Today marks 42 years since the world lost one of the best musicians and songwriters of the past century, John Lennon. On December 8, 1980, the former Beatle was shot dead outside of the Dakota, the New York City home he shared with his wife, Yoko Ono.
Earlier in the day, a man named Mark David Chapman had greeted Lennon as the Beatle left his apartment. In fact, Lennon signed a copy of his Double Fantasy album for Chapman. As he signed the record, Lennon couldn’t have imagined that this inconspicuous fan was carrying the gun that would take his life in just a few short hours.
When Lennon and Ono returned to the recording studio that evening, Chapman was waiting outside their apartment, and he shot the 40-year-old former Beatle. It didn’t take long for Chapman to be arrested as he remained at the scene, waiting for the police to show up. Chapman was later sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
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Now that it’s been 42 years since the murder, where is Chapman? Apparently, he recently requested parole for the 12th time and was denied yet again. While the murderer has expressed remorse for killing the famed musician, Chapman has also admitted to taking Lennon’s life as a way to garner fame and attention.
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As the murderer told the parole board, killing Lennon was “my big answer to everything. I wasn’t going to be a nobody anymore.” In fact, Chapman admitted to having “evil in my heart. I wanted to be somebody and nothing was going to stop that.”
He went on to take responsibility for the murder. “I am not going to blame anything else or anybody else for bringing me there,” Chapman remarked. “I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was evil. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the fame so much that I was willing to give everything and take a human life.”
Chapman, 67, has certainly received attention for killing the “Strawberry Fields Forever” musician. However, it has come with a heavy price tag. 42 years after the murder, Chapman is still serving time at Green Haven Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley in New York state—and he won’t be eligible for parole again until February 2024.
After Lennon was murdered, Ono requested that the world remember his life and legacy with 10 minutes of silence. Perhaps we can offer a moment of silence to the musician who just wanted the world to live as one.