Further Reading for Robert Chambers, The Preppie Killer & The Keddie Cabin Murders
Episode: 13
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Robert Chambers, Jr. (born September 25, 1966), nicknamed the “Preppie Killer” by the media, is an American criminal. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin, whom he killed in New York City’s Central Park during the early morning hours of August 26, 1986.
Levin’s half-naked corpse, covered in cuts, bruises and bite marks, was found by a cyclist in Central Park near Fifth Avenue and 83rd Street, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Clothing from her upper body had been pushed up around her neck, and her skirt was around her waist. The Medical Examiner’s office said Levin had been strangled. Police noted there were numerous cuts and bruises on her neck, both from the strangulation and from her own fingernails as she clawed at her killer’s hands. Later, Robert Chambers hid and watched as police officers investigated the scene. The investigators had found Levin’s underwear some 50 yards (46 m) away.
Police were given Robert Chambers’ name by patrons at Dorrian’s Red Hand 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 taken in for questioning.
Robert Chambers changed his story several times: “his cat had been declawed”; he “didn’t part from Levin immediately upon leaving the bar”; “she had parted from him to purchase 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 had left the bar, she had asked him for “rough sex”, tied the 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) Chambers’ hands with her panties, and hurt his genitals as she stimulated him, and that she had been killed accidentally when he freed his hands and pushed her off him.
The Keddie murders is an unsolved 1981 American quadruple homicide that occurred in Keddie, a rural resort town in the Sierra Nevada of northern California. The victims were Glenna Susan “Sue” Sharp (née Davis; born March 29, 1945); her son, John Steven Sharp (born November 16, 1965); daughter Tina Louise Sharp (born July 22, 1968); and John’s friend, Dana Hall Wingate (born February 8, 1964).
The murders took place in Cabin 28 of the Keddie Resort during the late evening of April 11, 1981, or early the following morning, and the bodies of Sue, John, and Dana were found on the morning of April 12 by Sue’s 14-year-old daughter, Sheila. Sue’s two younger sons, Rick and Greg, as well as their friend Justin Smartt, were also in the house, but were unharmed. Tina was missing from the scene.
Tina remained a missing person until April 1984, when her skull and several other bones were recovered at Camp Eighteen, California, near Feather Falls in Butte County. Multiple leads and suspects were examined in the intervening years, though no charges were filed. In 2004, the cabin in which the murders occurred was demolished. Subsequent sheriffs in Plumas County would state that the initial investigation was disorganized and poorly conducted, resulting in the overlooking of crucial evidence. Several new leads have been announced in the 21st century, including the discovery of a hammer in a pond in 2016, as well as announcements regarding the discovery of new DNA evidence.