Shawn Kovell is a New York City woman known for her nearly four-decade relationship with Robert Chambers, the “Preppy Killer” who strangled 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in Central Park in 1986. She met Chambers before his 1988 manslaughter trial, sat behind the defense table every day of the proceedings, waited through his 15-year sentence, served probation on her own felony drug conviction after a 2007 arrest alongside him, and eventually married him while he was serving a second prison term.1Daily Mail. Preppy Killer Robert Chambers Reveals Hes Married
How She Met Chambers
Kovell grew up on the edge of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, raised by her single mother, Karline “Rusty” Kovell, a hat-check girl at restaurants along the neighborhood’s “steak row.”2Oxygen. Robert Chambers Girlfriend Shawn Kovell By her mid-teens she was a regular at Studio 54 and the Palladium. Wrestling manager Paul Heyman, interviewed for the AMC docuseries The Preppy Murder: Death in Central Park, said she was “famous to the club kids” and knew every doorman in the scene by 17.
She met Chambers at a gathering at his apartment shortly before his trial, after he had already been charged with killing Levin, and fell in love with him.3New York Times. Robert Chambers Chambers had claimed in a taped confession that Levin died during “rough sex.”4CNN. Robert Chambers Preppy Killer New York Release
Her Role at the 1988 Trial
When the trial began in January 1988, Kovell attended daily, sitting conspicuously behind the defense. Television reporter Rosanna Scotto, speaking in the AMC docuseries, speculated that defense attorney Jack Litman may have encouraged Chambers to have a woman in court every day to make him appear “safe,” adding that Kovell “seemed very smitten, and so it kind of softened who Robert Chambers might be.” Levin’s mother, Ellen, recalled thinking of Kovell, “She must be out of her mind. Not a wise choice.”2Oxygen. Robert Chambers Girlfriend Shawn Kovell
After the trial ended with Chambers pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter and receiving 15 years, a videotape surfaced that had been recorded in December 1987, a month before jury selection.4CNN. Robert Chambers Preppy Killer New York Release It showed Kovell in lingerie beside Chambers, who twisted the head off a doll and said, “I think I killed her.” The tape became a tabloid sensation but reached the press only after the plea.2Oxygen. Robert Chambers Girlfriend Shawn Kovell Kovell visited Chambers throughout the 15 years, often traveling upstate by bus.
The Years Between Prisons
Chambers was released in February 2003 after serving the full maximum. He and Kovell moved to Dalton, Georgia, to live with Kovell’s godmother, Constance Hambridge. Chambers took a minimum-wage job at the Pentafab dye factory and did yard work. Hambridge later said there were “no drugs involved while he was in my house.”5New York Post. Preppy Killers Secret Hideaway
The arrangement lasted eight or nine months. Kovell’s mother died of cancer in late 2003, and Kovell inherited her mother’s rent-stabilized apartment at 575 East 57th Street in Manhattan. The couple returned to New York over Hambridge’s objections. Their finances deteriorated quickly. They fell behind on rent, Chambers lost his car, and their cell phone was cut off.6New York Daily News. Robert Chambers Shawn Kovell From Preppies to Druggies Chambers was jailed for 100 days in 2005 after being found with heroin and cocaine near Harlem River Drive.
The 2007 Drug Arrest
Neighbors in the East 57th Street building complained of heavy foot traffic and a strong smell at all hours, triggering an undercover investigation of roughly four months. Detectives made seven cocaine purchases from the apartment, spending nearly $10,000, with some individual sales large enough to qualify as Class A felonies.7New York Post. Chambers of HorrorsChambers Arrested on Drug Charges
On October 22, 2007, officers used a battering ram to enter the apartment and recovered a dozen crack pipes, five bags of cocaine, and smaller quantities of crack and marijuana.8New York Post. Chambers of Horrors Kovell was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance; Chambers faced 14 drug counts along with resisting arrest and assaulting three officers. Both told the judge they could not afford lawyers.9Gothamist. Preppy Killers Girlfriend Getting Evicted
Her Plea Deal, Rehab, and Probation
On December 6, 2007, Kovell pleaded guilty to a felony cocaine-selling charge before Justice Charles H. Solomon in Manhattan state Supreme Court. The charge carried up to five years in prison, but Solomon offered an alternative: if she completed an 18-month drug rehabilitation program, she could withdraw her plea and plead to a lesser charge, taking probation instead of prison.10UPI. Preppie Killers Girlfriend Pleads Guilty Her attorney, Franklin Rothman, described her as a “drug addict” at the time of her arrest.11NBC News. Preppie Killers Girlfriend Pleads Guilty
Kovell completed a 14-month program for heroin addiction.2Oxygen. Robert Chambers Girlfriend Shawn Kovell On April 21, 2009, Justice Solomon sentenced her to five years of probation, finding she had met the terms of the arrangement.12New York Times. Chamberss Companion Gets Probation She reportedly said of Chambers at sentencing, “After 22 years, I don’t love him any less than Day 1.”
Chambers pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and second-degree assault, and was sentenced to 19 years and four months.13New York Times. Robert E Chambers Jr
The Marriage
When they married is not clearly settled. Hambridge told Newsweek in 2007 that the couple had traveled to Ireland and married after Chambers’ 2003 release.14Newsweek. Downward Spiral In an August 2023 interview with the Daily Mail conducted shortly after his parole, Chambers said instead that they married while he was incarcerated during his second sentence, adding that he was “surprised” no one attended their wedding.1Daily Mail. Preppy Killer Robert Chambers Reveals Hes Married The two accounts have not been reconciled publicly. Chambers was later photographed in New York wearing what appeared to be a wedding ring.15New York Post. Preppy Killer Robert Chambers Spotted in New York
Where She Is Now
Chambers was released on parole from Shawangunk Correctional Facility on July 25, 2023, after serving about 15 years, with reductions for good behavior and for completing two years of college in prison. He remains under supervision through July 2028.4CNN. Robert Chambers Preppy Killer New York Release As of that month Kovell was 54 and living in Manhattan. A woman who answered her phone around the time of his release said Kovell and Chambers “still talk” and that she had never “written him off.”16New York Post. Preppy Killer Robert Chambers Under Supervised Parole in Rockland County No public reporting since then has documented new legal trouble for her.