The Murder of John Lennon

Abby Marodi

John Lennon

• Born October 9, 1940• Liverpool, England• Formed The Beatles in

1957– With Paul McCartney,

Ringo Starr, George Harrison

• Left Beatles in 1969• Released new album

Double Fantasy a few weeks before he died at age 40 on December 8th, 1980

Lennon’s Pacifist Ways

• Anti-war– Vietnam

• Attended spiritual events– 1968 the Beatles went

to Maharisi Yogi in India– They wrote the White

Album during this time– The song Revolution

was about changing the world to pacifist ways

• Ironic that he was shot

Mark David Chapman• Fan of the Beatles• Shot John Lennon• 57 years old• From Hawaii• Arrived in NYC one week

before the murder• Stayed in different YMCAs• Checked into Sheraton

Center Hotel in Manhattan• Seen on Sunday at hotel

asking about Lennon• On Monday December 8th at

5pm, he asked Lennon for autograph

Monday Dec 8th, 1980

• John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono leave their apartment building, the Dakota (near Central Park), to go to recording studio around 5pm

• Chapman asked for autograph• When they return, Chapman calls out “Mr.

Lennon”• Lennon turns around and Chapman

shoots five bullets and hit him four times.

The Aftermath

• Lennon is rushed to St. Luke-Roosevelt’s hospital where he soon dies

• Chapman stayed at the scene of the murder and was arrested and charged with homicide.

• Chapman brought the gun from Hawaii, and nobody knew how he got it to NYC

Chapman’s Story

• After he met John, he said he was “very cordial and a very decent man”

• He was a fan of the Beatles who thought killing John Lennon would make him famous

• Also thought about killing other celebrities such as Johnny Carson and Elizabeth Taylor– He said John Lennon was more accessible

because his apartment building by Central Park wasn’t crowded

“I felt that by killing John Lennon I would be somebody and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies.”

• Mark David Chapman

“I heard this voice - not an audible voice, an inaudible voice - saying over and over, `Do it, do it, do it.’ I thought that by killing him I would acquire his fame.”

• Mark David Chapman

The Aftermath

• John was sentenced in 1981 for 20 years to life in prison

• Denied parole in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012

• Yoko Ono said she wanted Chapman to remain in jail– Thought he was a danger to her, her

family, and himself

John Lennon’s Legacy

• Hundreds of thousand people came to his home– Returned each year

• Strawberry Fields– John Lennon

memorial– Central Park– People sing and

light candles

Works Cited

• http://beatlesnumber9.com/lennon.html

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192596/John-Lennon-death-Killer-Mark-Chapman-denied-parole-seventh-time.html

• http://www.biography.com/people/john-lennon-9379045

• http://socialistalternative.org/news/article20.php?id=1217