Lennon's killer stays put

John Lennon’s killer, Mark Chapman has been denies parole for a 7^th time in a row, it was announced last Thursday in New York.

Chapman shot Lennon, then 40 years old, on 8 December 1980, outside the singer's New York flat. The next year Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

He has come up for parole every two years since 2000 and has been turned down each time.

At previous parole hearings Chapman has told the board he had considered killing Elizabeth Taylor or Johnny Carson but had reconsidered because Mr Lennon was a more accessible target. Chapman has also stated in the past that he “felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody and instead of that I became a murderer, and murderers are not somebodies."

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

Chapman will be eligible again for parole in two years.