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__**The Assassination of John Lennon**__

A common conspiracy theory regarding this is that Chapman had been brainwashed by the government (multiple theories surround the president at the time, Nixon); the theory is supported by witnesses saying Chapman's eyes were lifeless and inhuman.
 * John Lennon was killed December 8 1980 by Mark Chapman
 * Died of bloodloss from four bullet wounds fired from a pistol
 * Earlier in the day, Lennon had signed Chapman's copy of Lennon's new album (Irony)

Chapman pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life; he remains in prison, having been repeatedly denied parole. Lennon's body was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. According to some accounts, Ono scattered Lennon's ashes on Strawberry Fields; according to others, she kept them.

__**Mark Chapman**__
 * Born near Fort Worth, Texas in May of 1955
 * Was sentenced to 20 years

EX-BEATLE LENNON SLAIN
[From The Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, December 9, 1980]

NEW YORK--John Lennon, the driving force behind the legendary Beatles rock group, was shot to death late Monday as he entered his luxury apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Lennon, 40, one of the most prolific songwriters of the century, was rushed in a police car to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where he died shortly after arrival. Police said Lennon was shot outside the Dakota, the century-old apartment house where he and his wife, Yoko Ono, lived across the street from Central Park. New York Chief of Detectives James D. Sullivan identified the alleged assailant as Mark David Chapman, 25, of 55 S. Kukui St., Hawaii. Sullivan said Chapman arrived in New York City about a week ago and stayed at several YMCAs before checking into the Sheraton Center Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Chapman was seen at the Dakota on Saturday and Sunday, asking about Lennon, Sullivan said. Chapman was there again Monday afternoon when Lennon and Ono left their apartment about 5 p.m. to go to a recording session, Sullivan said. Chapman stopped Lennon and got an autograph on a record album, the chief said. When Lennon and Ono returned shortly before 11 p.m. New York time, they left their limousine at the curb and walked up the driveway toward the courtyard. Chapman came up behind them and called out, "Mr. Lennon," Sullivan said. As Lennon started to turn, Chapman went into a combat stance, and emptied a Charter Arms .38 revolver, which contained five bullets, Sullivan said. Lennon staggered up six steps into the vestibule and said, "I'm shot," before collapsing on the floor, Sullivan said. Chapman was standing there when policemen arrived, Sullivan said. He had dropped the gun, and an elevator man had recovered it, Sullivan said. Sullivan said that Chapman had bought the gun in Hawaii and the detective didn't know how he got it to New York. Chapman has given no motive, according to Sullivan, who refused to say whether he had confessed. Chapman was charged with homicide and is to be arraigned Tuesday morning. //[This story was compiled from reports filed by three Tribune reporters--Michael Coakley, Carol Oppenheim, and Barbara Brotman--who rushed to the scene of the slaying of former Beatle John Lennon, to the hospital, and to New York police headquarters immediately after the shooting. It was written by Sallie Gaines.]//

=John Lennon murder: Killer Mark David Chapman gives new details of shooting=

John Lennon's killer has given fresh details about the shooting of the former Beatle.
According to a newly released transcript of a parole hearing earlier this month, Mark David Chapman, 53, said contrary to reports in the media, he did not call Lennon's name before shooting him. "I don't recall saying, 'Mr. Lennon'," he said. "I think that was something the press elaborated on. That didn't happen. He didn't turn. I shot him in the back." Lennon was killed in New York in 1980 as he was returning to his apartment building with wife Yoko Ono. Chapman, a former maintenance worker, said he started planning the shooting three months earlier after seeing Lennon on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. "I just saw his face and it seemed like it all came together, the solution to my problem of being confused and feeling like a nobody," he said, according to a newly released transcript. "And I said, 'Wouldn't it be something if I killed this individual? I would become famous, I would be something other than a nobody'. And that was my reasoning at the time. "I perceived him at the time, and wrongly judged him to be a phony. Here he is at this ritzy building and he had been singing of love and other things at that time; it angered me." Chapman also said he felt ashamed and sorry for killing Lennon. He has spent almost 28 years in Attica prison in New York. Ono, who has previously written to the parole board opposing Chapman's release, did not offer any testimony at his fifth and latest and fifth parole hearing on August 12. Chapman said he had a job offer on a farm in upstate New York. However his request for parole was rejected "due to concern for the public safety and welfare". His next hearing will be in August 2010.

Did The CIA Murder John Lennon?
The official story, of course, is very different. But then it always is. Chapman was mentally ill, we were told, psychotic, a ‘deranged fan’ obsessed with killing his hero. Having emptied his .38 calibre pistol into John Lennon’s back, he let the weapon fall to the ground, pulled out a copy of JD Salinger’s //Catcher In The Rye// and started to read it. Evidently Chapman had come to perceive his ‘idol’ as phony, and the ‘phony’, of course, is a major theme running through the book. We should note at this point that //Catcher In The Rye// has long been associated with the CIA ’s MK-Ultra mind-control program, and more specifically, with creating a ‘Manchurian Candidate’-style assassin via CIA -developed mind-control techniques. Bobby Kennedy’s alleged assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was the first to be associated with a ‘Manchurian Candidate’-style assassination, although so far as is known, he had never read //Catcher In The Rye//. Not so with John Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981, less than four months after Chapman killed Lennon. //A copy of the book was found in Hinckley’s apartment following his arrest.// Not that this is smoking gun, of course; Catcher In The Rye is a popular book, having sold in excess of 250 million copies. Even so, the idea that a certain phrase from the book, or possibly the book’s ‘phony’ theme, may have been used as a trigger, is something Bresler suggests in //Who Killed John Lennon?//. It’s a possibility that should not altogether be discounted
 * Catcher In The Rye**

Pics of Mark Chapman (The one who killed John Lennon) [|mchap.jpg] [|200px-Markchapmanmugshot.jpg]