The PREPPY MURDER: DEATH in central PARK (part 5). true crime

jury selection for the trial of Robert Chambers was scheduled to begin today this was one of the most high-profile trials in New York history it just exploded it was like a tsunami in the coming weeks the agony for both families will undoubtedly increase I wasn't even thinking I could go to the trial Jack L planted seed in the media that Robert Chambers was a Irish Catholic that Jennifer Le was been loose dragging it out the word sex diary became as well known to the public as rough sex judge us by saying DNA isn't reliable whatever we came up with was not allowed into the court we frustrated totally we did not have a clear motive we were working from nothing [Music] [Laughter] I never really had an understanding of Robert Chambers why did he kill her why why did this happen we have to look for answers so then when the prep murder trial starts I think finally case known as a property murder trial began 19 months ago with a body of 18-year-old Jennifer Len was found behind the Metropolitan Museum in Central Park it was a sweltering August morning a year and a half ago Jennifer 11's life ended violently the Robert Chambers murder trial officially began today this trial is expected to last 6 to 8 weeks I couldn't believe the amount of press that was at this trial from all over the world the 6'4 in 20-year-old arrived with his lawyer Jack Litman present in the courtroom were his parents and at least two young friends there been some question of how the chambers family afforded to retain a fancy lawyer like Jack fitman my understanding is that whatever the chambers's family was able to do for legal fees Jack uh accepted this was a challenging fascinating high-profile case and he wanted it through much of today Ellen Len Jennifer's mother held the hand of her other daughter it was an amazingly tense time for us it's bad enough to lose somebody to a violent crime but then it's that much worse to go to a horrible trial we were suddenly thrust into being like in a sick way some kind of celebrities you know like there's a mother there's a father there's a sister we couldn't grieve Jennifer's father Steve cried when his daughter's death was recounted by prosecutor Linda fairstein I was keenly aware that this was the biggest case of its kind in the city and was being played out on a national stage I was nervous and anxious about the outcome and how the evidence will unfold I had everybody's expectations to uphold 11 in Chambers family sat quietly on separate sides of the courtroom as assistant district attorney Linda fairstein described the early morning hours of August 26th 1986 she began her remarks by saying Jennifer Levan is dead but don't lose sight of the fact there is only one victim in this case one of the first pieces of evidence that I introduced was the photograph of Jennifer Lan at Dorian and the most striking thing is her long pretty neck was completely blemish free there wasn't a mark on it I put it on an easel and I tried to keep this picture in front of that jury I needed Jennifer to become alive to that jury for them to see her as the loving daughter great student lots of friends living vibrant happy not just the dead girl in the courtroom in a dramatic whisper fairstein ended her opening statement saying to the jury don't make the same mistake Jennifer Lan did don't trust this defendant Linda f blew up pictures of Jennifer Levan with her friends it did cause a lot of emotion I did spend time looking at Robert trying to see what was going on in his mind he didn't show any emotion he just sat there with his hands folded on the table and just staring righte there was just this vacant stare is there some sort of drug problem there I don't know I couldn't understand why people found him so attractive because there seemed to be something wrong I just felt like I had to contain myself from hurting him it was a terrible atmosphere the first witness to be called expected to be the bicyclist who discovered Jennifer Len's body in Central Park clearly I did not want to be in the newspapers I didn't want to be an object of bre so I asked if we could go in some way that I wouldn't be in front of all the cameras they took me to a back elevator and when I got on the elevator Robert Chambers was was probably less than a foot away from me which I found incredibly [Music] disturbing that day that I found Jennifer Leven changed trajectory of my life trauma resonates with you I still felt a a kindred connection to her s it still sticks with me cross-examination defense attorney Jack Litman question Riley are you sure of the position of the body when Jack Litman approached me he said to me how far were you from Jennifer and I said well I'm not really very good with feet she says but you play golf don't you know the difference between a 12T Putt and like a 3ot putt why does he know I play golf you know there was an air about him of self-confidence but it boarded on obnoxious that's how he ran when Jack came on everybody whispered here comes the show and that's what it was boy oh boy was he Mesmerizing the guy was so charismatic smart and Jack had a number of antics up his sleeve I remember Jack lman really went after the investigators the detectives in the case you try to say that the cops did a very sloppy job I testified that when I examined Jennifer's Body I noticed that her teeth were loose in her mouth probably because of the blows she sustained to the face but why didn't the medic exam I say she had loose teeth I said I don't know I'm not a medical doctor he challenged everything you know everything I testified to Jack Litman thinks on his [Music] feet Jack Litman tried his best to make him look like somebody who went on the scene who bungled the evidence by the time we got finished with the detectives and the police officers we were able to prove that the crime scene was totally destroyed by the professionals who were supposed to preserve it yeah we thought the cops really screwed up we really made fun of the cops and one didn't know what the other one was doing I was not impressed at all Jack was trying to control the courtroom and I really was afraid the Le family might never get Justice for Jennifer but there was no doubt that we had truth on our side I was not going to let Jack win this case big Trials Come and Go in New York City once in a while one of them gets national attention that's what happened the chambers case Robert Chambers says he broke the preppy murder trial I mean it was a big big story it was the top of the newscast every single night it was the front page of every newspaper in town every day by the time we got to the courthouse there was a big crowd and cameras and it'd have to part in order for you to have access you get used to it quite frankly that's just your new [Music] normal one of the challenges was that Linda trying to accept the scene inoran it began as a wonderful night getting ready to go to college L but but one of the challenges we faced was Jennifer's friend's testimony with almost all of the kids that I had to put on the stand it was really a two-edged sword I was trying to prove that she would not do anything mean to him and therefore there was no way to keep out that she had had sex with him before so when Jennifer Levan's friends started to testify through cross examination we were able to bring out facts that helped to support um our our defense this was not a lack of consent so she wanted sex what's the big deal is she not allowed to have sex well no she isn't cuz she's a woman right I mean that's the message she was on trial for wanting to have sex her friends all they wanted to do is tell a real story who their friend was how wonderful she was instead their words were twisted around to make it sound like yeah oh we were part you know we likeed to party it wasn't just an attack on Jennifer it was an attack on her lifestyle on her personality on her morals she was a wholesome kid and she was painted to be you know this kind of that to me is one of the biggest crimes of what Jack Litman did to her and to her memory Jennifer Lev's mother cried uncontrollably and left the courtroom so much motion being there but whether I was alone whether somebody came with me was there every day because I realized this is the last piece of business I can do for my daughter my heart would just break every day for ell 11 I mean she was going through the worst time of her life and having to relive the death of her daughter was just terrible whereas I never got to know Phyllis Chambers his mother Phyllis entered earlier she was clutching a book entitled The Gift of Hope the only time I had contact with his mother pH Chambers was when she came over to me with a book and she said I'm so sorry maybe this will help it was her only attempt to I guess apologize and I wasn't retive I I wasn't nasty just took the book walked away and then I made in garbage Robert Chambers parents left the criminal courthouse today while a tearful and distraught M Chambers s of friends her husband Robert Sor maintained a silent calm it was fascinating because not only did Robert have his parents with him but Robert Chambers would come with a very pretty young girl her name was Sean and she was Robert chamber's girlfriend I don't know how far back they went but certainly during the trial there boyfriend girlfriend yeah we knew about her actually I had no thoughts of that she must be had for m not a wise choice she got a life I wasn't sure whether it was Jack Litman encouraging Robert to bring a woman with him every day to court so that he seems safe but Sean seemed very smitten and so it kind of softened who Robert Chambers might be Robert Chambers he had his supporters on one side of the Corum and that included the clergy the church was there to support him it bothered me during the trial that there was this sense that the Catholic church is there to help Robert Chambers it was a dangerous place for the Catholic Church to be why are they taking sides here this was all part of jaan's orchestration to the public it looked like he was a young clean good Catholic boy for 1 hour late this afternoon the jury watched TV monitors and listened as Chambers told police that Jennifer L freaked out and went crazy I started to say stop it stop it it hurts and she just kind of laughed in a weird way a c or something and she like saw my face and then she dug her nails into my chest you look at that hourong video tape you think it's all lies from Robert Chambers think Robert Chambers a li I think everything in that video tap is a li you believe Robert Chambers took her to the park to kill her I don't know if he took her to the park to kill her but I know he if they went into the park and what happened was to kill assistant district attorney Linda fairstein called Chambers videotape statement that he had accidentally killed liven during rough sex a quote complete fiction to make Jennifer look wild or kinky or sexually [Music] unusual the way Jack Litman used this videotape it made it seem like she was the aggressor she wanted the sex he wasn't interested she was the one to blame the blame the victim tactics were suddenly so obvious it was almost evil we knew that Jack Litman Was preparing Robert Chambers to testify if Rob Chambers took the stand I could finally show the jury he was not the choir boy that Liv and tainted him to be everybody was kind of wondering if Robert Chambers would be called to the stand and everybody couldn't wait to find out why he killed her but one of the most shocking moments for me was that Jack did not have Robert jambers testify that was one of the most disappointing moments in the trial for me because I thought we would have a chance to expose his sociopathy his ability to lie and his life of crime I imagine that Jack was appalled when he saw the number of crimes and bad acts that we could prove we built this entire criminal background of Robert Chambers in case he took the stand we couldn't use it was it frustrating for us absolutely it would have made a huge difference I think to the jurors 11 family has not been in court to hear the medical testimony I did not want the lemons in the courtroom the day that the medical examiner was going to go through the autopsy because to have people who loved her listen to that is beyond imagine we knew that the death was a fil that was clear so how that happened was much more open to interpretation there were a lot of witnesses that Jack Litman called to the stand including medical examiners who backed up Robert Chambers doctor from La named Ronald cornblum testified about the choke hold technique that it had been a single pull as Chambers had described in the video and Jennifer flipped over and never moved again the marks on the neck were presented by competing experts one would say one thing the other one would say another thing so you're back in the middle like who do you believe but C of some overwhelming accident Li did everything in his power to confuse the jury he would call a witness up like good doctor and show us the x-rays nobody can read X-rays I wasn't taught to read an x-ray and he was more or less trying to uh baffle us with all the uh scientific uh testimony back and forth it just got so muddled the relationship between Jack and the fairstein had kind of broken down to the extent that they kind of weren't talking to each other Jack had a pension for pushing Linda's buttons uh could be very irritating the two of them fighting constantly there were a lot of slide bars that bed the the heck out of us defense attorney Jack Litman will have his last chance tomorrow to get his message to the jury that Jennifer L died accidentally during rough sex and the prosecutor Linda fairstein also try to convince them it was murder I needed the jury to understand that this took minutes that Robert Chambers in those 3 to 5 minutes formed and executed the intent to kill Jennifer 11 he murdered her that was intentional like for you the last 11 weeks being in this courtroom tort tort how has this changed life that's a very complicated question to answer but for sure my life will never be the same and rather not comment anymore thank you very much he didn't get a chance to G one more well the jury is expected to begin deliberations today in New York in the New York be murder case we were actually looking forward to deliberations thinking we can get this thing over with she back she came over this way and land there right next to the TR in the jury room when we watched the confession and we watched it many times I don't think anybody in that room actually believed the confession when he said I she took advantage of me you 6'4 get over be a man nobody can take advantage of you nobody believe that I was not worried for the first 3 or 4 days of jury deliberations I felt there was so much evidence we thought this was a home run and then we waited uh for Days by the fifth day everybody in my office was worried it was beginning to be too long the jury seems to be struggling with the question of whether Robert Chambers intentionally or accidentally killed J for Le the taking point was intent we had to reach a decision guilty or not guilty on the first charge which was murder to we had to decide whether we he intentionally killed her or was it an accident did he get angry and then you know lose his mind and hit her and all that that's a possibility but that doesn't mean he intended to kill her that's a tough call that's a really tough call there were eight people who voted guilty on the first charge which means intent there were four people who voted not guilty which means there was no intent there we were stuck at 84 unless we all agreed when we were dead in the water right there they were siging for a very long time and we understood that there a bad sign very bad we would go back and forth you know really from like how could they not convict him right away to did did lman do enough damage I remember being sequestered so fine one overnight is not a big deal two overnights we can live with when it came into 789 you know everybody wanted out one jur faked a heart attack some of the women were crying they just couldn't take it anymore you know one of the jurors locked themselves in the in the refrigerated because I wanted to kill him I did he was annoying I was very angry at the fact that we couldn't reach a decision nine days of jury deliberations and yet the jury could not come come to a unanimous decision Beyond A Reasonable Doubt as to what had happened the jury was really deadlocked is there a just punishment for CH I hope so I'm really looking to see the Chambers gets punished what would you like to see I'd like to see him get the max you can't take a life and not get the max Linda called me and she said uh listen I'm really worried about this jury I think we have a major [Music] problem from our point of view on the defense we were under a lot of pressure because the jury appeared deadlocked we have to do something now I mean this jury is not coming up with a verdict so I called Linda fairstein and I asked her if we could sit down and talk about a plea because a hung jury would not look very good for them either when I went to her office the New York Post is on the desk there was a picture of me and Robert Chambers on the front page that said quote plea deal in the works Chambers shocker and I said I'm here doing this and and to this day I don't know how how that happened Jack lman offered to plead guilty to manslaughter in the firsty which did not require intent but Robert had to admit that he caused the death of Jennifer Le maybe 40 minutes we had the broad outlines of the deal L into office to let us know what was put on the table one of the hardest ations I'd ever had was to tell the Le she gave us the ultimatum and it's accept the bargain or he is down again until the next trial could be 2 years we felt totally cheated but we knew that we could not go through this again there was a big press conference the district attorney Morgan Tha was there with all the attorneys it was a big deal the Manhattan district attorney said he couldn't convict Chambers on the circumstantial evidence this office determined that the PE agreement was in the interest of Justice I don't think that we could have with another trial and detention and problems that went on for another year and a half to much for concern weren't happy it's kind of a resignation hey New York City so-called preppy murder trial came to a dramatic and unexpected anlay today it happened at just a few minutes after 5 this evening in a packed in hushed courtroom Robert Chambers pleaded guilty to the charge of first-degree manslaughter he's going to be sentenced on April 15th to 5 to 15 years in prison it was very much a sense of manslaughter was a murder trial 5 to 15 is that what Jennifer Len's life was worth it was controversial at the time many people critici it for being for being too too light in honestly no but I mean that's the justice system of today he should have gotten more than 5 to 15 I think should life worse you mean that's that's all that that he got if it was my da sure feel that he should be giv me Elric they called us to the Jury Room and says this case has been resolved and that's all we heard we found out later that there was a ple B in it's still to this day I'm horrified at the result I just can't believe that you can get away with murder actually I bumped at the judge Bell uh probably 10 15 years ago and the first thing he said to me is why couldn't you convict that kid the fact that Robert Chambers would be standing addressing the court one final time today brought a crush of media and Spectators to the courthouse to see the end of a tri Tri with no answers a tri of no winners 11 family have gone through hell because of my actions I the statement that Robert Chambers made at his sentence was his statement in his voice I never want any this time your name will live on not through Memories by her family and her feelings and I wish to apologize to the family and to for all the trouble they gone through I've never wanted any of this to happen to anybody I wanted to jump over the bench and I wanted to smack him across the face because he was going like this it was as if all right I'll make this deal but don't believe a word that I say it was yet another insult to our family there was no sign of remorse that I ever saw he nothing in to say not even nothing in court room today you don't believe his remorseful it didn't come from here it came from here memory memorize it was not a fulfilling verdict I was like oh okay we got an ending but not the ending that a lot of people wanted Robert Chambers left Manhattan Criminal Court tonight a guilty man Chambers will spend one last night with his family before surrendering to police we worked out with the judge that he was able to go to his home that night and then the next day he would start serving his sentence and as he left the court building there was time for a quiet moment between mother and son he's allowed to go home and spend the night with his mother it's just adding insult injury it was ludicrous the next morning M Sheen came to the chambers apartment with a bulletproof vest and Robert said I don't think I need a vest and I said no look down there the guardian angels they were all running around their bra chanting yelling in the streets I said it only takes one of them with a gun to take a shot at you put your vest on so he put the vest on and he put an Irish sweater over it 10:00 the tall handsome young man looking drawn and pale was escorted out of his home for what would be the last time in a long time the crowd was so big that it moves you in different directions which is very scary we delivered him to the Department of Corrections for him to begin serving his 5 to 15E sentence we walked Robert to the cell he went and I heard him throwing up he threw up in the toilet Robert turned around and said I'll never get used to the [Music] smell after the trial there was reported on counter who was a friend of mine and uh he had been contacted by one of the girls who H around was over Chambers the girl told him that there was a tape like God this was worth a million Steve don't leing a reporter from current affair called me and he said there's a tape you got to come see this tape so I ran to Channel 5 and he showed it to me I said Jesus hello everyone welcome to a special edition of the C we immediately put it on that night and all hell [Music] Brokers on this tape we see a whole baby of young very pretty girls and Sean cille was there and there is Robert Chambers in the middle of he then picks up a doll and with this strange voice like a out of a bad horror movie he picks it up and says straight to [Laughter] camera how did he think this was even funny he's been charged with murder I mean and he's joking you know oh you know just it was just awful that tape went on into infamy you know I believed it definitely would have been a different verdict I mean it really paints a lousy picture of Robert Chambers the Optics of it were terrible having said that I thought it was such a reach that they were trying to relate this somehow to to Jennifer 11 it didn't really prove anything for me that's when he finally really showed the public his true colors finally the whole world gten for who he was Rob Chambers sentence was 5 to 15 years he could have been out in five years on good behavior instead he broke every rules that there was I know that he was busted for drugs he was in solitary a few times he just screwed it up he did not get out early so he served his full 15 years and then was ay walking on the streets so-call preppy killer Robert Chambers is a free man today he walked out of a prison in Upstate New York after serving 15 years for the killing of Jennifer Leven he says he's resolved to become a productive member of the community L's mother called him dangerous and said he doesn't have conscience well you know horrified nervous now he was at free walking on the streets I felt that at any moment he could hurt another girl I just didn't think he was the same person then we heard that within a year he's in trouble again arrested this time for drugs with his girlfriend Sean cell the police caught Robert selling drugs was he pleas guilty and he brought Sean coell right to the bottom with him she was in such bad shape I didn't recognize her in fact the judge was so moved that he actually put her into the rehab she got no time robt James has been back to prison she got 19 years which is longer than he served for murder Andor from the time you were 19 you've been in prison I mean you have just completely wasted your [Music] life in the summer of 2018 I was shocked as many people were to see the headlines about Theodore mcck news regarding resignation of a cardinal cardinal Theodore mccar tonight suspended from his public PRI duties after an allegation he abused a teenager in New York 47 years ago was found to be credible and substantiated now in his 80s it was exposed that he was a pedophile priest that he had been having sexual relationships with the alter boys let us not forget it was a letter from Archbishop mccarrick to the judge presented by Jack Litman as part of the bail application that really r the judge and made him aware that the hierarchy of the Catholic church was firmly behind Robert Chambers and remember that Phyllis Chambers Robert's mother had a long time relationship with mck and of course Robert Chambers was an alter boy I'm I'm sure that I've I've heard about other men being raped it happens it can happen it did happen would I be shocked if I found out that Robert Chambers was sexually abused by Teddy mccarrick not at all could it have happened absolutely Robert at the time fits the profile perfectly he's very vulnerable he's uh the product of a uh broken marriage to look back your head spins do I have any reason to believe that was ever sexually abused by mck no and even if that actually happened I don't think that's what caused his sociopathy Robert Chambers always blames everybody else murdered her he killed her In Cold Blood he took the life out of her with his bare [Music] hands what's fascinating about the case is we really don't know what happened but we know that she's not responsible for her [Music] death and the trial didn't give you that sense of finally Justice for Jennifer it's amazing the burden of proof that you need to convince a jury that something happened especially especially from a woman's point of view a woman has to stand that I had trying to prove uh that they were assaulted or sexually assaulted I think hopefully down the road it's going to be easier for women especially now with the me too movement and all these things that are happening I don't know I look around and I think we're in a strange time we have not come as far as I would have hoped we had in the last 30 something years we were just entering into the age where the women were demanding attention and rights and respect and some balance in our justice system and J Cas for surface I mean okay I get it people die sure death happens my dog you know I understand death but this person who was your best friend this magnetic kind funny warm person was killed this is really important these bits and Bobs of who this person Jennifer Lan was and the false Narrative of how she was portrayed was a good kid she was responsible excited about going away to college she had a bright future she was my flesh and blood even just to think how sad was that she spent the last few moments of her life and someone didn't care about her value her can't that it's too [Music] painful detective sh how are you my friend what's up do how are you the thing that haunts me is to think that he killed her here brutally beat her and strangled her every time I go to Central Park especially in that area I'll bless myself when I pass the tree I'll never forget this Cas as long as I live I think we expect our monsters to step out from behind trees strangers that your mother warned you about and in fact it was the monster in our mid it was the guy we hung out with we wanted to be with because he was cool and he was extremely handsome the number of times I would wake up and just think if I could just grab Jif for living by the hand and say don't go into the park with him [Music] I remember when the trial was over I was contacted by Robert Abrams our attorney general and he sent me a letter about a bill that he's working on that said you can't bring up um a crime victim's sexual pass into court it's called the rap Shield I had never read a bill in my life I called his office and I said to him what about deceased victims they shouldn't have the sexual P introduced in the case it's not a sexual Cas and he said you're absolutely right if I get it will you come to Aly and I was like you know what this is what I was made to do this is what Jennifer would want me to do and we formed a lot of good called Justice Ro for 10 years we managed to pass 13 pieces of legislation to protect the of I'm very proud of legislation I was able to pass the 10 years that I worked in lobbying for victims rights started Justice people get through a lot of horrible things in I'm an example of because trust me 32 years ago I didn't think i' be care now but and I'll tell you that wasn't just me it was me and Jen [Music] [Music]