John Lennon’s Killer Denied Parole Again
November 26, 2018
Mark David Chapman, the man who brutally assassinated John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980 before sitting by the corpse of the former Beatle to read the book, The Catcher and the Rye, which he later said what his “statement”. Chapman told a parole board in August 2018, when the New York state Board of Parole denied his release, that he feels “more and more shame” every year for the gunning down of the Rock Idol. A transcript of the hearing was released Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 by prison officials.
“Thirty years ago I couldn’t say I felt shame and I know what shame is now,” Mark David Chapman said. “It’s where you cover your face, you don’t want to, you know, ask for anything.”
Chapman expressed his enduring remorse for killing Lennon at his 10th parole board hearing in August at Wende Correctional Facility, where he is serving a 20-years-to-life sentence. The board denied his release once again.
Chapman, now 63, shot hours after having the former Beatle autographed an album for him.
“I was too far in,” Chapman told the board. “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.”
Echoing statements made in previous parole hearings, Chapman went into detail about the shooting and his remorse for committing the “senseless” act. Chapman said he sought notoriety and felt no animosity for Lennon, even though he loaded his gun with more lethal hollow-point bullets.
“I secured those bullets to make sure he would be dead,” he said. “It was immediately after the crime that I was concerned that he did not suffer.”
In their
decision, the state Board of Parole said releasing Chapman would not only “tend to mitigate the seriousness of your crime,” but also would endanger public safety because someone might try to harm him out of anger, revenge or to gain notoriety.
Chapman will be up for parole again in August 2020.
