Four decades ago, John Lennon was assassinated outside of his New York apartment.
The 40-year-old music legend was shot shortly after leaving the studio with his wife Yoko Ono. Mark Chapman, who committed the heinous crime in 1980, was only 25 years old at the time. Who killed John Lennon, exactly, and where is he now?
Who killed John Lennon?
On December 8, 1980, as he was returning from Record Plant Studio to his New York City apartment building, The Dakota, John Lennon was fatally shot. Lennon was shot four times by Mark Chapman, a fervent supporter of the musician. He remained on the scene and was discovered reading The Catcher in the Rye, a well-known book by J. D. Salinger with a disillusioned teenager as its main character. Lennon had met Chapman and given him a copy of the album Double Fantasy just six hours before he passed away. At the time of his arrival at the Roosevelt Hospital, Lennon was declared dead. Chapman was given a life sentence in prison after entering a guilty plea to his crime.
Why did Chapman kill him?
Mark Chapman, a fervent Beatles fan and purportedly devout Christian, greatly admired John Lennon. But after John Lennon said in 1966 that his band was “more popular than Jesus,” his admiration for them soured. According to reports, Chapman had the musician’s murder planned out three months in advance. Chapman recently claimed that he killed Lennon for “self-glory” during his 2020 hearing. He claimed that his behaviour was “despicable” and that he should be executed. He expressed “sorry” to the parole board at his New York prison facility. He gave an explanation, saying: “I have no justification. This was for self-glory. Doing something to an innocent person, in my opinion, is the worst possible crime.
He was very well known. I didn’t kill him because of the man he was or the way he was in character. He was a family man. He was an icon. “I assassinated him, to use your word earlier 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,” said the assassin.
Where is Chapman now?
At the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, the assassin of John Lennon is currently incarcerated for life. Chapman, who is now 65, has been imprisoned ever since the crime was committed. He was relocated for his own safety in case he was attacked by another inmate while working as a clerk and porter in a restricted area of the prison.
Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono has fought to keep Chapman incarcerated on the grounds that he would endanger her and her sons as well as Lennon. He was denied parole for the eleventh time in August 2020. In August 2020 he was denied parole for the 11th time.
It is now unlikely that Chapman will ever be released, with the parole board citing his mental stability as a justification. This is because he has been denied parole so many times.
Is Chapman married?
The criminal’s wife, Gloria Chapman, has supported him ever since he committed the heinous act. She has asserted in the past that her husband told her about his intention to kill John Lennon two months before he actually did. A few weeks later, Chapman flew from their home in Hawaii to New York to commit the murder after being incensed by Lennon’s remark about Jesus. Gloria claimed that as soon as she heard about the murder, she knew her husband was responsible. After Chapman was found guilty, she was advised by friends to get a divorce, but because of her “faith,” she chose to stick with her marriage. Gloria currently resides close to the prison where Chapman has been housed for eight years. While Chapman is incarcerated, they are permitted to be together for 44 hours a year, including intimate time.
