John Lennon's killer Mark Chapman denied parole for 12th time more than 40 years after shooting the ex-Beatle
13 September 2022, 11:37
The man who murdered John Lennon in New York nearly 42 years ago has been denied parole for the 12th time.
Mark David Chapman, 67, appeared before a parole board at the end of August, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
He was 25 when he shot Lennon dead outside the apartment building on December 8, as Lennon and wife Yoko Ono were returning to their apartment.
It is unclear why parole was refused but previously Chapman has called his actions "despicable" and said he would have "no complaint whatsoever" if they chose to leave him in prison for the rest of his life.
On the day of the murder, he went to The Dakota in the afternoon and asked Lennon to sign an album for him. He obliged him then got in his waiting limo to go to the recording studio.
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"I was too far in," Chapman told a parole board in 2018. "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."
When Lennon returned to the building with Yoko at around 10.30pm that night, Chapman was still there.
He shot him four times in the back and shoulder. Lennon was pronounced dead in the hospital an hour later. When police arrived to arrest Chapman, he was flicking through pages of The Catcher in the Rye.
During his trial he rejected his lawyer's attempts to enter an insanity plea and instead pleaded guilty.
In prison, he is kept in isolation against his will to protect him from other inmates. He works as an administrative clerk and is only allowed out of his cell for three hours a day.
Chapman is serving a 20-years-to-life sentence at Green Haven Correctional Facility, north of New York City, according to online state corrections records. He is next due to appear before the parole board in February 2024.
