John Lennon’s Killer Gets New Parole Hearing

Posted: Aug 18 2012

NEW YORK — John Lennon was shot to death 32 years ago in front of his apartment in New York by Mark David Chapman. Now Chapman will have his seventh parole hearing this week, according to New York state’s Department of Corrections.

Chapman’s interviews with the parole board will take place at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Alden, New York, where he is being held.

Mark David Chapman imprisoned for the murder of Beatle John Lennon. Photo Credit: SIP

A decision on whether to release him will likely be made public by the end of the week, said department spokeswoman Linda Foglia.

Chapman, 57, is serving a prison sentence of 20 years to life for shooting Lennon four times in the back outside the musician’s New York City apartment building on December 8, 1980.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Chapman has come up for parole every two years since 2000 and he has been turned down every time.

Ahead of the 2010 hearing, the parole division received dozens of letters arguing against Chapman’s release, including one from Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono, who said she believed Chapman posed a risk to her, Lennon’s two sons, the public and himself.

Mark David Chapman asking John Lennon for an autograph before shooting him. Photo Credit: SIP

Chapman was transferred in May to Wende from Attica Correctional Facility, where he had been held for 31 years.

A corrections spokesman said at the time that Chapman was placed in protective custody at Wende but the reason was not made public. Wende is in western New York state, east of Buffalo.