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They began dating, and soon she lost her virginity to him.
At the time, she had no idea that Chambers had been sleeping with Levin too.
She told him he could borrow $5.
After he left, Kapp discovered that Chambers had stolen all of the money in her wallet.
When Chambers arrived several hours late, he brushed past Kapp and ignored her.
Enraged, she walked over to him, yelled, and threw several condoms at him.
Chambers was embarrassed and visibly angry.
Eventually, he and Levin left the bar together.
Her body was discovered at dawn by a cyclist.
Because she still loved him, Kapp refused to cooperate with police and did not testify at the trial.
In the 80s, you didnt cooperate with police or testify at the trial.
When this [documentary] came about, it was a really strange set of coincidences.
My heart sunk because I thought,Oh my God, someone else beat me to my own story.
Annies directing and producing partner, Ricki Stern, grew up in New York and knew Robert Chambers.
So there was that connection.
I did it with a lot of reservation.
It was a very traumatic experience.
Im probably still not over it.
It changed the course of my life.
Im sure people think I got paid to do this.
I didnt get paid a dime to do this.
And I could use the money.
Youll notice that only a couple of people in our age group were interviewed in the documentary.
A man on Facebook wrote me and said, I totally prejudged, and Im really sorry.
He told her, Do what you wanna do.
So he said he harbors his own guilt.
A lot of people carry a lot of guilt.
Thats what Ive been hearing from all the people I grew up with who have been reaching out.
It took a long time for everybody to believe that he murdered her.
Thats what doesnt come across in the documentary.
None of us saw autopsy photos then.
I didnt see them until I saw the documentary.
Maybe if wed seen them then, we would have known.
I was really a mess.
I was drawn to going out more, partying a lot, and just a lot of self-abuse.
My mother told [prosecutors] I was in Europe for the year.
I had nothing really to offer.
Everything I say in that documentary is all I know.
I didnt do drugs with this guy.
I didnt know he was a thief.
I knew hed stolen my money, but I didnt understand that he was a professional.
I didnt know hed been in rehab.
And I couldnt be a good defense witness because he had stolen from me and lied to me.
I left in the fall of 87 and the trial happened when I was a freshman at Dartmouth.
I deliberately went to New Hampshire to get out of New York.
But, of course, it definitely followed me where I went for a long time.
I knew I had to get out of New York and stay out of New York.
It pushed me to go to L.A.
In the early days, it resulted in some very self-destructive behavior.
I felt a terrible amount of shame.
Which, of course, doesnt work.
Ultimately, it changed how I looked at people.
I recognize a sociopath a little more easily than most people.
It also changed the way I raised my kids.
The documentary wasnt clear about how long you were with Robert.
Wed lie in bed and talk and talk and talk.
I did see him after he got out on bail, which was terrible.
If youd asked 16-year-old me, I wouldve thought we were absolutely exclusive boyfriend and girlfriend.
Were you aware that Jennifer was interested in him before that night?Not until that night.
I felt a funky vibe about it like, Whats going on here?
Why did she just come up to me and introduce herself and give me her little friendship bracelet?
I felt like you feel when youre 16 and somebody wants your boyfriend.
There was no other explanation.
But we had mutual friends.
In one of the pictures of that night, shes with a bunch of girls.
All of them were friends of mine; one of them was my best friend from high school.
I dont even know if my friends knew that she had been seeing him.
People warned me, but I thought I could save this guy.
I believed that there was somebody in there who was like a wounded animal.
It doesnt justify a murder, but he was a vulnerable kid.
His mother was extremely tied to the Catholic Church.
It feels like the writings on the wall.
I believe hes a bad guy now.
But was he born bad?
All of the men in that situation ranged from 18 to 26, probably.
We were 16-year-old girls hanging out with club promoters.
I think a lot of guys knew about his secret life.
I just didnt see it.
No other girls saw it.
Somebody the other day said, He must have been so charming.
But no, he was the opposite of charming.
He was brooding and quiet, even shy.
He was so good-looking that he didnt have to try.
At 16, I just felt seen and heard and grown-up.
In the documentary, you told the story of visiting him after he got out on bail.
You said your opinion of him changed that day because of his smirk.
It was just absurd.
But they were like, Okay, great, have fun!
He had been arrested and indicted and put into Rikersfor about a month.
And then he started to call and hang up.
One day, I was having a party, he called and we talked for hours.
I missed my whole party.
We started talking all the time.
At some point, we made a plan that Id come see him.
So, I went up to his apartment building about a mile away from mine.
It was a strange mixture of emotions.
When I got there, his mother answered the door and disappeared into the apartment.
And then he walked out.
He seemed really tall.
He was wearing a dark-blue turtleneck.
His eyes were this piercing icy black.
He looked thinner and pale.
Of course, my heart was racing.
Nothing in me said I shouldnt go into his room.
He sat at his desk and I was sitting on his bed and we started doing Mad Libs.
We completely avoided the topic of what had happened.
I was a little giddy.
I joked, Well, I guess you got what you always wanted.
And that is when he gave me this look.
It was such an off reaction.
I shouldnt have made a joke, maybe?
If anything, his expression said to me,Yes, I did get what I wanted.
It just chilled me to the bone.
Slowly and as calmly as I could, I said, My moms probably wondering where I am.
I gotta go.
I backed out of his room, never looked away from him, never turned my back to him.
Thats how scared I was.
He walked me out, kind of befuddled, and that was it.
I ran home 500 miles an hour.
And then, trying to initiate the door to my parents apartment, I collapsed and burst into tears.
I told them I just went up there.
Ive never seen two adults look more horrified.
That was the moment that it shifted.
You will never see the light of day again.
Do not call my daughter again!
I hung up and I burst into tears because I didnt want to never talk to him again.
But I had to.
I never heard from him again.
Some people involved in this documentary told me that everyone has tried to reach out to him.
He has never responded to anybody.
Maybe Im being presumptuous and vain to think that he would respond to me.
But Im super curious, for sure.I wish I had a psychology degree.
Was your mom supportive of your participation in the documentary?I think not.
I think shes struggling with her own demons a little.
I blame some of that on the time.
It was the 80s.
I think she just couldnt handle it.
I was shocked that she watched the documentary.
I think theres probably some shame built in with her as well.
It was not a moment of pride for our family.
How do you feel now that its aired?Im really glad because its helped me.
I didnt realize how much I hadnt dealt with it.
Its one thing to experience something at 16.
There were a lot of people who suffered but they were, by far, dealt the worst blow.
Theres nothing I wish more than that this had never happened to their daughter.
Thank you so much for being so open with me.I hope this helps somebody somewhere.
Ive gone through my whole life saying, Trust your gut.
If you have a moment where your gut is telling you something, you have to trust it.
In my case, I believe my gut saved my life.
I dont know what to do with that.
Ive never quite known how to put that away.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
