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The man who killed John Lennon in 1980 says he was seeking glory and deserved the death penalty for a “despicable” act.
Uncredited / AP
Chapman said he was seeking glory and deserved the death penalty for the “despicable” act. Chapman made the comments in response to questions last month from a parole board, which denied him parole for the 11th time.
Mark David Chapman made the comments in response to questions last month from a parole board, which denied him parole for the 11th time.
As in previous parole board hearings, the now 65-year-old inmate expressed remorse for shooting the former Beatle outside the musician’s Manhattan apartment building.
“I killed him … because he was very, very, very famous and that’s the only reason and I was very, very, very, very much seeking personal glory. Very selfish, ”Chapman said, according to a transcript released by the state Monday after an open records request.
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Looking back 40 years later, Chapman called his actions “creepy” and “despicable.”
Ray Stubblebine / AP
FILE – In this file photo from Dec. 9, 1980, a crowd gathers in front of Dakota’s apartment building after John Lennon, who lived there, was shot hours earlier in front of the building as he returned home on the night of the 8. from December.
He said he thinks all the time about the pain he inflicted on Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono.
“I just want you to know that you know your husband like no one else and you know what kind of man he was. I didn’t, ”he said.
Chapman shot and killed Lennon on the night of December 8, 1980, as he and Ono were returning to their Upper West Side apartment.
Lennon had signed an autograph for Chapman on a copy of his recently released album, Double fantasy, earlier that day.
“He was actually nice to me that day,” Chapman said.
Chapman is serving a 20-year life sentence at Wende Correctional Facility, east of Buffalo.
He told the board that he would “have no complaints” if they chose to leave him in prison for the rest of his life.
“I deserve zero, nothing. At that time I deserved the death penalty. When you knowingly plot someone’s murder and you know it’s wrong and you do it yourself, that’s a death penalty there, in my opinion, ”he said.
In denying him parole, the board said Chapman committed an “evil act” and said they found his statement that “infamy brings you glory” disturbing.
Chapman will be back on parole in August 2022.
