The wife of Mark David Chapman – the infamous killer of beloved musical icon John Lennon – has revealed she knew of his intentions to murder the former Beatle months in advance of the incident.
On December 8th, 1980, the music world was rocked to its core after Mark David Chapman attacked John Lennon outside his New York City home, shooting him four times and tragically killing him.
While there has been much debate in regards to Chapman’s motive and mental state at the time of the shooting, it is generally-accepted that Chapman wanted the instant fame that would have come from killing Lennon, and that his target could have easily been anyone from a list of famous people that he had made.
Now however, Mark David Chapman’s wife, Gloria Hiroko Chapman, has revealed that the murder of John Lennon was in fact quite premeditated, with Chapman reportedly planning to murder the former Beatle up to two months before he finally did so.
Speaking to The Daily Mirror ahead of Mark David Chapman’s tenth parole hearing, Gloria Hiroko Chapman explained how she knew it was Mark that had killed Lennon the second she heard about the musician’s death.
“I knew it was Mark. How did I know? Two months earlier, Mark had travelled to New York,” Gloria explained. “He came home scared, telling me that to make a name for himself he had planned to kill Lennon. But he said my love had saved him.”
Gloria Chapman explained that she never reported her husband’s threats against Lennon because he had reportedly dumped the gun that he had planned to use.
“The only reason I was OK with Mark making another trip was because I had believed him when he said he needed to grow up as an adult and husband, and needed time to think about his life,” she continued. “He wanted me to sacrifice being alone for a short time so that we could have a long, happy marriage together.
“He said he threw the gun into the ocean, and I believed him, but he had lied to me.”
“My life changed dramatically that night,” she explained. “I was now Mrs Mark David Chapman, the wife of a murderer and not just any murderer but one whose victim was known and loved by millions around the world.”
As it stands, Mark David Chapman’s prison sentence of 20 years to life left him eligible to appeal for parole in 2000. Since then, he has been denied nine times, but is set to go before his tenth hearing on August 20th.
While there’s no definitive way to say whether or not he will be set free, previous parole hearings have seen members of the parole board explaining that his freedom “would greatly undermine respect for the law and tend to trivialise the tragic loss of life” that his actions caused back in 1980.
Check out John Lennon’s ‘Jealous Guy’:
