NEW YORK -- Preppie murder suspect Robert Chambers was 'very eager' to sell his alleged burglary partner down the river, but prosecutors declined his offer to testify, authorities disclosed Tuesday.
Officials said they turned Chambers down because they believed he was deeply involved in the crimes.
The revelation came even as Chambers' lawyer claimed in court papers that Chambers did not actively participate in three break-ins in September 1985.
Chambers, who lived in a Fifth Avenue townhouse and attended some of the most exclusive schools in the New York metropolitan area, has been charged with three counts of second-degree burglary.
Prosecutors believe he raided posh Upper East Side penthouses to get money to support a drug habit. They alleged that he stole more than $70,000 in property.
Chambers was indicted for burglary less than two months after his arrest for allegedly strangling his date, Jennifer Levin, 18, in Central Park on Aug. 26.
Chambers, who is free on $157,500 bond in both cases, claims his alleged burglary accomplice, David Fillyaw, 20, forced him to rob apartments by threatening him with 'physical violence.'
Sources said Chambers claimed he was just a lookout.
But prosecutors noted that Chambers' fingerprints were found in one of the burglarized penthouses.
His lawyer in the burglary case, Henry Putzel, claimed Tuesday in court papers the reason Chambers' fingerprints may have been found was because Fillyaw sometimes gave the youth stolen objects to hold, then returned them to the apartment.
He said Chambers told a detective who initially questioned him in December 1985 about one of the burglaries, 'Dave would sometimes give him an object to hold, and then change his mind and take it and put it back.'
A law enforcement official who asked not to be identified said Chambers informed on his alleged cohort right away.
'When police questioned him, he immediately sold him (Fillyaw) down the river,' the source said.
'He was very eager to testify against Fillyaw, but we didn't go along. We knew he was more involved than he admitted,' the official said.
'We didn't want his testimony. We didn't need it,' the source said. 'We still don't.'
The official added that Chambers had not renewed his offer since he was indicted on burglary charges.
Chambers' lawyer declined comment on the matter.
Fillyaw, who is awaiting trial on unrelated attempted murder and rape charges, has been accused in two of the burglaries.
Chambers, a college dropout with a history of cocaine abuse, has admitted killing Levin last summer, but says he accidentally choked her during rough sex.
Chambers, 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, claimed the 5-foot-8, 120-pound woman tied his hands behind his back with her panties and 'molested' him.
Trial dates have not been set in either case.
