Did you know that you are legally obliged, when working for Hecklerspray, to attend Bootleg Beatles concerts in a t-shirt that says ‘I’m a Bootleg Mark Chapman’? It’s true. That’s the initiation process they make you go through. If you’re trolling people online, you have to have the nerve to do it in real life in front of mental Beatlefans.
Which clumsily brings us the news of Mark Chapman – he’s the man who shot John Lennon dead – and his parole.
Frequently, Mark Chapman asks to be released from the Attica prison in New York and he’s constantly knocked back… and he’s due a hearing soon.
Understandably, Yoko Ono has once again written to the parole board at the prison opposing the release of Chapman.
Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by the board next week (August 9th onward) with regard to gaining release. Of course, he is serving 20 years to life for shooting Lennon outside the Dakota Building New York in December 1980.
Ono’s lawyer Peter Shukat confirmed that a letter had been sent to the board, but refused to say whether it was the same one she has routinely submitted every two years since 2000.
The circumstances of the day Chapman shot Lennon make for eerie reading, as he re-enacted scenes from Catcher in the Rye around New York.
He then got Lennon’s autograph on the copy of (the then) new LP, Double Fantasy. Chapman said of the event:
“I waited until he came back. He knew where the ducks went in winter, and I needed to know this” (a reference to The Catcher in the Rye). Chapman shot Lennon five times, before taking out his copy of Catcher in the Rye and read it until the police arrived.
Chapman stated, “I'm sure the large part of me is Holden Caulfield, who is the main person in the book. The small part of me must be the Devil.”
Brrr.
Ono has consistently stated that, away from her personal feelings toward Chapman, she also feels that he should remain in prison for his own safety.
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kevin Conroy says
John would forgive this MENTALLY ILL human being………but that is
what set him apart from the rest of US. I do believe Chapman needs to
be kept away from the general population of HUMAN beings(for his sake )
there are still people who are less evolved,that will hurt (or worse )
him.Some would do it because of what he did,Others would do it for fame
either way…he needs to be kept A W A Y from the normal people..
It would be a worse tragedy if somebody else had their life ruined.
BOB TRUCK says
MARK DAVID DESERVES LIFE IN PRISON FOR KILLING SOMEBODY. IF IT WERE SOMEBODY ELSE, LIKE A REGULAR EVERYDAY PERSON WHO IS NOT A PUBLIC FIGURE THAT’S THE WAY IT WOULD ALSO WORK. PERSONALLY, I THINK HE DESRSERVES THE DEATH PENALTY. IF HE DID GET RELEASED,HE MIGHT FIGURE”I GOT BY WITH IT BEFORE SO THEREFORE I CAN GET BY WITH AGAIN” IF, WITH HIM FOR KILLING JOHN LENNON,JUST WHEN JACK RUBY SHOT AND KILLED LEE HARVEY OSWALD, THE ALLEGED ASSASSIN OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY.I THOUGHT OSWALD DESERVED IT WHEN HE GOT KILLED, SO WHY WOULD MARK DAVID CHAPMAN BE ANY LESS DESERVING OF IT THAN WAS OSWALD? AFTER ALL; HE ASSASSINATED SOMEBODY. HE TOOK AN INNOCENT VICTIM’S LIFE. BOB TRUCK, KENTWOOD, MICHIGAN
Buuhhh..... says
But on the bright side, Bob, if he decided to do it again as he ‘got by with it’ before, there is a good chance that he’d shoot Ringo.
Swings and roundabouts.
Sadly, Jack Ruby’s dead so we’d need another night club owner to shoot Chapman. Anyone for arming Peter Stringfellow?