John Lennon was shot dead by a killer trained by the CIA according to staggering claims.

Lennon (left) signing a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman several hours before the murder


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SHOCK CLAIM: John Lennon ‘murdered by the CIA'
JOHN Lennon was shot dead by a killer trained by the CIA to stop the superstar radicalising the West, according to staggering claims.
By Rory McKeown
Published 20th May 2017

An explosive book suggests the Beatles megastar was murdered by US intelligence agencies in a chilling attempt to halt Lennon’s support of “leftist” and “radical” politics.

John Potash’s Drugs as Weapons Against Us states that crime agencies allegedly tracked various high-profile pop stars before their untimely deaths, claiming their huge influence effectively brainwashed young Americans to follow a “leftist agenda”.

Huge stars such as rapper Tupac Shakur and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain died due to involvement by US law enforcers, the publication suggests.


THEORY: John Lennon was gun downed by Mark Chapman – but was the CIA involved?


HERO: John Lennon was shot dead outside his New York home in 1980

And none more so than Lennon, who was one of the world’s most recognisable musicians.

The Liverpool-born songwriter was murdered aged 40 outside his New York home by crazed fan Mark David Chapman in December 1980.

It was one of the most shocking news stories in history, with millions able to recount where they were when they heard the Imagine singer was killed.


KILLER: Mark David Chapman admitted gunning The Beatle down

Chapman, then aged 25, was sentenced to 20 years to life in jail after pleading to second—degree murder

But what if there was more to the case than previously reported?

Conspiracies have surrounded Lennon’s death ever since.

Yet Drugs as Weapons Against Us details an investigation by former Sunday Express legal correspondent Fenton Bresler, who obtained classified documents from the FBI and CIA that claim Lennon was being tracked by the intelligence agencies during the 1970s.

The book alleges the singer developed “radical leftist politics” after allaying his drug use, which led to him holding anti-war events and even a benefit concert to free imprisoned activist John Sinclair.


CONSPIRACY: Was the CIA behind John Lennon's murder?

His album Some Time in New York City focused on political themes, including feminists, Irish nationals and Black Panthers, leading to increased scrutiny from the US government, the book claims.

Lennon also said in an interview: “In my case I’ve never not been political, though religion tended to overshadow it in my acid days.”

Potash writes the US intelligence agencies were becoming more concerned with Lennon after he moved away from drug use and towards activism, and was just one month away from becoming an American citizen at the time of his death.

The FBI and CIA ordered agents to keep Lennon under surveillance, according to the book, while Bresler’s documents show the star’s arrest for drugs use in 1972 was “to neutralise and disrupt” Lennon’s activities.

In a bombshell claim, Lennon’s assassin may have been trained in war-torn Beirut to become a hitman when the CIA held a heavy presence during the 1970s.


TRAGIC: The scene outside John Lennon's home hours after he was shot dead

Author Phil Strongman, in the book John Lennon: Life, Times and Assassination, explores the idea Chapman was programmed to carry out the killing, with the novel The Catcher in the Rye acting as the trigger.

Postash’s book claims Chapman waited for Lennon to arrive home on the fatal night, kneeled down in a combat stance and shot the star four times in the back from 20ft away.

Potash writes: “He could have escaped but instead took of his coat, folded it up and tok out Catcher in the Rye out of his pocket.”

Lennon later died in hospital after losing 80% of blood.

In an interview with Bresler, NYPD lieutenant Arthur O’Connor said: “Chapman looked like he could have been programmed and I know that you are going to make of that word. That was the way he looked and that was the way he talked.”


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Such was Lennon’s global status, millions mourned his death, with a memorial service at New York’s Central Park attracting 100,000 people.

It was this influence, the book alleges, that worried the intelligence services.

Potash added: “This exemplified the international interest and influence of Lennon, underscoring why his leftist activism was a threat to the CIA and the oligarchy.”

It comes as The Beatles’ seminal eighth album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band marks its 50th anniversary on June 1.

Daily Star Online has approached the CIA for comment.



John and Yoko in 1980