December 8, 1980 - Assassination of John Lennon December 8, 1980 - Assassination of John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (b. October 9, 1940 Liverpool, England – d. December 8, 1980, New York) - English rock musician, singer, writer, songwriter, artist, actor and peace activist. Founding member of The Beatles. On the night of 8 December 1980, at around 10:50 pm, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times in the entrance of the Dakota apartment building. Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman, who had been stalking Lennon since the previous October. Two days before his murder, Lennon told Andy Peebles of the BBC that he felt he could go out anywhere in New York City and feel safe. On another occasion while still a Beatle, Lennon was asked how he might die. Lennon replied: Ill probably be popped off by some loony. Around 5:00 p.m. on 8 December, Lennon and Ono left The Dakota for a recording session at Record Plant Studios. As they walked towards their limousine on the curb, Chapman shook hands with Lennon and held out a copy of Lennons new album, Double Fantasy, for him to sign. Photographer Paul Goresh was present when Lennon signed Chapmans album and took a photo of the event. Chapman reported that, At that point my big part won and I wanted to go back to my hotel, but I couldnt. 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). Around 10:49 p.m., the Lennons limousine returned to the Dakota. Lennon and Ono passed by Chapman and walked toward the archway entrance of the buildings courtyard. From the street, Chapman turned and fired five hollow point bullets from a Charter Arms .38 revolver that he had purchased in Hawaii, four of which hit Lennons back and shoulder. One of the bullets pierced Lennons aorta, causing very severe blood loss by aortic dissection. There was an isolated newspaper claim at the time that, before firing, Chapman called out Mr. Lennon and dropped into a combat stance, though Chapman disputes this assertion. Chapman remained at the scene, took out his copy of The Catcher in the Rye and read it until the police arrived. The New York City Police Department officers who first responded to the shooting recognized that Lennons wounds were severe, and so they decided to transport him in their police car to Roosevelt Hospital. Chapman was arrested without incident. In his statement to police three hours later, 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. Lennon was pronounced dead at 11:07 p.m. at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital Center. A scheduled jury trial did not go ahead because Chapman changed his plea from not guilty by reason of insanity to guilty of second degree murder, against the advice of his lawyer. He had been assessed as delusional and possibly psychotic, and the defense team argued that Chapman was not competent to make the decision. However, Chapman was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life and remains incarcerated at Attica State Prison in New York, having been denied parole five times. A number of conspiracy theories have been published, based on CIA and FBI surveillance of Lennon due to his left-wing activism, and on the actions of Mark Chapman in the murder and subsequent legal proceedings. In 2002, respondents to a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted Lennon into eighth place. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number 38 on its list of The Immortals: The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time and ranked The Beatles at number one.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 21:03:58 +0000