US convicted murderer. A security guard from Hawaii, he shot and killed former Beatles member John Lennon outside Lennon's apartment in Manhattan (8 Dec 1980). Much attention was paid at Chapman's trial to his psychiatric state, as his lawyer initially entered a plea of insanity which Chapman later overturned with a plea of guilty. He was found guilty of murder, sentenced to life imprisonment, and ordered to receive psychiatric treatment.
| Mark David Chapman | |
|---|---|
| NYPD mugshot | |
| Born |
May 10, 1955 Fort Worth, Texas |
Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is the man convicted of murdering former Beatle John Lennon on December 8, 1980.
Early life
Chapman had, during previous points in his life, been involved in various lifestyles;
Murder of John Lennon
At 10:50 p.m. on December 8, 1980, Chapman shot and killed John Lennon in front of Lennon's residence, The Dakota, at the corner of West 72nd Street and Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City. Chapman was carrying a copy of Double Fantasy with him at the time that John Lennon had signed earlier that night.
Chapman spent most of the day near the entrance to the Dakota, talking to other fans and the doorman. Late in the morning, Chapman met the Lennons' housekeeper, who had just taken the five-year-old Sean Lennon for a walk. As they walked towards their limousine on the curb, Chapman shook hands with Lennon and held out a copy of Lennon's new album Double Fantasy for him to sign — and Lennon did. A fan/amateur photographer was present when Lennon signed Chapman's album and took a photo of the event. After the Lennons left, Chapman continued to wait near the Dakota. As John and Yoko passed by and entered the archway entrance of the building's courtyard, Chapman dropped into a military firing stance and called out, "Mr. Lennon!" As Lennon turned to see who had called his name, Chapman shot him five times with hollow point rounds from a Charter Arms .38 revolver he had purchased in Hawaii.
Testimony and sentencing
At trial, Chapman testified that he had also traveled to New York once previously with the intention of killing Lennon, but did not carry out the act.
Chapman was charged with second degree murder and was found competent to stand trial.
Film proposal
Currently there are plans to turn Chapman's experiences during the weekend on which he committed the crime into a feature-length movie called Chapter 27, the title presumably inspired by Chapter 27 in Robert Rosen's book Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon, which explores the numerological meaning of 27, and shows how it connects Chapman to Lennon. Actor Jared Leto is set to star as Chapman along with Lindsay Lohan as a fan of Lennon who befriends him. This plan has been met with criticism from those Lennon fans who claim that this type of exposure would serve to grant Chapman the attention he has stated as one of the goals of his action. Another film, The Killing of John Lennon, directed by Andrew Piddington and starring Jonas Ball as Chapman, premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August 2006. In his book Who Killed John Lennon, Fenton Bresler addresses this theory and argues that Chapman was a CIA killing tool who was programmed to carry out the assassination.
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