Murder of John Lennon
| Murder of John Lennon | |
|---|---|
A police artist's sketch of the shooting of Lennon | |
| Location | The Dakota, New York City, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 40°46′35.6″N 73°58′34.8″W / 40.776556°N 73.976333°W |
| Date | 8 December 1980 c. 10:50 p.m. (UTC−05:00) |
| Target | John Lennon |
Attack type | Murder by shooting, assassination |
| Weapon | Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special revolver |
| Deaths | John Lennon |
| Perpetrator | Mark David Chapman |
| Motive | Personal resentment against Lennon and a desire to emulate Holden Caulfield[1][2] |
On the evening of 8 December 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of The Dakota, his residence in New York City. The perpetrator, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fan who was envious and enraged by Lennon's lifestyle, alongside his 1966 comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". Chapman said that he was inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, a "phony-killer" who loathes hypocrisy.
Chapman planned the killing over several months and waited for Lennon at the Dakota on the morning of 8 December. Early in the evening, Chapman met Lennon, who signed his copy of the album Double Fantasy and subsequently left for a recording session at the Record Plant. Later that night, Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, returned to the Dakota to say goodnight to their son, Sean, before an impromptu date night. As Lennon and Ono approached the entrance of the building, Chapman fired five hollow-point bullets from a .38 special revolver, four of which hit Lennon in the back. Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital in a police car, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m.. Chapman remained at the scene of the shooting reading The Catcher in the Rye until he was arrested by police. It was discovered that Chapman had considered targeting several other celebrities, including David Bowie.[3]
The murder triggered a global outpouring of grief, with crowds gathering at Roosevelt Hospital and outside the Dakota, and tributes held worldwide.[4] The day after the murder, Lennon was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. In lieu of a funeral, Ono requested 10 minutes of silence around the world on 14 December. Chapman pleaded guilty to murdering Lennon and was given a sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment; he has been denied parole multiple times after becoming eligible in 2000.
- ^ Gaines, James R. (9 March 1987). "Mark Chapman Part III: the Killer Takes His Fall". People Magazine. Vol. 27, no. 10. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2022.)
- ^ "March 4, 1966: The Beginning of the End for John Lennon?" (Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Lynne H. Schultz, 2001. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
- ^ Doggett, Peter (2012). The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s. New York City: HarperCollins. p. 389. ISBN 978-0-06-202466-4. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- ^ Rothman, Lily (8 December 2015). "How the World Reacted to John Lennon's Death 35 Years Ago". Time. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.