Handsome is as handsome does

This is Jennifer Levin. She was found strangled to death in Central Park back in the summer of 1986. She was only 18, ready to begin college in the fall. She was loved by her parents and a group of girlfriends who were traumatized by her death. Her confessed murderer claimed he killed her in "self defense" because she attempted to "rape" him during "rough sex." Her reputation was dragged through the mud as the sensational Preppy Murder gained more and more media attention, including a made-for-TV movie where Ms. Levin was portrayed by Lara Flynn Boyle.

Her killer, whose name and photo I choose not to include here, captured the public's imagination at first because he didn't "look like a killer." He was the precursor to Scott Petersen, a handsome, All-American Boy accused of the unthinkable. He plead guilty to manslaughter and served his entire 15 year sentence, refused parole because he assaulted a corrections officer and dabbled in weapons and drugs while behind bars.

Released in 2003, Ms. Levin's convicted killer continued down that same lawless path. In 2005 he was back in prison for heroin and cocaine possession. Today, at age 41, he is featured prominently in the New York Post for felony sale of narcotics to undercover officers. I am pleased to report that he looks rather dissipated these days.

I am sure that the "wanton sex maniac party girl," as Jennifer Levin was so unfairly portrayed during her killer's trial, would have done so much more with the past two decades. Life just isn't fair. Neither is death.