John Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman who shot Beatles legend over 40 years ago denied parole for 12th time
ALBANY, NY: According to New York correctional authorities, Mark David Chapman, who shot and murdered John Lennon outside his Manhattan apartment building in 1980, has been refused parole for the 12th time. Forty years ago, Lennon and Yoko Ono were on their way back to their Upper West Side apartment on the evening of December 8, 1980, when Chapman shot Lennon with five hollow-point bullets from a .38 special revolver, four of which hit Lennon in the back and shoulder, puncturing his lung.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Mark David Chapman, 67, appeared before the parole board at the end of August 2022. Transcripts of Chapman's most recent board interview have not yet been made public by state officials, but he has frequently shown regret during earlier parole hearings. For instance, during his hearing in 2020, Chapman termed his deeds "despicable" and declared he would have "no objection whatsoever" if they decided to keep him behind bars forever. Every year, Mark David Chapman, says he feels "more and more shame."
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“I assassinated him ... because he was very, very, very famous and that’s the only reason and I was very, very, very, very much seeking self-glory. Very selfish,” Chapman had said in an earlier hearing. According to online state prison records, Chapman is serving a 20-years-to-life term in the Green Haven Correctional Facility, located north of New York City. The parole board will see him again in February 2024.
In 2018, Chapman shared how he felt about shooting dead the former Beatle outside his Manhattan apartment. "Thirty years ago I couldn't say I felt shame and I know what shame is now," Mark David Chapman had said. "It's where you cover your face, you don't want to, you know, ask for anything."
Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has historically sent a letter to the parole board every two years to request her husband's murderer remain in prison. This is because the parole board has to decide whether or not to keep Chapman behind bars every two years since he was first eligible for parole in 2000.
Chapman has also expressed remorse for his "senseless" conduct in prior parole hearings and said that Lennon had been nice to him. Earlier on the day of the assasination, Lennon had signed a copy of his album 'Double Fantasy' for Chapman when he accosted Lennon when he was leaving his apartment building. Chapman shot him when he returned home later that day.
"It wasn't all totally cold-blooded, but most of it was. I did try to tell myself to leave. I've got the album, take it home, show my wife, everything will be fine," Chapman told the parole board in 2012. "But I was so compelled to commit that murder that nothing would have dragged me away from that building."