Murder of John Lennon
On the evening of 8 December 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. The killer, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fan who was jealous and enraged by Lennon's lifestyle, alongside his 1966 comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". Chapman said he was inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, a "phony-killer" who loathes hypocrisy.
Murder of John Lennon
The Dakota, New York City, U.S.
8 December 1980
c. 10:50 p.m. (US Eastern time (UTC−05:00))
Shooting
Personal resentment against John Lennon and a desire to emulate Holden Caulfield[1][2]
Chapman planned the killing over several months and waited for Lennon at the Dakota on the morning of 8 December. Early in the evening, Chapman met Lennon, who signed his copy of the album Double Fantasy and subsequently left for a recording session at the Record Plant. Later that night, Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, returned to the Dakota. As Lennon and Ono approached the entrance of the building, Chapman fired five hollow-point bullets from a .38 special revolver, four of which hit Lennon in the back. Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital in a police car, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m. at age 40. Chapman remained at the scene reading The Catcher in the Rye until he was arrested by the police. It was later discovered that Chapman considered Lennon's friend David Bowie a target.[3]
A worldwide outpouring of grief ensued; crowds gathered at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of the Dakota, and at least three Beatles fans died by suicide.[4] The day following the murder, Lennon was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. In lieu of a funeral, Ono requested ten minutes of silence around the world. Chapman pleaded guilty to murdering Lennon and was given a sentence of twenty-years-to-life imprisonment. He has been denied parole thirteen times since he became eligible in 2000.
Reactions[edit]
Lennon's associates[edit]
According to Stephan Lynn, when he informed Ono of Lennon's death, she banged her head against the concrete floor of Roosevelt Hospital. His account is disputed by two of the nurses who were there.[58] In a 2015 interview, Ono denied hitting her head on the floor and stated that her chief concern at the time was to remain calm and take care of her son, Sean.[59] She was led away from the hospital by a policeman and Geffen Records president David Geffen.[60] The following day, Ono issued a statement: "There is no funeral for John. Later in the week we will set the time for a silent vigil to pray for his soul. We invite you to participate from wherever you are at the time. ... John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love. Yoko and Sean."[31]
George Harrison issued a prepared statement for the press: "After all we went through together, I had and still have great love and respect for him. I am shocked and stunned. To rob a life is the ultimate robbery in life. The perpetual encroachment on other people's space is taken to the limit with the use of a gun. It is an outrage that people can take other people's lives when they obviously haven't got their own lives in order."[61] Harrison later privately told friends, "I just wanted to be in a band. Here we are, twenty years later, and some whack job has shot my mate. I just wanted to play guitar in a band."[61]
Paul McCartney addressed reporters outside his Sussex home that morning and said, "I can't take it at the moment. John was a great man who'll be remembered for his unique contributions to art, music and peace. He is going to be missed by the whole world."[62] Later that day, McCartney was leaving an Oxford Street recording studio when reporters asked him for his reaction; he ended his response, "Drag, isn't it? Okay, cheers, bye-bye". His apparently casual response was widely criticised. McCartney later said that he had intended no disrespect and simply was unable to articulate his feelings, given the shock and sadness he felt over Lennon's murder.[63] Reflecting on the day two years later, McCartney said the following: "How did I feel? I can't remember. I can't express it. I can't believe it. It was crazy. It was anger. It was fear. It was madness. It was the world coming to an end. And it was, 'Will it happen to me next?' I just felt everything. I still can't put into words. Shocking. And I ended up saying, 'It's a drag,' and that doesn't really sum it up."[64]
Ringo Starr, who was in the Bahamas at the time, received a phone call from his stepchildren informing him about the murder. He flew to New York to console Ono and played with Sean.[65]
In a 1995 interview with New Musical Express magazine, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards revealed that he was just a few miles south of the Dakota (on Fifth Avenue) when he found out about Lennon's murder, whereupon he obtained a firearm of his own and went searching the streets for the alleged killer.[66]
Aftermath[edit]
The day after the murder, Lennon's remains were cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, and his ashes were scattered in Central Park, in sight of the Dakota.[78] Chapman was taken to the NYPD's 20th Precinct on West 82nd Street, where he was questioned for eight hours before being brought to New York County Criminal Court on Centre Street in Lower Manhattan. A judge remanded Chapman to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.[36]
Meanwhile, Chapman was charged with second-degree murder of Lennon, as premeditation in New York State was not sufficient to warrant charge of first-degree murder. Despite advice by his lawyers to plead insanity, Chapman pleaded guilty to the murder, saying that his plea was the will of God.[79][35] Under the terms of his plea, Chapman was sentenced to twenty-years-to-life imprisonment with eligibility for parole in 2000. Before his sentencing, he was given the opportunity to address the court, at which point he read a passage from The Catcher in the Rye.[9] As of March 2024, he has been denied parole thirteen times and remains incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility.[80]
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spied on Lennon due to his left-wing activism[111][112] and the actions of Chapman during the murder or subsequent legal proceedings have led to conspiracy theories postulating CIA involvement: