Mark Chapman said he had a “selfish disregard for human life of universal consequence”. The board denied him parole for the 12th time. Chapman, in a transcript released by New York officials on Monday under a freedom of information request, said his decision to kill Lennon was “my big answer to everything. I wouldn’t be anybody anymore.” Image: John Lennon in New York in May 1968 He told the board: “I’m not going to blame anything else or anyone else for getting me there. “I knew what I was doing and I knew it was wrong. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted fame so badly that I was willing to give everything and take a human life.” Image: Chapman 42 years ago, after the shooting Chapman killed Lennon on the night of December 8, 1980 as he and Yoko Ono were returning to their Upper West Side apartment. Earlier that day, Lennon had signed an autograph for Chapman on a copy of his recently released Double Fantasy album. Image: The .38 caliber pistol used by Chapman to kill John Lennon, unveiled on the 25th anniversary of the assassination Image: Lennon at the microphone, playing at Liverpool’s Cavern Club with the Beatles in 1961 Chapman, 67, said of the painting: “This was bad in my heart. I wanted to be somebody and nothing was going to stop that.” Chapman is serving a sentence of 20 years to life at Green Haven Correctional Institution in Hudson Valley in New York state. Image: A memorial to Lennon is located in Strawberry Fields in Central Park in New York He has repeatedly expressed remorse during his probation hearings over the years. “I hurt a lot of people everywhere and if someone wants to hate me, that’s fine, I understand,” he told a hearing in August. In denying his release, the board said Chapman’s action “left the world to recover from the vacuum you created.” Chapman’s next parole board appearance is scheduled for February 2024.
