Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s murderer, has explained at a parole hearing why he killed the Beatles star – “to be famous”. His application was rejected again.
Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s murderer, has spoken out about his motive at a new parole hearing. The killing of the Beatles member arose from the desire to “be someone.”
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“Unfortunately, that was just for me alone and had everything to do with his popularity,” said the now 70-year-old, according to excerpts from the official minutes of the hearing, which the “New York Post” published. “My crime was completely selfish.” The hearing therefore took place at the end of August 2025; the newspaper received the relevant documents on October 17th.
Murder “to be famous”
When asked by a commissioner why he wanted to murder Lennon, Chapman, who is being held at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County, replied: “To be famous, to be something I wasn’t.” He continued: “And then I realized: Hey, there’s a purpose here. I don’t have to die and I can be someone. That’s how low I had sunk.”
Chapman had applied for parole in New York for the 14th time. Despite multiple apologies, the parole board did not believe the prisoner’s remorse and again refused his release.
First attempt at murder failed
The native Texan shot Lennon on December 8, 1980 in front of his home “The Dakota” in New York. At the hearing on August 27, 2025, Chapman described the murder and reported that he had traveled from Hawaii to New York months earlier to make a first murder attempt. He identified with the character Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye” and considered Lennon a “hypocrite”. The then 25-year-old wanted to ambush Lennon, but he didn’t show up as planned.
After the failed attempt, Chapman returned two months later. “That morning on the 8th, I just knew. I don’t know how I knew, but I just knew that that would be the day that I would meet him and kill him,” Chapman said at the recent hearing. As Lennon got out of a limousine with his wife Yoko Ono, Chapman shot him four times in the back – just hours after the musician signed an album for him.
Chapman allowed himself to be arrested by the police without resistance immediately after the crime and confessed the following day. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
Chapman apologizes for the crime
In the most recent hearing, according to the New York Post, Chapman said the following to the Beatles member’s family and fans: “I apologize for the suffering I have caused you, for the torment you must have been through. At the time of the crime, I didn’t think about it at all, I didn’t care.”
Despite his apology, the panel found he lacked “sincere remorse or meaningful empathy” for the victims and decided against parole for the 14th time. Chapman cannot reapply until 2027 at the earliest.