John Lennon’s killer notches up 10 parole bid losses

The man who murdered John Lennon has failed his tenth attempt to win freedom since assassinating the Beatles icon almost 38 years ago.

Mark David Chapman, aka inmate 81A3860, is serving 20 years to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1981.

New York prison authorities said today that the 63-year-old was told he would have to wait another two years until the state board would consider him for release again.

A three-member panel of the state Board of Parole told Chapman in a letter: “The panel has determined that your release would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society.”

Mark David Chapman is currently held at the Wende Correctional Facility New York, where he’s been held since 2012.

Chapman last received a parole hearing in August 2016. At the time, he said he believed he was a sociopath at the time he murdered John Lennon. He said he believed was suicidal and wanted to kill Lennon to gain fame.

“I was obsessed on one thing and that was shooting him so that I could be somebody,” said Chapman, according to a courtroom transcript. “And 35 years later I see what a horrible decision that was and how selfish it was.”

Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon four times on December 8, 1980. Lennon was on his way to his home in Manhattan’s Upper West Side after a late night recording session.

Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono was with him at the time and has since opposed parole, saying Chapman poses a risk to the public, herself and Lennon’s two sons, Julian and Sean.

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