John Lennon’s Killer Denied Parole

Mark David Chapman, 57, was denied parole by a three-member board after a hearing yesterday by a three person group.

As you recall, Chapman shot the 40 year old John Lennon in December 1980 outside the Manhattan apartment building. He was sentenced in 1981 to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

According to the AP and Yahoo! news

"Despite your positive efforts while incarcerated, your release at this time would greatly undermine respect for the law and tend to trivialize the tragic loss of life which you caused as a result of this heinous, unprovoked, violent, cold and calculated crime," board member Sally Thompson wrote.

Board members Joseph Crangle and Marc Coppola agreed

At his previous hearing, he recalled that he had considered shooting Johnny Carson or Elizabeth Taylor instead, and said again that he chose Lennon because the ex-Beatle was more accessible.

"I heard this voice — not an audible voice, an inaudible voice — saying over and over, 'Do it, do it, do it,'" Chapman said. He explained, "I thought that by killing him I would acquire his fame."

Chapman can try again for parole in two years.