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According to corrections officials in New York, Mark David Chapman was denied release from prison for a seventh time. Chapman killed John Lennon in December of 1980 outside of his apartment building in Manhattan. The denial came on Wednesday in front of a parole board of three people. Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in 1981 for the murder. He pled guilty to second-degree murder during the case.
“Despite your positive efforts while incarcerated, your release at this time would greatly undermine respect for the law and tend to trivialize the tragic loss of life which you caused as a result of this heinous, unprovoked, violent, cold and calculated crime,” board member Sally Thompson wrote. The other two members of the board, Marc Coppola and Joseph Crangle, agreed with Thompson.
“The panel notes your good conduct, program achievements, educational accomplishments, positive presentation, remorse, risk and needs assessment, letters of support, significant opposition to your release and all other statutory factors were considered,” Thompson wrote. “However, parole shall not be granted for good conduct and program completions alone.”
Chapman will be eligible for parole again in two years. In May, Chapman was transferred to Wende Correctional Facility from Attica Correctional Facility. During his previous parole hearing, Chapman said that he thought about shooting Elizabeth Taylor or Johnny Carson but found Lennon to be more accessible. On December 8, 1980, Chapman fired five shots from his gun outside of the Dakota apartment building. Lennon was hit four times in front of his wife, Yoko Ono, and multiple witnesses.
“I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies,” Chapman said in front of the parole board two years ago. Ono has asked multiple times that Chapman remain in prison because she believes he is a threat to her and her family.
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