Where is Mark David Chapman now? Who is John Lennon’s killer, why did he kill Beatles star, is he still alive

Forty-two years ago, John Lennon was shot dead in New York by Mark David Chapman.

On the evening of 8 December 1980, Lennon, formerly of The Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota apartment building, his residence in New York City.

But who exactly is Chapman, and what drove him to assassinate one of the most famous musicians on the planet? Here is everything you need to know.

Who is Mark David Chapman?

Chapman was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1955. He claimed that as a child, he was constantly afraid of his father since both his mother and he were subjected to physical abuse. Chapman started to have fantasies about being able to control an imaginary population of "little people" that resided behind the walls of his bedroom.

By the age of 14, Chapman was using drugs and skipping school, and at one point even ran away from home to spend two weeks living on the streets of Atlanta. He has said that due to his subpar athletic ability, he was frequently bullied at school.

On the advice of a friend, Chapman read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger as a young adult, and the book subsequently became very important to him personally, to the point where he reportedly wanted to model his life on the character of protagonist Holden Caulfield.

Chapman, a born-again Presbyterian, later enrolled at Covenant College, an evangelical liberal arts university in Georgia, but fell behind in his studies and developed a guilt-driven obsession over having an earlier affair. He started feeling like a failure and had suicidal thoughts, and was admitted by a physician for clinical depression.

In 1978, Chapman set out on a six-week journey across the globe, a trip inspired by the novel and film Around the World in 80 Days. Upon his return, Chapman accepted a position as a night security guard at a high end apartment building, but started drinking heavily to help cope with his depression.

It was around this time that he became fixated on a variety of things, including a deeper obsession over The Catcher in the Rye, but also art, music, and John Lennon.

How did Chapman kill John Lennon?

Chapman allegedly began making plans to kill Lennon, three months before the murder. He had been a lifelong supporter of the Beatles, but after converting to Christianity and hearing Lennon say in 1966 that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus," Chapman began to dislike the musician.

According to Chapman’s wife, he was also “angry” that Lennon would “preach love and peace but yet have millions, and Chapman later said: “He told us to imagine no possessions and there he was, with millions of dollars and yachts and farms and country estates, laughing at people like me who had believed the lies and bought the records and built a big part of their lives around his music.”

The former security guard gunned down Lennon, 40, with a 38-calibre revolver as he entered his apartment building, the Dakota, in New York City.

As a lifelong Beatles fan Chapman had stopped Lennon a few hours before the attack for an autograph on the copy of the album ‘Double Fantasy’.

Chapman remained at the scene of the shooting reading The Catcher in the Rye, until he was arrested by police. In November 2022, he told a parole board he killed the legendary Beatles frontman because he wanted “fame”.

In a transcript released by New York officials under a freedom of information request, the 67-year-old said he knew his decision to kill Lennon was “wrong” and “evil”.

“I am not going to blame anything else or anybody else for bringing me there,” Chapman told the board. “I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was evil, I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the fame so much that I was willing to give everything and take a human life.”

He continued: “This was evil in my heart. I wanted to be somebody, and nothing was going to stop that.” At previous parole hearings, he has expressed remorse for killing Lennon and recently accepted that his actions have consequences. “I hurt a lot of people all over the place, and if somebody wants to hate me, that’s OK, I get it,” he said.

Where is Chapman now?

Chapman is currently serving a life sentence at the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, for the murder of Lennon.

Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, has repeatedly argued against Chapman’s release over fears that he would endanger her and her sons.

On the morning of Lennon’s murder, Chapman had met the Beatles star’s housekeeper, who was returning from a walk with Lennon’s then five-year-old son, Sean. Chapman reached in front of the housekeeper to shake Sean’s hand and called him a beautiful boy, quoting Lennon’s song ’Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy).’

Chapman’s next parole board appearance is scheduled for February 2024.