Mark David Chapman Said He Deserves Death Penalty For Killing John Lennon
via CNN/YouTube
He Apologized To Yoko Ono Too
Back in August 19, Mark David Chapman was denied parole for the eleventh time. He’s been serving in prison ever since he was arrested for shooting and killing John Lennon back in December 1980. In his most recent hearing which has only been recently published, he admitted that he deserves the death penalty and also apologized to Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono.
According to NME, he told the parole board at New York’s Wende Correctional Facility: “I just want to reiterate that I’m sorry for my crime. I have no excuse. This was for self-glory. I think it’s the worst crime that there could be to do something to someone that’s innocent.”
He continued, “He was extremely famous. I didn’t kill him because of his character or the kind of man he was. He was a family man. He was an icon. He was someone that spoke of things that now we can speak of and it’s great.”
Chapman also added, “I assassinated him, to use your word earlier, because he was very, very, very famous and that’s the only reason and I was very, very, very, very much seeking self-glory, very selfish. I want to add that and emphasise that greatly. It was an extremely selfish act. I’m sorry for the pain that I caused to her [Ono]. I think about it all of the time.”
Chapman, who was just 25 years old at the time he shot Lennon four times in front of his Manhattan apartment, admitted he should be on death penalty even though it has been abolished over a decade ago.
He said, “When you knowingly plot someone’s murder and know it’s wrong and you do it for yourself, that’s a death penalty right there in my opinion. Some people disagree with me, but everybody gets a second chance now. I deserve zero, nothing. If the law and you choose to leave me in here for the rest of my life, I have no complaint whatsoever.”
The parole board rejected his appeal because it “would be incompatible with the welfare of society.” Chapman is eligible for parole every two years and his next application will be in 2022.
