August 26

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
First televised Major League baseball game, 1939
American Revolution
Washington urges Hessians to desert, 1776
Automotive
Mini makes its debut, 1959
Civil War
Second Bull Run campaign begins, 1862
Cold War
Russia tests an intercontinental ballistic missile, 1957
Crime
"Preppy Murder" stuns New York, 1986
Disaster
NYC and Philly sizzle in heat wave, 1948
General Interest
Battle of Crecy, 1346
19th Amendment adopted, 1920
Democratic convention besieged by protesters, 1968
Charles Lindbergh dies, 1974
Hollywood
Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin born, 1980
Literary
Ralph Waldo Emerson meets Thomas Carlyle, 1838
Music
Grease movie soundtrack earns its second #1 hit, 1978
Old West
Lewis and Clark promote Patrick Gass to sergeant, 1804
Presidential
George Washington writes to Henry Lee, 1794
Sports
Lights, cameras, baseball, 1939
Vietnam War
Johnson receives Democratic nomination for president, 1964
Major George E. Day shot down over North Vietnam, 1967
Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago, 1968
World War I
Battle of Tannenberg begins, 1914
World War II
DeGaulle enters a free Paris, 1944

Crime

Aug 26, 1986:

"Preppy Murder" stuns New York

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On this day in 1986, 18-year-old Jennifer Levin is found dead in New York City’s Central Park less than two hours after she was seen leaving a bar on the city’s Upper East Side with 19-year-old Robert Chambers. The tall, handsome Chambers was soon arrested and charged with murder. The tabloid media dubbed Chambers, who had attended Manhattan private schools, the “Preppy Killer.” The case shocked the city and raised questions about underage drinking, drug use and casual sex among New York’s privileged youth.

In the early hours of August 26, Levin, a graduate of a Manhattan private school, was with friends at Dorrian’s Red Hand, a bar popular with prep-school students, where she encountered Chambers, with whom she was casually acquainted. Chambers, a college dropout, had grown up on Manhattan’s mostly affluent Upper East Side, although his family was not wealthy. A former altar boy, he became involved in drinking and drugs as a teenager—allegedly stealing to pay for his drug habit—and was kicked out of several private schools he attended.

After meeting up at Dorrian’s on August 26, Levin and Chambers left there together around 4:30 a.m. and headed to Central Park. Levin’s lifeless body, badly bruised and partially clothed, was discovered under a tree in the park behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art around 6:15 a.m. by a cyclist. When police arrived, one eyewitness later recalled spotting a man who would fit Chamber’s description standing in the vicinity observing the scene. That afternoon, after speaking with Levin’s friends, police questioned Chambers, who denied any knowledge of the crime and claimed the scratches on his face were from a cat. However, later that day, he made videotaped and written statements to police indicating he might have accidentally killed Levin because she hurt him during rough sex in the park. An autopsy report concluded that Levin died from asphyxia by strangulation.

A highly publicized court trial followed, and on March 25, 1988, with the jury at an impasse on its ninth day of deliberations, Chambers withdrew his plea of not guilty and agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison.

During his time behind bars, Chambers proved to be a less-than-model prisoner. He committed numerous drug and weapons infractions, and spent nearly five years in solitary confinement. In 2003, after serving his full sentence, Chambers was released. However, in 2008, he was convicted of selling drugs and sentenced to 19 years in prison.

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Previous Day August 26 Calendar Next Day

This Week in History, Aug 26 - Sep 1

Aug 26, 1986
"Preppy Murder" stuns New York
Aug 27, 2007
NFL star Michael Vick pleads guilty in dogfighting case
Aug 28, 1990
Murdered students are discovered at the University of Florida
Aug 28, 2006
Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is arrested
Aug 29, 2007
Hero security guard wrongly accused as bombing suspect dies
Aug 30, 1989
A murdering couple is sentenced to death
Aug 31, 1985
Los Angeles mob attacks Night Stalker
Sep 01, 1981
A teenage boy murders his father

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