Parole Hearing Transcript Gives Details of John Lennon's Murder
In his parole hearing earlier this month, the convicted murderer of John Lennon describes in his own words what happened on Dec. 8, 1980.
Asked by the New York parole board to confirm that he called out Lennon’s name as the ex-Beatle and his wife, Yoko Ono, returned to their home in Manhattan, then shot Lennon as he turned around, Mark Chapman said it didn’t happen quite that way, according to a transcript (PDF) of Chapman’s parole hearing Aug. 12. It was provided by the City Room blog of the New York Times.
“I don’t recall saying: Mr. Lennon. I think that was something that the press elaborated on; that did not happen, he didn’t turn,” Mark David Chapman testifies. “I shot him in the back.”
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the board decided not to parole Chapman, 53.
