John Lennon’s killer: Who is Mark David Chapman?

• Who is John Lennon’s killer?
• Mark David Chapman’s traumatic childhood.
• He was inspired by The Catcher in the Rye.

A couple of months after celebrating his 40th birthday, on December 8, 1980, musician and singer John Lennon was tragically murdered.

The news spread around the world immediately and hopes of a Beatles reunion were dashed.

Much has been said about the person who committed this cruel act over the years, but who is he really?

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Who is John Lennon’s killer?

Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, where he was born on May 10, 1955, Mark David Chapman will forever be known as John Lennon’s killer.

After committing this crime, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He has spent over 42 years behind bars.

Today, he is at the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York.

His parole has been denied 12 times so far. It is claimed that if released, he wouldn’t last a day in the outside world.

A difficult childhood

John Lennon’s killer had a difficult childhood. He once stated that he was afraid of his own father.

David Curtis Chapman, a former U.S. Air Force sergeant, physically abused his son and wife.

Mark David Chapman had fantasies in which he had god-like power over a group of imaginary small people.

Moreover, when he turned 14, he started using marijuana, cocaine, LSD, heroin, mescaline and barbiturates.

Mark David Chapman attempted suicide

When he was 22, Mark David Chapman attempted suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Later, a psychiatrist admitted him to the Castle Memorial Hospital for depression. No one could have imagined he would one day become John Lennon’s killer.

Following in the footsteps of his idol, who was married to Yoko Ono, he married a Japanese-American woman named Gloria Abe.

During that time, he became obsessed with The Catcher in the Rye and The Beatles’ frontman. He also began hearing voices.

John Lennon’s killer wanted to ‘go down in history’

Chapman meticulously planned to murder John Lennon so he could go down in history. Ironically, he asked Lennon for an autograph hours before the crime.

Around 11 pm, after the musician and his wife returned home, Mark fired six shots at him. Four hit Lennon’s back and left shoulder.

The cause of death? Multiple gunshot wounds to the left shoulder and chest; left lung and left subclavian artery; external and internal hemorrhage and shock.

Mark David Chapman remained at the crime scene, took out his copy of The Catcher in the Rye, and started reading until the police arrived.

‘This is my statement’

According to El Financiero, Mark David Chapman may have been inspired by J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye to kill John Lennon.

It could be said that John Lennon’s killer identified with the book’s hero, Holden Caulfield, though he only fantasized about killing someone in the book.

He wrote in the margins of the copy he was reading, «This is my statement,» minutes before the police arrived at the crime scene.

Chapman’s thirteenth parole hearing is scheduled for February 2024.