Mark David Chapman
| Mark David Chapman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 10, 1955 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) |
| Criminal penalty | Twenty years to life imprisonment |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated at Wende Correctional Facility |
| Spouse(s) | Gloria Abe (m. 1979) |
| Parent(s) | David Curtis Chapman Diane Elizabeth Chapman |
| Conviction(s) | Second-degree murder of John Lennon |
Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American murderer who killed John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. Chapman shot Lennon outside the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan. Chapman fired at Lennon five times, hitting him four times in the back. Chapman remained at the crime scene and began reading J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye until the police arrived and arrested him. He repeatedly said that the novel was his statement.
Chapman's legal team intended to mount an insanity defense based on expert testimony that he was in a delusional psychotic state at the time of the killing. As the trial approached, Chapman instructed his lawyers that he wanted to plead guilty, based on what he had decided was the will of God. The judge allowed the plea change without further psychiatric assessment after Chapman denied hearing voices, and sentenced him to a prison term of 20 years to life with a stipulation that mental health treatment be provided. Chapman has been imprisoned since the murder and has been denied parole nine times amidst campaigns (most notably by Yoko Ono) against his release.
Mark David Chapman was born on May 10, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas. His father, David Curtis Chapman, was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, and his mother, Diane Elizabeth (née Pease), was a nurse. His younger sister, Susan, was born seven years later. Chapman stated that as a boy, he lived in fear of his father, who he said was physically abusive towards his mother and unloving towards him. Chapman began to fantasize about having king-like power over a group of imaginary "little people" who lived in the walls of his bedroom. Chapman attended Columbia High School in Decatur, Georgia. By the time he was fourteen, Chapman was using drugs, skipping classes, and he once ran away from home to live on the streets of Atlanta for two weeks. He said that he was bullied at school because he was not a good athlete.
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