Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American who murdered former Beatle John Lennon in 1980. Chapman was, at various points in his life, a drug addict, a born-again Christian, and a hospitalized mental patient. At one time he attended Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, near the border of Georgia and Tennessee. He viewed the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by novelist J.D. Salinger, as having great personal significance for him.

On the night of December 8, 1980, Chapman shot and killed John Lennon in front of Lennon's residence, the Dakota, at the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West in Manhattan in New York City. Chapman was carrying a copy of The Catcher in the Rye on him at the time.

Earlier in the day, Chapman had shaken hands with Lennon and had asked him to autograph his newly-purchased copy of Double Fantasy, the then-newly realeased album from Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono. Lennon autographed Chapman's album for him. After this encounter, Chapman waited near the Dakota for several hours for Lennon to return, whereupon he shot at him five times, inflicting four wounds.

Chapman was charged with second degree murder and was found competent to stand trial. It was expected that he would plead insanity; instead, he lodged a guilty plea.

He is currently imprisoned at Attica State Prison, near Buffalo, New York. He has been denied parole three times, in 2000, 2002, and October 2004. Prior to his parole hearings there have been several threats made on his life should he be released.

External link

• Article on Mark Chapman, which argues that he killed for fame
• 12 Chapter story of Lennon's murder on CrimeLibrary