‘Preppy Killer’ Faces 150 Years
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The so-called “Preppy Killer,” Robert Chambers, could face up to 150 years in jail on new drug charges, Manhattan prosecutors said today.
Chambers, who spent 15 years in jail for strangling a woman in Central Park in 1986, was arrested last night for dealing drugs out of an Upper East Side apartment.
Today, the Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, said Chambers “put up a violent struggle” that broke one officer’s wrist after police used a battering ram to force their way into the apartment he shared with his girlfriend on East 57th Street.
The district attorney said Chambers would face charges for resisting arrest in addition to eight felony counts for drug dealing.
“We weren’t surprised to see him get in trouble again,” Mr. Morgenthau said, noting Chamber’s record of bad behavior while in prison. Chambers was also arrested for heroin possession after getting out.
According to authorities, neighbors began complaining that Chambers was running a wholesale cocaine-dealing operation out of his apartment in August. The drug dealing was “open and notorious,” and spilled out into the hallways of the apartment building, Mr. Morgenthau said.
Chambers, 41, shared the apartment with his girlfriend, Shawn Kovell, 39, who inherited the studio from her mother three years ago, authorities said. She was also arrested and charged with felonies for drug dealing.
Mr. Morgenthau said she was integral to the drug dealing operation, even thanking one of the undercover officers who bought drugs from the pair on the phone.
Ms. Kovell has known Chambers since he pleaded guilty to killing 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. Chambers, who attended private schools on the Upper East Side, was accused of raping and strangling Levin behind the Metropolitan Museum in Central Park. He claimed they were having “rough sex” and her death was an accident.
Undercover officers bought about 8 ounces of cocaine from Chambers over the course of the recent investigation. He faces two first-degree felony counts for selling the officers more than 2 ¼ ounces of cocaine, worth about $2,800, in one sale. In total, undercover officers bought about $9,600 in cocaine from Chambers.
Authorities said marijuana, crack, and crack pipes were also found in the apartment.
Chambers is awaiting arraignment this afternoon.
