August 24: On This Day in World History … briefly

1981:    John Lennon’s murderer sentenced to 20 years

Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American murderer who shot and killed John Lennon at the entrance to the Dakota apartment building in New York City on December 8, 1980. Chapman fired five times at Lennon, hitting him four times in the back, and later sat down on a nearby curb reading J D Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye until he was arrested by the police. He has repeatedly said that the novel was his statement.

Chapman’s legal team intended to mount an insanity defense that would be based on expert testimony he was in a delusional psychotic state at the time of the killing. As the trial approached, Chapman instructed his lawyers he wanted to plead guilty, based on the assertion what he had decided was the will of God. After Chapman denied hearing voices, the judge allowed the plea change without further psychiatric assessment and sentenced him to a prison term of 20-years-to life, with a stipulation mental health treatment would be provided. Chapman has been imprisoned ever since, having been denied parole nine times amidst campaigns against his release after he became eligible in 2000.

Plan to murder John Lennon

Some members of Chapman’s prayer group made a joke in reference to Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’: “It went, ‘Imagine, imagine if John Lennon was dead.’” Chapman’s childhood friend Miles McManushe recalled he referred to the song as ‘communist’. Jan Reeves, the sister of one of Chapman’s best friends, reported Chapman ‘seemed really angry toward John Lennon and he kept saying he could not understand why John Lennon had said (the Beatles were more popular than Jesus). According to Mark, there should be nobody more popular than the Lord Jesus Christ. He said it was blasphemy.’

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