Famously known as the assassinator of The Beatles musician and singer/songwriter, John Lennon in 1980, Mark David Chapman today, remains incarcerated in the Attica Correction Facility in New York. He has applied for parole on numerous occasions only to be denied this privilege as Yoko Ono continues to feel he is a danger to her family.

Chapman was born in Fort Worth, Texas on 10 May 1955; he was the only son of David, a staff sergeant in the Air Force and his mother Diane. Chapman was the first child born to this couple until 1962 when Chapman’s sister, Susan was born. Chapman was then aged seven.

Growing up, Chapman was not a seemingly popular child and was a failure at sports; he shielded himself from cruel taunts by creating an imaginary life that he portrayed to others. He claimed that his father was a cruel tyrant who abused his mother, then further embellished his story with lies that he and his sister feared their father immensely. To some, this seemed highly unlikely as the family always appeared happy and normal; in fact Chapman presented himself as a well adjusted little boy known for his passion of the English band, The Beatles and its member, John Lennon. (Networks)

In his earlier years at school, Chapman fell into the wrong crowd; he regularly took psychedelic drugs and skipped school. This crowd of drugs users also shared his taste in music. Yet in a stark contrast to his earlier behaviour, Chapman’s later years at school were spent yielding a heavy, perhaps obsessive interest in becoming a Born Again Christian, even handing out Bible tracts.

His employment roles were that of any normal human being and he became involved in YMCA camps; widely respected for his conduct, especially his interactions with children, one camp in particular in Vietnam recalled his “Pied Piper” demeanour. (LLC)

During his time at the camp in 1976, he met a future girlfriend, Jessica Blankenship. They began dating and soon their relationship was steady in the fact they had talked of marriage. However due to a growing amount of emotional instability on Chapman’s part, the relationship demonstrated faults. Chapman joined Jessica at Covenant College but failed to excel at his studies; he fell behind and due to his ongoing guilt over an affair he had entered into, became increasingly paranoid and slumped into a state of depression. The engagement was called off.

He then took a job as a security guard, enrolling on a course, which lasted one week and qualified him as an armed guard. Following an argument with his parents, Chapman left home and chose to live on the streets and in the YMCA. In 1977 he attempted suicide, gassing himself in his car. The pipe he used in his efforts melted and he was discovered and hospitalized with mental illness. (Wong)

He remained in hospital until 1978 and following his release booked a 6 week trip around the world. During this trip he met his wife, travel agent Gloria Abe. In 1979, shortly after his marriage, Chapman began drinking heavily and developed an obsession for contemporary art which strangely unfolded. He bought numerous items of art, including a Salvador Dali, amassing a debt that was becoming way out of control. This was one of many obsessions Chapman was to indulge himself in. He began reading with an insatiable appetite, especially “The Catcher in The Rye”, his fixation becoming so intense that he even seriously considered changing his name to that of the fictional character within the book itself. (Networks)

Although Chapman recognized his own mental illness, he swayed erratically from reality and fantasy, using his readings as a form of escapism. Whilst reading “The Catcher in the Rye”, Chapman identified with the main fictional character, Holden Caulfield, a character who is dissatisfied with the forged attitudes and lifestyles of people he meets. Having read John Lennon’s “One Day at a Time”, Chapman was incensed by the implications of Lennon’s lifestyle. He had in the past greatly admired this man for being a working class hero, yet amongst the words of his book Chapman read about Lennon’s extravagant spending sprees and “super rich” living. (Dancing) This enabled him further to relate to Holden Caulfield and as Caulfield was intent on ridding the world of such people who disappoint through “false” behavior, this gave Chapman the justification in his insanity. He then planned to kill John Lennon.

In 1980, Chapman resigned from his role as a security guard and randomly purchased a gun, no bullets, just the gun; he then flew to New York. His father in law had financed the trip and provided him with $5000. Although the reason for this is unclear as is how he managed to finance most of his living. Chapman then booked into The Waldorf Hotel where he poured over plans of Lennon & Ono’s New York and Dakota homes.

His fastidious behaviour had forgotten one important factor, something of extreme importance; Chapman found he had messed up in terms of necessities. New York law prevented him from being able to buy bullets so he had to travel to Atlanta where his friend, a Deputy Sheriff provided him with the necessary equipment. By 10 November, Chapman was back in New York. Thankfully due to watching the film, “Ordinary People” starring Timothy Hutton, Chapman was affected by the content; the film contains a suicidal teenager who is caught up in a dysfunctional environment, this made Chapman check his obsession. He then returned home to his wife.

Early December saw the return of Chapman in New York and although he claims he fought the demons inside him, even praying to God for help, he continued his plan. He came face to face with his idol and Chapman, in fact, shook the hand of Lennon’s son and asked Lennon himself to sign Chapman’s copy of “Double Fantasy”. Shortly after this, on December 10 1980 Lennon was shot, four times in the back. His assassinator was Mark David Chapman. (Networks)

Chapman was subsequently arrested; he bore no struggle and was sent to trial after numerous psychiatric evaluations. He was charged with second degree murder and during his trial Chapman continued his obsession with “The Catcher in the Rye”, even on occasions reading excerpts from the book. On 22 June 1981, after a peculiar turn of events, Chapman pleaded guilty to the murder of John Lennon and on 24 August 1981 he was handed a life imprisonment sentence of 2o years.

There have been several theories as to why Chapman carried out this assassination. It has been suggested that he was in fact working for the CIA; in training whilst in Vietnam, also the times when he was missing due to his illness have also been linked to a possible CIA agent programme he was attending. Yet the fact he was so obsessed with “The Catcher in the Rye” would discount these theories as he was indeed carrying a copy prior and during the assassination. It would also not explain his bizarre attempt at promoting this tome.

A further theory argues that due to Chapman’s unexpected turn of plea it was in fact his superiors ordering this bizarre behaviour fearing a full trial would unearth the truth; the truth being Chapman had been trained as an assassin for the government. John Lennon was in fact under close scrutiny from the FBI and the CIA. No conspiracy theories have ever been proved and it is left thought the agencies have perhaps covered their tracks sufficiently so that the truth will never be known. (F)

During a BBC documentary, Chapman is reported to say, “I don’t remember aiming. I must have done, but I don’t remember drawing a bead or whatever you call it. And I just pulled the trigger steady five times”. (John-Lennon.com) is this the account of a mental health sufferer or the voice of someone who has been used to kill rather than cause a public outrage.

Due to his monotone account of this incident, British lawyer/journalist, Fenton Bresler suggested that Chapman was possibly carrying out the actions of someone else’s contract and that he had perhaps been programmed to carry out this killing.

After studying him intensely, Bresler also pointed out that as Chapman had heard voices telling him to “do it, do it”, these voices were in fact the voices of his controllers. Lennon was considered an extreme revolutionary and the government could not be seen to uphold these actions.

References

Dancing, Two spirits. lennon-chapman.com. 2003. 24 March 2008 .

F, Mark. The Biography Channel. 25 March 2008 .

John-Lennon.com. 25 March 2008 .

LLC, Courtroom Television Network. Crime Library; Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon. 2007. 24 March 2008 .

Networks, A&E Television. The Biography Channel. 24 March 2008 .

Wong, Caroline. Lethal Minds. 2008. 24 March 2008 .