What was known immediately was the identity of the killer:
Chapman sat down in prison and recorded more than 100 hours of audio tapes, and those tapes are very disturbing. He sounds so calm, so measured, so matter of fact all the while he is plotting one of most notorious murders of the century.
Jude Stein met Mark Chapman camped outside Lennons apartment building in New York. He was a man but he had a boyishness about him,
On Dec. 8, 1980, Stein was a groupie waiting for a glimpse of her idol. Mark Chapman was waiting to kill him.
Stein described Chapman as "absolutely calm, controlled, friendly and polite." She adds that she wouldnt have known that he had a gun in his pocket. Not in a million years, she says.
But Chapman did have a gun that he loaded just that morning in his hotel room. He practiced his aim in the bathroom mirror.
By late afternoon, with no sign of Lennon, Stein says she called it quits. But she says she will never forget Chapmans last words to her: He said to me, I plan to stay as long as it takes. We thought you know he was referring to getting his autograph, not referring to what he was intending to do.
Mark Chapman is still in prison. He didnt use the insanity defense. He said he wasnt crazy. He plead guilty to second degree murder. Chapman has already served his minimum, 20 years. Since then, hes been denied parole three times. Many of Lennons family, friends, and fans say the killer deserves no sympathy, no attention, not even a second thought.
According to reporter Jack Jones, Chapman is concerned about notoriety too, but for a very different reason hes now worried that broadcasting the audio tapes he recorded in prison will hurt his chances before a parole board. Chapmans next parole hearing is scheduled for 10/2006.
He was denied parole again,
The crazed fan who murdered JOHN LENNON in 1980 has been denied parole for a fourth time because of the "violent nature" of his offence. MARK CHAPMAN, 51, faces at least another two years behind bars for gunning down the former BEATLE in front of his apartment building in New York City. A three-person panel hearing his case yesterday (10OCT06) decided Chapman's history of mental illness and the crime itself made early release from New York's Attica Correctional Facility unthinkable. In a statement they said, "The panel remains concerned about the bizarre nature of this premeditated and violent crime. "While the panel notes your satisfactory institutional adjustment, due to the extremely violent nature of the offence your release would not be in the best interest of the community." The parole hearing came a day after what would have been Lennon's 66th birthday (09OCT06).
Earliest Release Date now: 10/28/2008
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Mark David Chapman. But what is still a mystery is "Why did he do it?"
Earliest Release Date: 10/28/2006
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