm-hmm.
36:42That you're a threat.
36:44That you're
36:44a dangerous charmer.
36:46Should women
36:47be afraid of you?
36:48No.
36:49There's no reason to be.
36:51He claims to have
36:53no money of his own.
36:55He says he wants
36:56to earn a college degree
36:57and find steady work.
36:59It doesn't matter
37:00if it's a restaurant,
37:01car wash,
37:02whatever it may be,
37:03just something
37:04to feel normal
37:05and something
37:06to be responsible.
37:08That's the only way
37:09you can start
37:09one step at a time.
37:11What are you
37:12willing to do?
37:13Anything.
37:14Chambers owes
37:15the Levin family
37:16$25 million,
37:18the result of
37:19an uncontested
37:20civil suit.
37:21And if he lands
37:22a job,
37:22any job,
37:2310% of his pay
37:25goes to the Levin's
37:26for the rest
37:27of his life.
37:28Do you plan
37:29on writing a book
37:30or participating
37:32in a movie deal?
37:34I have no plans
37:35to write a book.
37:35I do not want
37:36to write a book.
37:37And I have no interest
37:39in any type
37:39of movie deal.
37:41I have not made
37:42any money off this.
37:43My family and my friends
37:44have not made
37:45any money off this.
37:46None of us
37:47ever intend to.
37:48Is Robert Chambers
37:49sincere about
37:50turning his life around?
37:51Has he really changed?
37:54What little we saw
37:55of him,
37:56Robert Chambers
37:57appeared measured
37:58and sober,
37:58his mother,
37:59Phyllis,
38:00setting the tone.
38:01This is not a time
38:03of celebration,
38:04you told me.
38:05No.
38:06It's not.
38:08Why not?
38:13I do not feel
38:14to celebrate
38:16Robert's homecoming
38:20and Jennifer
38:22is never coming home.
38:24It's a sad time.
38:27This is real life.
38:28This is real death.
38:31Somebody's dead.
38:32There has to be
38:33some action
38:33after the words.
38:34My action
38:35of doing 15 years?
38:37No.
38:38That's just the beginning.
38:40It's not an end.
38:41The trial didn't end.
38:43The trial lives with me.
38:46Every day,
38:47I'm on trial.
38:59Mr. Chambers,
39:00are you going to be gone then?
39:01My client is no...
39:02In 2004,
39:03the year after
39:04our interview,
39:05Robert Chambers
39:05was arrested
39:06and charged
39:07with possession
39:08of a controlled substance
39:09and driving
39:10with a suspended license.
39:12Preppy killer
39:13Robert Chambers
39:14walked out of criminal court
39:15today to face
39:16yet another gaggle
39:17of reporters.
39:18He pled guilty
39:19and spent 100 days
39:20in jail.
39:22Three years later,
39:23Chambers was arrested again.
39:25He and his girlfriend
39:26were charged
39:27with selling drugs
39:28out of their apartment.
39:30Robert Chambers
39:31was allegedly
39:32selling enough cocaine
39:33out of his 17th floor apartment
39:35to put the so-called
39:36preppy killer
39:37away for life.
39:38His girlfriend
39:39pled guilty
39:40to a lesser charge
39:41and was sentenced
39:42to five years probation.
39:44Robert Chambers
39:45pled guilty
39:46in exchange
39:46for a sentence
39:47of 19 years.
39:50His earliest release date
39:51from prison
39:52is in 2024.
39:55Jennifer Levin's mother.
39:57He got more time
39:58in jail
39:59for selling drugs
40:00than he did
40:01for murdering my daughter,
40:02which is pretty amazing.
40:05The Levin's
40:06have never accepted
40:07any apology
40:08from Robert Chambers.
40:09This year,
40:11Jennifer would have been
40:1248 years old.
40:24Do you think
40:25Robert Chambers
40:26can stay out of prison
40:27when he's released?
40:28Chat now
40:29on Twitter and Facebook.
40:43Juliana,
40:44she was like a magnet
40:45to a lot of men.
40:49The DNA was all female.
40:51This was a whodunit.
40:58There was no DNA.
41:03Who shot Greg?
41:05I had my assumptions.
41:06We're really screwed.
41:10CBSN.
41:11Live news streaming to you.
41:13CBSN.
41:14CBS News.
41:15Always on.