John Lennon's killer denied parole for 10th time

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John Lennon's killer denied parole for 10th time
Mark Chapman told by parole board in New York to wait two years before applying again
Press Association
Fri 24 Aug 2018


The former Beatle was shot dead in New York in 1980. Chapman was told by a panel: ‘You demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life.’ Photograph: Alba Vigaray/EPA

Mark Chapman, who killed John Lennon in New York in 1980, has been denied parole for the 10th time.

Chapman, 63, has been serving a life sentence for the murder of the former Beatle. He shot Lennon, who was 40, four times in front of his wife, Yoko Ono. On Wednesday, Chapman appeared before a parole board in New York, which denied his request for release and told him he had to wait another two years before he could apply again. He is being held at the Wende correctional facility in the city.

The panel found his release “would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law”.

It said: “Your criminal history report reflects that this is your only crime of record. However, that does not mitigate your actions.”

Ono, 85, had said she feared for her safety and that of Lennon’s two sons, Julian and Sean, should Chapman be released.

Chapman was deemed by the board to be a low risk for offending again and has had a clean prison record since 1994, but the panel found that none of this “outweighs the gravity of your actions or the serious and senseless loss of life you have caused”.

“You admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety,” it added.

“And while no one person’s life is any more valuable than another’s life, the fact that you chose someone who was not only a world-renowned person and beloved by millions regardless of the pain and suffering you would cause to his family, friends and so many others, you demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the suffering of others. This fact remains a concern to this panel.”


 Mark Chapman, photographed in 2018. Photograph: Handout/Reuters