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One of the most shocking murders that have taken place involving a celebrity is the murder of John Lennon. John Lennon who was a member of The Beatles and has been called one of the greatest songwriters of all time was murdered in New York City by a deranged fan Mark David Chapman. Lets take a closer look at the murder of John Lennon

John Lennon Murder

Months before the murder of John Lennon his murderer, Mark David Chapman, who had been a huge fan of The Beatles was not happy with the musician as he felt that Lennon’s remarks about The Beatles being more popular than Jesus plus his lyrics in his music since leaving The Beatles. Mark David Chapman who identified with the character Holden Caufield from JD Salinger’s novel The Catcher In The Rye began to plan on killing John Lennon.

Mark David Chapman would fly to New York City on December 6 1980. Once he was in the city he would buy another copy of The Catcher In The Rye which he would write “This Is My Statement” and signed it Holden Caufield. Police would find the book in his hotel room at the Sheraton Hotel after the murder.

Mark David Chapman was at the Lennon residence at The Dakota earlier in the day and spent time talking with other fans. Chapman would actually shake hands with Sean Lennon who was then only five years old. Chapman would be distracted and would miss seeing John Lennon that morning.

At 5:00 pm John Lennon and Yoko Ono would return to their residence and Lennon would sign autographs for fans including Mark David Chapman who would later describe the meeting as “He was very kind to me. Ironically, very kind and was very patient with me. The limousine was waiting … and he took his time with me and he got the pen going and he signed my album. He asked me if I needed anything else. I said, ‘No. No sir.’ And he walked away. Very cordial and decent man.”

At approximately 10:50 pm John Lennon would arrive back at his residence at The Dakota after spending a few hours recording. The doorman began to walk up to Lennon’s limousine. Yoko Ono would walk past Mark David Chapman who he nodded at. When John Lennon walked past Chapman he appeared to recognize him from earlier in the day.

Mark David Chapman would pull out a .38 caliber handgun and would shoot John Lennon with four hollow point bullets. John Lennon would be loaded into a police car and rushed to the hospital where he was announced dead on arrival. he was forty years old

Mark David Chapman would take off his jacket and sit down on the sidewalk. Police would find him reading another copy of The Catcher In The Rye.

John Lennon – Mark David Chapman Trial

Mark David Chapman trial for the murder of John Lennon would begin in January 1981 where he entered a plea of not guilty by the reason of insanity.

Mark David Chapman would undergo over two hundred hours of testing and was declared competent. The defense team planned on calling a ton of witnesses to dispute the mental well being of Chapman however Mark would change his plea and would plead guilty to second degree murder.

Mark David Chapman would be sentenced to twenty years to life. Since being eligible for parole in 2000 Chapman has been turned down eleven times.

Mark David Chapman 2021

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John Lennon More News

Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon outside his New York apartment in 1980, has been denied parole for the 11th time. A parole board at Wende correctional facility near Buffalo, New York, denied Chapman’s release, though detailed reasons have not been given. He will have to wait two years before applying for parole again.

Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, who was with him when he was shot four times by Chapman, has long opposed parole, and submitted comments to the parole board that were “consistent with the prior letters”, according to her lawyer Jonas Herbsman. Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment, and first became eligible for parole in 2000.

Prison officials published a transcript of his 10th hearing, in 2018. In it, Chapman said: “Thirty years ago I couldn’t say I felt shame and I know what shame is now. It’s where you cover your face, you don’t want to, you know, ask for anything.”Advertisement

He had previously said that he killed Lennon for fame and notoriety. “I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody, and instead of that I became a murderer, and murderers are not somebodies,” he said in 2010. He chose Lennon because “he seemed more accessible to me” as his apartment building wasn’t as “cloistered” as other celebrities’. “If it wasn’t Lennon, it could have been someone else,” he said.

In 2018, he spoke of an internal “tug of war” over whether to carry out the killing, which he did hours after he had met Lennon and got a record autographed. “I was too far in,” he said. “I do remember having the thought of, ‘Hey, you have got the album now. Look at this, he signed it, just go home.’ But there was no way I was just going to go home.”

Chapman is religious and has said he would like to work with a minister if he was released. He is still married to his wife, Gloria, following their marriage 18 months before the Lennon killing.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/27/mark-chapman-john-lennon-killer-parole-denied-yoko-ono

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