John Lennon's Killer Seeks Parole For 10th Time

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Mark David Chapman, the man who shot and killed music legend John Lennon in the archway of his Upper West Side building, could be a free man in a matter of months.

Chapman, 63, is up for parole in August, according to the New York State Department of Corrections. This will be the 10th time since Chapman's 1981 conviction of second-degree murder that the convicted killer is up for parole, according to records.

Lennon's killer is currently being held upstate at Wende Correctional Facility in Erie County. Chapman was last denied parole in 2016, according to state records.

On December 8, 1980 Chapman waited outside The Dakota co-op on Central Park West and West 72nd Street to get an autograph from Lennon as he left the building. When Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono returned to The Dakota that night, Chapman was still waiting by the co-op's entrance. As Lennon passed through the archway leading to The Dakota's courtyard Chapman shot him four times from behind.

During a 2014 parole hearing Chapman told the board "I found my peace in Jesus," and claimed that Jesus has forgiven him for the murder, CNN reported that year. He also told the board he was an "idiot" and chose "the wrong way to glory."

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