Mark David Chapman, the man who fatally shot John Lennon in 1980, has been denied parole for the 14th time, New York prison officials have confirmed. The 70-year-old appeared before a parole board on 27 August, with the decision posted online by the state department of corrections and community supervision.
Chapman shot the former Beatle outside his Manhattan apartment building on the night of 8 December 1980, as Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, returned home. Earlier that day, Lennon had signed an autograph for Chapman on a copy of his recently released album, Double Fantasy. Chapman was arrested within minutes, found sitting near the scene with a copy of J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
The transcript for the latest hearing was not immediately available, but Chapman has previously expressed remorse. In a 2021 parole hearing, he stated: '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 is serving a 20-years-to-life sentence at Green Haven Correctional Facility, north of New York City, according to state corrections records.
