Mark David Chapman - John Lennon's Killer

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Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American prison inmate who was convicted for murdering John Lennonon December 8, 1980. Chapman shot Lennon outside The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Chapman fired at Lennon five times, hitting him four times in his back. 

Chapman's legal team put forward an insanity defense based on expert testimony that he was in a delusional and possibly psychotic state at the time, but nearing the trial, Chapman told his lawyer that he wanted to plead guilty based on what he had decided was the will of God. Judge Edwards allowed the plea change without further psychiatric assessment, and sentenced Chapman to a prison term of 20 years to life with a stipulation that mental health treatment be provided. Chapman was imprisoned in 1981 and has been denied parole seven times amidst campaigns against his release.

Murder of John Lennon

On December 8, 1980, Chapman bought a copy of The Catcher in the Rye from a New York book store, in which he wrote "This is my statement" and signed it "Holden Caulfield". He then spent most of the day near the entrance to The Dakota apartment building where Lennon and Yoko Ono lived. Early in the morning, a distracted Chapman missed seeing Lennon step out of a cab and enter the Dakota. Later in the morning, Chapman met Lennon's housekeeper who was returning from a walk with their five-year-old sonSean. Chapman reached in front of the housekeeper to shake Sean's hand and said that he was a beautiful boy, quoting Lennon's song "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)".

Around 5:00 PM, Lennon and Ono left The Dakota for a recording session at Record Plant Studios. As they walked toward their limousine, Chapman shook hands with Lennon and asked for him to sign a copy of his album, Double Fantasy. Photographer Paul Goresh took a photo of Lennon signing Chapman's album. Chapman reported that, "At that point my big part won and I wanted to go back to my hotel, but I couldn't. I waited until he came back. He knew where the ducks went in winter, and I needed to know this" (a reference to The Catcher in the Rye).

Around 10:49 PM, the Lennons' limousine returned to the Dakota. Lennon and Ono got out, passed Chapman and walked toward the archway entrance of the building. From the street behind them, Chapman fired five shots from a.38 special revolver, four of which hit Lennon in the back and left shoulder. The death certificate gives the following description: "Multiple gunshot wounds of left shoulder and chest; Left lung and left subclavian artery; External and internal hemorrhage. Shock."

At the time, one newspaper reported that, before firing, Chapman softly called out "Mr. Lennon" and dropped into a crouched position. Chapman said that he does not recall saying anything and that Lennon did not turn around.

Chapman remained at the scene, reading The Catcher in the Rye until the police arrived. The New York City Police Department officers who first responded, recognizing that Lennon's wounds were severe, decided to transport him to Roosevelt Hospital. Chapman was arrested without incident. In his statement to police three hours later, Chapman stated, "I’m sure the big part of me is Holden Caulfield, who is the main person in the book. The small part of me must be the Devil." Lennon was pronounced dead at 11:15 PM at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.

Imprisonment

In 1981, Chapman was imprisoned at Attica, outside of Buffalo, New York. After Chapman fasted for 26 days in February 1982, the New York State Supreme Court authorized the state to force feed him. Martin Von Holden, the director of the Central New York Psychiatric Center, said that Chapman still refused to eat with other inmates but agreed to take liquid nutrients. Chapman was confined to a Special Handling Unit (SHU) for violent and at-risk prisoners, in part due to concern that he might be harmed by Lennon's fans in the general population. There were 105 prisoners in the building who were "not considered a threat to him," according to the New York State Department of Correctional Services. He had his own prison cell, but spent "most of his day outside his cell working on housekeeping and in the library."

Chapman worked in the prison as a legal clerk and kitchen helper. He was barred from participating in the Cephas Attica workshops, a charitable organization which helps inmates to adjust to life outside prison. He was also prohibited from attending the prison's violence and anger management classes due to concern for his safety. Chapman reportedly likes to read and writeshort stories. In his parole board hearing in 2004 he described his plans; "I would immediately try to find a job, and I really want to go from place to place, at least in the state, church to church, and tell people what happened to me and point them the way to Christ." He also said that he thought that there was a possibility he could find work as a farmhand or return to his previous trade as a printer.The Daily Mirror reported he wanted to set up a church with his wife Chapman is in the Family Reunion Program, and is allowed one conjugal visit a year with his wife, since he accepted solitary confinement. The program allows him to spend up to 42 hours alone with his wife in a specially built prison home. He also gets occasional visits from his sister, clergy, and a few friends. In 2004, James Flateau, a spokesman for the state's Department of Correctional Services, said that Chapman had been involved in three "minor incidents" between 1989 and 1994 for delaying an inmate count and refusing to follow an order. Chapman was transferred to the Wende Correctional Facilityin Alden, New York on May 15, 2012.