PAROLE DENIED YET AGAIN FOR JOHN's KILLER

ALBANY — The 59-year-old Chapman had a parole hearing on Wednesday (August 20), and officials announced today (August 22) that his application has been rejected. This marks the eighth time he has been denied parole. He was sentenced 20 years to life, meaning that he has been eligible to apply for parole every two years since 2000. He has repeatedly been rejected since then. He can apply again in 2016. 

John's killer will have to let it be in prison for at least two more years.

Fearing he may commit more crimes, a three-person Parole Board panel announced Friday it has denied Mark David Chapman’s eighth bid for release.

According to the decision, “the panel has determined that if released at this time, there is a reasonable probability that you would not live and remain at liberty without again violating the law.”

The panel added that “your release would be incompatible with the welfare of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law.”

AP John and Yoko Ono, shown outside New York recording studio The Hit Factory in August 1980,were walking home from a nighttime recording session when the musician was fatally shot.

Chapman won’t be eligible for parole again for another two years.

Chapman, 59, is serving a 20-year to life sentence at upstate Wende Correctional Facility after shocking the world by gunning down the former Beatle in 1980 as Lennon returned home from a late night recording session with wife Yoko Ono.

In its decision, the Parole panel, which interviewed the notorious inmate on Wednesday, alluded to the fact that hours before his death, the singer had autographed a copy of his new album for Chapman.

 

New York Daily News /

Daily News

 

John's December 1980 shooting by Mark David Chapman dominated newspaper covers including the Daily News'."This victim had displayed kindness to you earlier in the day and your actions have devastated a family and those who loved the victim,” the panel said.

Ono sent word to the Parole Board that she again opposed Chapman’s release out of fear for herself and Lennon’s two sons. She also expressed concerns that Chapman himself would be at risk from still irate Lennon fans looking to get even. Her lawyer had no immediate comment Friday.

Mark Chapman, shown July 2010 at Attica Prison.

Mark Chapman is seen in his mugshot after his arrest.

The panel noted that Chapman received letters of support and expressed remorse. It also reviewed his prison disciplinary record, which has been clean since 1994.

But the Parole Board commissioners noted community opposition to his release.

The transcript from Chapman’s parole hearing is not yet available.

This is the Charter Arms .38 Special used by Mark David Chapman to kill John Lennon.

But in previous hearings, he said he targeted Lennon because of his fame and a twisted belief that the rocker was a phony for living an elite lifestyle.

He’s also said he’s found Jesus behind prison walls and is willing to pay for his crime in prison “however long it takes, forever.”

He also admitted to having eyed other targets, including Johnny Carson and Elizabeth Taylor, now both dead, if he hadn’t been able to get to Lennon.

The once-portly killer is kept in protective custody against his will and works as an administrative clerk. He’s allowed out of his cell a minimum of three hours a day.

He also is registered in the prison system’s “family reunion” program, which allows him conjugal visits with his wife, Gloria Hiroko Chapman, who married him 18 months before the murder, and visits with his stepfather.