Mark David Chapman, the murderer of John Lennon, was yesterday denied parole for the tenth time by the New York Parole Board. Chapman, now 63, was told by the Board that he “demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the pain and suffering of others”. He was 25 when he committed the murder.
Chapman was also denied parole in 2016 and will be next eligible in 2020, although another denial is likely. Lennon’s widow, 85-year-old avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, has led the campaign to keep him behind bars. With her attorney, Ono has submitted a heartfelt letter to the Board before every hearing. In her original letter from 2000, Ono argued that Chapman’s release would not only “give a ‘go’ signal” to other would-be assassins, but it would also endanger Chapman himself – without the “security that the State provides him”, “distressed” Lennon fans could possibly seek vengeance and make an attempt on his life.
John Lennon was murdered outside of the Dakota apartment building in New York on December 8th 1980. After returning from a late-night recording session at the Record Plant Studio, Lennon was shot five times in the back and shoulder. Whilst Lennon lay in his death-throes, Chapman sat down at the scene and began reading his copy of The Catcher In The Rye.
The J.D. Salinger novel was a great inspiration for Chapman, who identified personally with the protagonist, Holden Cauldfield. Believing Lennon was a ‘phoney’ for his hazy stance on Christianity and world peace, and seeking fame for himself, Chapman travelled from his Hawaii home to New York to murder Lennon. He was later sentenced to 20-years-to-life behind bars.
The Beatles’ star’s death came just weeks after the release of his comeback album, Double Fantasy. A 50-50 collaboration with Ono, the album was Lennon’s first LP since 1975’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, after which he became a full-time househusband and caregiver to his second-born son, Sean.
Meanwhile, a new six-disc boxset is set to be released on October 5th, which will tell the story of Lennon’s 1971 solo album, Imagine. Packed with studio outtakes, interviews, pictures and isolated tracks, the boxset has also unearthed a previously-unreleased demo of ‘Imagine’, Lennon’s classic solo song. You can pre-order the boxset here. See the ‘Imagine’ demo below:
