Mark David Chapman - biography, information, personal life. Chapman Mark David: biography Mark David Chapman now

Biography

Born in 1955 in Texas in the family of US Air Force sergeant David Curtis Chapman and nurse Katherine Elizabeth Peace. From the age of 10, Chapman became an avid Beatlemaniac. Mark played guitar in the school rock band and collected Beatles records throughout the years. Chapman's room was plastered with posters of his idols. In imitation of them, he grew his hair long and dressed invariably a la the Beatles. He was 15 years old when the Beatles broke up. A year later, Mark disappeared from Atlanta, where he lived and studied. They said he went to Los Angeles. When he returned, his friends did not recognize him - he was a completely different person. He walked around the school and offered everyone to buy records from his Beatles collection. Changed and appearance Brand - short haircut, white shirt, strict black tie around the neck. It turned out that Chapman joined the “Association of Young Christians”, moreover, he became its activist, and during school breaks he carefully studied the Holy Scriptures.

After school, he did not study anywhere, he did not have a specific profession. Between his graduation and his arrest at the Dakota Gate, he traveled extensively as an "Asiatic Refugee Agent." The geography of his trips included South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Lebanon and England. From Lebanon, Chapman brought a tape recording of a street shootout. At home he listened to this tape several times. According to eyewitnesses, she “excited him greatly and at the same time terrified him.” Since December 1979, Chapman has been working as a caretaker at the Waikiki cooperative building in downtown Honolulu. On his last day of work at Waikiki (October 23, 1980), watchman Chapman signed his work log not as “Mark Chapman” but as “John Lennon.” Having settled with Waikiki, Chapman bought a pistol, borrowed 2 thousand in cash and, without properly explaining to his wife where he was going, crossed the Pacific Ocean.

John Lennon's murder

Petitions for pardon

Chapman filed such petitions 9 times ( last time in August 2016), all of them were rejected. Chapman's filing of petitions caused a negative public reaction. Thus, Yoko Ono, before considering her first petition in October 2000, sent a letter to the New York State Pardon Commission. Calling Chapman a "subject", Yoko wrote, in part, that she would not feel safe if he were released, and that releasing Chapman would be unfair to John Lennon, who did not deserve to die; in addition, Chapman's release could lead to violence against himself.

On October 3, 2000, the clemency board reviewed and rejected Chapman's first petition, in which he argued that he had overcome his psychological problems and was no longer a danger to society. The commission's decision, in particular, noted that Chapman remained interested in maintaining his fame, which was the motive for the murder.

In addition, the commission is firmly convinced that your parole is this moment would diminish the seriousness of the crime and serve to undermine respect for the law.

Original text(English)

Additionally, this panel strongly believes that your release to parole supervision at this time would deprecate the seriousness of the crime and serve to undermine respect for the law

Lawyer Robert Gangi, a member of the New York State Correctional Association, opined that Chapman would likely never be pardoned due to the political outcry that would be caused by the release of Lennon's killer.

In August 2014, another request was also rejected.

Two years later, in August 2016, Chapman filed another petition for clemency. It was also rejected.

Movies

About Mark Chapman and his last days Before the murder of John Lennon, the films “The Assassination of John Lennon” and “Chapter 27” were shot.
Great interview with Mark Chapman in a prison cell is shown in the film “John Lennon: The Messenger”, released in 2002.

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An excerpt characterizing Chapman, Mark David

“But, dear princess,” Anna Mikhailovna said meekly and convincingly, blocking the way from the bedroom and not letting the princess in, “wouldn’t this be too hard for poor uncle at such moments when he needs rest?” At such moments, talking about worldly things, when his soul is already prepared...
Prince Vasily sat on an armchair in his familiar pose, crossing his legs high. His cheeks jumped up and down and seemed thicker at the bottom; but he had the appearance of a man who was not much occupied with the conversation between the two ladies.
– Voyons, ma bonne Anna Mikhailovna, laissez faire Catiche. [Leave Katya to do what she knows.] You know how the Count loves her.
“I don’t even know what’s in this paper,” said the princess, turning to Prince Vasily and pointing to the mosaic briefcase she was holding in her hands. “I only know that the real will is in his office, and this is a forgotten paper...
She wanted to get around Anna Mikhailovna, but Anna Mikhailovna, jumping up, again blocked her way.
“I know, dear, kind princess,” said Anna Mikhailovna, clutching the briefcase with her hand so tightly that it was clear that she would not let him go soon. - Dear princess, I ask you, I beg you, have pity on him. Je vous en conjure... [I beg you...]
The princess was silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the struggle for the briefcase. It was clear that if she spoke, she would not speak in a flattering manner for Anna Mikhailovna. Anna Mikhailovna held him tightly, but despite that, her voice retained all its sweet viscousness and softness.
- Pierre, come here, my friend. I think that he is not superfluous in the family council: isn’t it, prince?
- Why are you silent, mon cousin? - the princess suddenly screamed so loudly that in the living room they heard and were afraid of her voice. – Why are you silent when God knows who here allows themselves to interfere and make scenes on the threshold of the dying man’s room? Schemer! – she whispered angrily and pulled the briefcase with all her might.
But Anna Mikhailovna took a few steps to keep up with the briefcase and grabbed her hand.
- Oh! - said Prince Vasily reproachfully and in surprise. He got up. - C "est ridicule. Voyons, [This is funny. Well,] let me go. I'm telling you.
The princess let me in.
- And you!
Anna Mikhailovna did not listen to him.
- Let me in, I tell you. I take everything upon myself. I'll go and ask him. I...enough of this for you.
“Mais, mon prince,” said Anna Mikhailovna, “after such a great sacrament, give him a moment of peace.” Here, Pierre, tell me your opinion,” she turned to the young man, who, right up to them, looked in surprise at the embittered face of the princess, which had lost all decency, and at the jumping cheeks of Prince Vasily.
“Remember that you will be responsible for all the consequences,” said Prince Vasily sternly, “you don’t know what you are doing.”
- Vile woman! - the princess screamed, suddenly rushing at Anna Mikhailovna and snatching the briefcase.
Prince Vasily lowered his head and spread his arms.
At that moment the door, that terrible door that Pierre had been looking at for so long and which had opened so quietly, quickly and noisily fell back, slamming against the wall, and the middle princess ran out of there and clasped her hands.
- What are you doing! – she said desperately. – II s"en va et vous me laissez seule. [He dies, and you leave me alone.]
The eldest princess dropped her briefcase. Anna Mikhailovna quickly bent down and, picking up the controversial item, ran into the bedroom. The eldest princess and Prince Vasily, having come to their senses, followed her. A few minutes later, the eldest princess was the first to emerge from there, with a pale and dry face and a bitten lower lip. At the sight of Pierre, her face expressed uncontrollable anger.
“Yes, rejoice now,” she said, “you have been waiting for this.”
And, bursting into tears, she covered her face with a handkerchief and ran out of the room.
Prince Vasily came out for the princess. He staggered to the sofa where Pierre was sitting and fell on it, covering his eyes with his hand. Pierre noticed that he was pale and that his lower jaw was jumping and shaking, as if in a feverish trembling.
- Ah, my friend! - he said, taking Pierre by the elbow; and in his voice there was a sincerity and weakness that Pierre had never noticed in him before. – How much do we sin, how much do we deceive, and all for what? I’m in my sixties, my friend... After all, for me... Everything will end in death, that’s it. Death is terrible. - He cried.
Anna Mikhailovna was the last to leave. She approached Pierre with quiet, slow steps.
“Pierre!...” she said.
Pierre looked at her questioningly. She kissed the young man's forehead, moistening it with her tears. She paused.
– II n "est plus... [He was gone...]
Pierre looked at her through his glasses.
- Allons, je vous reconduirai. Tachez de pleurer. Rien ne soulage, comme les larmes. [Come on, I'll take you with you. Try to cry: nothing makes you feel better than tears.]
She led him into the dark living room and Pierre was glad that no one there saw his face. Anna Mikhailovna left him, and when she returned, he, with his hand under his head, was fast asleep.
The next morning Anna Mikhailovna said to Pierre:
- Oui, mon cher, c"est une grande perte pour nous tous. Je ne parle pas de vous. Mais Dieu vous soutndra, vous etes jeune et vous voila a la tete d"une immense fortune, je l"espere. Le testament n"a pas ete encore ouvert. Je vous connais assez pour savoir que cela ne vous tourienera pas la tete, mais cela vous impose des devoirs, et il faut etre homme. [Yes, my friend, this is a great loss for all of us, not to mention you. But God will support you, you are young, and now you are, I hope, the owner of enormous wealth. The will has not yet been opened. I know you well enough and I am sure that this will not turn your head; but this imposes responsibilities on you; and you have to be a man.]
Pierre was silent.
– Peut etre plus tard je vous dirai, mon cher, que si je n"avais pas ete la, Dieu sait ce qui serait arrive. Vous savez, mon oncle avant hier encore me promettait de ne pas oublier Boris. Mais il n"a pas eu le temps. J "espere, mon cher ami, que vous remplirez le desir de votre pere. [Afterwards, perhaps I will tell you that if I had not been there, God knows what would have happened. You know that the uncle of the third day He promised me not to forget Boris, but he didn’t have time. I hope, my friend, you will fulfill your father’s wish.]
Pierre, not understanding anything and silently, blushing shyly, looked at Princess Anna Mikhailovna. After talking with Pierre, Anna Mikhailovna went to the Rostovs and went to bed. Waking up in the morning, she told the Rostovs and all her friends the details of the death of Count Bezukhy. She said that the count died the way she wanted to die, that his end was not only touching, but also edifying; The last meeting between father and son was so touching that she could not remember it without tears, and that she does not know who behaved better during these times. terrible moments: Is it the father who remembered everything and everyone in such a way in the last minutes and such touching words told his son, or Pierre, whom it was a pity to see, how he was killed and how, despite this, he tried to hide his sadness so as not to upset his dying father. “C"est penible, mais cela fait du bien; ca eleve l"ame de voir des hommes, comme le vieux comte et son digne fils,” [It’s hard, but it’s saving; the soul rises when you see people like the old count and his worthy son,” she said. She also spoke about the actions of the princess and Prince Vasily, not approving of them, but in great secrecy and in a whisper.

In Bald Mountains, the estate of Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, the arrival of the young Prince Andrei and the princess was expected every day; but the wait did not disrupt the orderly order in which life went on in the old prince’s house. General-in-Chief Prince Nikolai Andreevich, nicknamed in society le roi de Prusse, [the King of Prussia,] from the time he was exiled to the village under Paul, lived continuously in his Bald Mountains with his daughter, Princess Marya, and with her companion, m lle Bourienne. [Mademoiselle Bourien.] And during the new reign, although he was allowed entry into the capitals, he also continued to live in the countryside, saying that if anyone needed him, then he would travel one and a half hundred miles from Moscow to Bald Mountains, but what would he no one or anything is needed. He said that there are only two sources of human vices: idleness and superstition, and that there are only two virtues: activity and intelligence. He himself was involved in raising his daughter and, in order to develop both main virtues in her, until she was twenty, he gave her lessons in algebra and geometry and distributed her whole life in continuous studies. He himself was constantly busy either writing his memoirs, or making calculations from higher mathematics, or turning snuff boxes on a machine, or working in the garden and observing the buildings that did not stop on his estate. Since the main condition for activity is order, order in his way of life was brought to the utmost degree of precision. His trips to the table took place under the same unchanging conditions, and not only at the same hour, but also at the same minute. With the people around him, from his daughter to his servants, the prince was harsh and invariably demanding, and therefore, without being cruel, he aroused fear and respect for himself, which the most cruel person could not easily achieve. Despite the fact that he was retired and now had no significance in government affairs, every head of the province where the prince’s estate was, considered it his duty to come to him and, just like an architect, gardener or Princess Marya, waited for the appointed hour of the prince’s exit in the high waiter’s room. And everyone in this waitress experienced the same feeling of respect and even fear, while the enormously high door of the office opened and the short figure of an old man in a powdered wig appeared, with small dry hands and gray drooping eyebrows, which sometimes, as he frowned, obscured the shine of smart people. and definitely young, sparkling eyes.

Mark David Chapman was born in 1955 in Texas to the family of US Air Force sergeant David Curtis Chapman and nurse Katherine Elizabeth Peace. At the age of ten he became an avid Beatlemaniac, then played guitar in a school rock band and that's it. school years collected The Beatles records. His room was plastered with posters of idols. In imitation of them, he grew his hair long and dressed invariably a la the Beatles. Chapman was 15 years old at the time of the Beatles' breakup; a year later he disappeared from Atlanta, where he lived and studied. He was said to have gone to Los Angeles. After some time, Chapman returned to continue his studies at school. During his absence, he joined the Young Christian Association and became its activist, which is why he appearance changed dramatically - now he wore a short, neat haircut, a white shirt and a strict black tie; During school breaks I carefully studied the Holy Scriptures. Also, in his free time, he walked around the school and offered everyone to buy records from his Beatles collection.

In 1970, he became a follower of the religious movement "Renaissance" and was outraged by Lennon's remark "We are more popular than Jesus", calling it blasphemy. He later stated that he was further angered by the songs "God" and "Imagine". He even claimed in his testimony that he liked to sing the latter with the changed lyrics: "Imagine John Lennon dead" (with English - “Imagine John Lennon is dead”).

After school, Chapman did not study anywhere and did not have a specific profession. From the time he left school until his arrest at the Dakota Gate, he traveled extensively as an "Asiatic Refugee Agent"; The geography of his trips included South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Lebanon and England. From Lebanon, Chapman brought a tape recording of a street shootout. At home, he often listened to this tape several times in a row. According to eyewitnesses, she “excited him greatly and at the same time terrified him.”

In the last years before the assassination attempt on John Lennon, Chapman lived with his wife Gloria on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. In December 1979, he took a job as a caretaker at the Waikiki Cooperative Housing in downtown Honolulu, only to quit less than a year later. On his last day of work at Waikiki (October 23, 1980), Chapman signed his work log not as “Mark Chapman” but as “John Lennon.” Having settled with Waikiki, Chapman bought a pistol, borrowed $2,000 in cash and, without properly explaining to his wife where he was going, crossed the Pacific Ocean.

John Lennon's murder

Petitions for pardon

In 2000, twenty years after his conviction, Mark David Chapman became eligible to apply for clemency and parole; in case of refusal, the next application may be submitted after 2 years. Once every two years, starting in 2000, in August, Chapman submits another petition; a total of 10 petitions for clemency were submitted (the last one in August 2018), each of which was rejected. He will be able to submit his next petition no earlier than August 2020. The very fact that Chapman filed a pardon petition caused a negative public reaction.

Yoko Ono, before considering her first petition in October 2000, sent a letter to the New York State Pardons Commission. Calling Chapman a "subject", Yoko wrote, in part, that she would not feel safe if he were released, and that releasing Chapman would be unfair to John Lennon, who did not deserve to die; in addition, Chapman's release could lead to violence against himself. On October 3, 2000, the clemency board reviewed and rejected Chapman's first petition, in which he argued that he had overcome his psychological problems and was no longer a danger to society. The commission's decision, in particular, noted that Chapman remained interested in maintaining his fame, which was the motive for the murder.

Furthermore, the panel firmly believes that granting you parole at this time would detract from the seriousness of the crime and serve to undermine respect for the law.

Original text (English)
Additionally, this panel strongly believes that your release to parole supervision at this time would deprecate the seriousness of the crime and serve to undermine respect for the law.

Lawyer Robert Gangi, a member of the New York State Correctional Association, opined that Chapman would likely never be pardoned because the release of John Lennon's killer would cause a political uproar.

(1955-05-10 ) (64 years old)

Biography

Mark David Chapman was born in 1955 in Texas to the family of US Air Force sergeant David Curtis Chapman and nurse Katherine Elizabeth Peace. At the age of ten he became an avid Beatlemaniac, then played guitar in a school rock band and collected Beatles records throughout his school years. His room was plastered with posters of idols. In imitation of them, he grew his hair long and dressed invariably a la the Beatles. Chapman was 15 years old at the time of the Beatles' breakup; a year later he disappeared from Atlanta, where he lived and studied. He was said to have gone to Los Angeles. After some time, Chapman returned to continue his studies at school. During his absence, he joined the Young Christian Association and became its activist, which is why his appearance changed dramatically - now he wore a short, neat haircut, a white shirt and a strict black tie; During school breaks I carefully studied the Holy Scriptures. Also, in his free time, he walked around the school and offered everyone to buy records from his Beatles collection.

John Lennon's murder

Lennon signs a copy Double Fantasy Chapman (right) hours before his death

Murder scene. Chapman was on the street near the nearest gate (in this photo) and shot in the back at Lennon, who was approaching the far gate with Yoko Ono.

Petitions for pardon

Furthermore, the panel firmly believes that granting you parole at this time would detract from the seriousness of the crime and serve to undermine respect for the law.

Original text (English)

Mark David Chapman

Mark David Chapman ( Mark David Chapman). Born May 10, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. American criminal. John Lennon's killer.

Father - David Curtis Chapman, US Air Force sergeant.

Mother - Diana Elizabeth Chapman (nee Peace), nurse.

Lived and studied in Atlanta.

From an early age he was interested in music. At the age of ten, his idols were world-famous musicians The group Beatles. Mark was an avid Beatle fan who collected all of The Beatles' records. His room was plastered with posters of his idols, and he himself, in imitation of them, grew long hair and dressed a la the Beatles.

Played guitar in a school rock band.

Chapman was 15 years old at the time of the Beatles' breakup. A year later, he disappeared from Atlanta. According to rumors, he went to Los Angeles, where he joined the Young Christian Association and became an activist, which is why his appearance changed dramatically - he now wore a short, neat haircut, a white shirt and a strict black tie. But then he returned to continue his studies at school. During school breaks, I carefully studied the Holy Scriptures. Also, in his free time, he walked around the school and offered everyone to buy records from his Beatles collection.

After school, Chapman did not study anywhere and did not have a specific profession. From the time he left school until his arrest at the Dakota Gate, he traveled extensively as an "Asiatic Refugee Agent." Traveled to South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Lebanon and England. From Lebanon, Chapman brought a tape recording of a street shootout. At home, he often listened to this tape several times in a row. According to eyewitnesses, she “excited him greatly and at the same time terrified him.”

Lived on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. In December 1979, he took a job as a caretaker at the Waikiki Cooperative Housing in downtown Honolulu, only to quit less than a year later. On his last day of work at Waikiki (October 23, 1980), Chapman signed his work log not as “Mark Chapman” but as “John Lennon.” Having settled with Waikiki, Chapman bought a pistol, borrowed $2,000 in cash and, without properly explaining to his wife where he was going, crossed the Pacific Ocean.

John Lennon's murder

He began planning the murder three months before it was committed. Earlier, in late October of that year (before the release of the Double Fantasy album), he had come to New York intending to kill Lennon; For this trip, he sold Norman Rockwell's Triple Self-Portrait lithograph and bought a pistol from a friend, but on November 5 he flew to his hometown of Atlanta because he needed ammunition that could not be legally purchased in New York.

A few days later he returned to New York with a pistol and ammunition, but under the impression of the film " Ordinary people“changed his mind about making an attempt on Lennon and returned to Hawaii in mid-November. Chapman told his wife about his plans, and she asked him to seek treatment, after which Mark even made an appointment with a psychiatrist. However, in the end he convinced her that he had gotten rid of the weapon and changed his mind about committing murder, and was leaving to write a children's book. On December 6, two days before the assassination attempt, he returned to New York.

On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon near his home in Manhattan, New York. Chapman spent most of that day at John's house, and when Lennon went to the recording studio around 4 p.m., he asked him to autograph the Double Fantasy album, which he did (the copy of the Double Fantasy album that Chapman signed was sold with auction in March 2011 for 530 thousand pounds). At this point, photographer Paul Goresh took a photo of Lennon and Chapman. This photo was the last photograph of Lennon during his lifetime. Goresh promised to make a copy of the photo for Chapman, and he stayed at the Dakota under the pretext of waiting for the photo.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., after four hours of work on "Walking On Thin Ice," the Lennons left the studio. On the way home, they wanted to grab something to eat at Stage Deliruen, but changed their minds, deciding to go back to Dakota first to wish Sean Good night. Lennon liked to please fans who waited for a long time for him to get an autograph or take a photo. In an interview with BBC Radio 1's Andy Peebles two days before his death, he said people would come up to him and ask for autographs or say "Hi" without pestering him or bothering him. Instead of leaving the limo in the Dakota's secure yard, the Lennons left on 72nd Street and continued on foot.

At 22:50, when Lennon and Yoko Ono were returning from the studio, Chapman, seeing Lennon, shouted after him, “Hey, Mr. Lennon!”, after which he shot him five times. Lennon was hit by four bullets. Then Chapman sat down on the asphalt under a streetlight and began reading the book by the American writer J.D. Salinger, “The Catcher in the Rye.” Lennon was taken to hospital, where he died from severe blood loss. Death was pronounced at 11:07 p.m. Chapman did not try to escape from the crime scene and did not resist arrest.

At the trial, Chapman stated that he had already come to New York to kill Lennon, but did not carry out his intention that time. Chapman said the purpose of the murder was to attract attention to himself and simply to assert himself.

Chapman later said that the main motive for the murder of John Lennon was that he wanted to “steal the fame” of the musician and become famous; it was hard for him to feel like a “big nonentity” and a “big empty place.” He later admitted to realizing that he had made a terrible decision for selfish reasons: “I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody. Instead, I became a murderer, and murderers are not anyone.”

It is also known that Chapman considered Lennon a “cheater”, like several other celebrities. So, Mark’s wife recalled what he said after reading the book about Lennon: “He got angry and called Lennon a bastard. He was angry because Lennon preached love and peace and had millions at the same time.” A few hours before the murder, Chapman read John's interview in the current issue of Playboy and realized again "how right he was in thinking Lennon was a liar, and how right it would be to kill him." Shortly before the murder, Mark turned on the TV in the hotel and began to imagine how much media coverage there would be about him and how everyone would wonder why he killed the ex-Beatle.

The court found Chapman sane and sentenced him to life imprisonment with the right to apply for pardon after 20 years.

Chapman served his sentence in the Attica maximum security prison in Buffalo, New York. In 2012, it became known that he was transferred to another maximum security prison, Wende, located in Erie County (New York).

In 2000, after twenty years from the date of sentencing, Mark David Chapman received the right to apply for clemency and parole (if refused, the next application can be filed after 2 years). Once every two years, starting in 2000, in August, Chapman submits another petition.

Yoko Ono, before considering her first petition in October 2000, sent a letter to the New York State Pardons Commission. Calling Chapman a “subject,” Yoko wrote, in part, that she would not feel safe if he were released, and that releasing Chapman would be unfair to John Lennon, who did not deserve to die. In addition, Chapman's release could lead to violence against himself. On October 3, 2000, the clemency board reviewed and rejected Chapman's first petition, in which he argued that he had overcome his psychological problems and was no longer a danger to society. The commission's decision, in particular, noted that Chapman remained interested in maintaining his fame, which was the motive for the murder.

The very fact of Chapman filing petitions for pardon has always caused a negative public reaction.

In August 2018. The commission decided to deny Chapman because his release “would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of the public.”

John Lennon's murder

Mark David Chapman's height: 178 centimeters.

Personal life of Mark David Chapman:

Married. Wife - Gloria Hiroko Chapman (nee Gloria Hiroko Ab), Japanese. According to some reports, Mark David Chapman was attracted by Gloria’s nationality and some similarities with her - even in the event of marriage, he tried to imitate Lennon. We met in March 1978. They got married in 1979 in Hawaii.

After the conviction of Mark David Chapman, Gloria Hiroko not only did not divorce her husband, but said in an interview that she continued to love him.

She described to journalists how their dates in a New York prison were going: “We were given 44 hours once a year to stay together. During these hours, we cooked pizza, had sex and watched the TV show “Wheel of Fortune.” In a word, we lived an ordinary family life. .. My friends wanted me to divorce Mark. They insisted on this, because I still loved my husband. There was a moment when I was on the verge of divorce, Mark admitted, they say. told me that he had a weapon and was planning to kill Lenon. He blamed me for not stopping him! But he told me that he threw away the weapon. I didn’t know anything and therefore I don’t feel guilty. Three. Mark and I didn’t see each other for a year, we just corresponded. I didn’t have the money to go to him, and he didn’t want to see me, but I still didn’t divorce him, because God is against divorces, although Mark told me more than once. It won’t hurt that it’s better for me to forget him. However, our love only grows over the years, although we also have quarrels, as in all families. But today we love each other even more than when we got married. I have never regretted that I did not leave my husband. And he is grateful to me for this. We once wanted to have children, especially Mark... If Mark had not been in prison, we would have had children, a dog and a cat."

Gloria now works in a hospital in Hawaii.

Image of Mark David Chapman in art:

Filmed about Mark Chapman and his last days before the murder of John Lennon art films"The Assassination of John Lennon" and "Chapter 27".

An extensive interview with Mark Chapman in a prison cell is shown in documentary film John Lennon: The Messenger, released in 2002.

American alt-rock band Mindless Self Indulgence has a song Mark David Chapman.

The Cranberries have a song on their 1996 album To the Faithful Departed, "I Just Shot John Lennon", dedicated to the murder of John Lennon.

The song Lies by the British band EMF (album Shubert Dip, 1991) begins with a sample of Chapman's voice. Later, due to pressure from Yoko Ono, the sample had to be removed from the song and it no longer appears on reissued releases of the album.

Detroit rapper Big Proof (Deshaun Dupree Holton) had the song "72nd & Central" (formerly called "1x1") featuring Obie Trice and J. Hill (Jay Gill/J-Hill) on his second album Searching for Jerry Garcia (LP) , where Big Proof depicts the murder of John Lennon by fan Chapman.

Marilyn Manson has a song, Lamb Of God, which is about the murder of John Lennon.

Mark Chapman was possessed by delusions of grandeur. He imagined himself to be John Lennon and shot the famous musician to get rid of his “double.”

In the seventies, the famous and adored John Lennon lived almost as a hermit in one of the New York houses, the facade facing Central Park. Although he liked the freedom of morals, the turbulent, carefree life of New York, he guarded his privacy and took care of his own safety with paranoid insistence. The first time he received death threats was in 1964, when the famous four, known to the world like the Beatles, performed in France. During the concert, John Lennon was given a note informing him that he would die that night.

However, this threat, like several others that followed it, was not carried out. Obviously, they decided to simply scare the singer.

Yet John was aware of his vulnerability and preferred to spend time in a huge bed with Yoko Ono, isolated from full of dangers the outside world and from an envious public.

But six thousand miles and four time zones away lived a man whose desire to kill John Lennon had become an all-consuming passion. Mark Chapman has been an ardent fan of Lennon since the musician began his Star Trek as part of the legendary four. Chapman loved the philosophy of his songs, idolized Lennon as a preacher of love and peace.

But somewhere deep in the soul the spark of love faded and the flame of envy and hatred flared up. To better understand the reasons for the transformation Brand David Chapman into the future killer John Lennon, you need to familiarize yourself with some episodes of his childhood and the range of interests that he lived with.

Mark born into the family of David and Diana Chapman in Atlanta, the capital of one of the southern states, in October 1955. His father, former sergeant air force, was a bank employee, his mother was a housewife and did charity work. There was nothing unusual in his childhood. Millions of his peers all over the world led such a life: the usual successes and disappointments in love affairs, a couple of puffs of narcotic weed, and at the appropriate age, a few cans of beer.

At fourteen he ran away from home for a whole week, at fifteen he became a “follower of Christ” - with long hair, wearing a shirt tied with a rope, with a large cross around his neck and the ever-present Bible under his arm. Always impressionable, in a state of constant high tension and with a keen desire to assert himself, he rushed from one whim to another, including drugs. Intoxicated by marijuana, he loved to fall into a ghostly sleep.

"The Lord God spoke to me"

When Mark turned sixteen, he quit marijuana and declared: “An event occurred in my life that was much more significant than anything I had experienced before. The Lord God spoke to me and made me understand that I must bring out the best that is in me.” Chapman became assistant director summer camp Christian Youth Union. Tony Adams, boss Brand, recalled: “He had all the qualities of a leader, he was very attentive, sensitive, there wasn’t even the word “hate” in his vocabulary. He admitted that he used drugs in his youth, but then he felt that God had touched him and his whole life turned upside down .I think the years of working at summer camp were best years in his life. Perhaps this is where he experienced happiness for the last time."

The children were fascinated by him. He knew many fairy tales and always captured their attention for a long time. But in 1974 Mark read a work that was destined to change his life. Someone gave him the book "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. This story of how beauty-sensitive, dreamy teenager Holden Caulfield stands alone against a cruel and hostile world deeply touched raw nerves. Chapman. He compared himself to the main character and to everyone who agreed to listen to him, he quoted his favorite passage from the book: “I draw all these little children playing some kind of game in this big field of rye. Thousands of kids and not a single adult, for except me." The book has become an anthem, a symbol for disillusioned, disillusioned teenagers all over the world. But no one took it so close to heart and no one distorted its meaning as much as Mark Chapman.

Somewhere around this time, rock music burst into his confused life. Todd Rundgren, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan became his favorites. But the Beatles remained at the top of his veneration, and his favorite singer was still John Lennon. No, he didn’t love Lennon’s music, he loved his philosophy, his revelations on issues of peace, love and justice. Mark he even played the guitar and tried to impress his idol in everything, although he understood that he was far from Lennon’s genius. And then he focused on his studies, hoping to later get a full-time paid position at the Christian Youth Union.

In 1975, after listening to a course of lectures in college, Mark Chapman On instructions from the union, he went to Beirut. But his mission soon ended as civil war broke out in Lebanon. After Lebanon Chapman left for Arkansas, where the Youth Christian Union camp moved to help Vietnamese refugees. Once again he achieved popularity, this time among Asian immigrants, and earned the deep gratitude of the people for whom he worked. Changes are also taking place in my personal life - Mark meets a girl named Jessica Blankenship. He adored her, but after leaving Fort Chaffee in December 1975, his mood changed dramatically. Jessica recalled that more and more often Mark began to talk about death, about how the history of the human race is a history of struggle. He fell into a state of long-term depression and constantly talked about suicide.

In search of love and goodness

Jessica convinced Brand continue studying at the Faculty of Humanities. He simply needed education to fulfill his dream of leading the Christian Youth Union. But after studying for one semester, Chapman dropped out of college. Soon Jessica left him too. He spent the summer of 1976 in a camp, but in the fall he got a job as a security guard and became an excellent shooter. Security guards at the Atlanta Technical School were required to shoot at least sixty points out of their pistols on test ranges. Chapman struck out eighty-eight.

It would seem that everything was going well. But unexpectedly for myself Mark began to gain weight quickly. His own appearance irritated him, and every day he became more and more embittered. In 1977, after his parents' divorce Chapman flew to Honolulu Hawaiian Islands.

One day, having rented a car, he went to a picturesque place from which a magnificent panorama opened up. Pacific Ocean, attached one end of the hose to the exhaust pipe of the car, and led the other into the cabin. He was saved by a passerby who knocked on the window. Chapman was in the gas-filled cabin for fifteen minutes and then kept wondering why he didn’t die. He realized this by examining the outer part of the hose: the hot exhaust gas had burned a hole in it. Chapman angry that his suicide plan had failed. But after this incident, he went to a clinic, where he was advised to undergo a long course of treatment from psychiatrists. His mother flew to Hawaii to be with him, but she was unable to ease his state of mind. Brand. He was dejected that with a suicide attempt on his record, he would never get a decent job at the Christian Youth Union.

In 1978, having saved some money, he went to trip around the world on the route Tokyo - Seoul - Singapore - Kathmandu - Delhi - Tel Aviv - Paris - London. After returning to Honolulu he worked in a hospital. Need to see nearby loved one becomes so acute that he decides to formalize his relationship with Gloria Abe, an American of Japanese descent. They married in June 1979, eighteen months before John Lennon was assassinated. But due to crazy behavior Brand soon their marriage suffered a serious crack: he spent hundreds of dollars on expensive works of art, which he could hardly afford.

It was at this time that the future killer began to talk about the “betrayal” of John Lennon. Gloria listened to his pompous monologues, in which he blamed the singer for his wealth and views on life, on the world, on love. On October 23, he pinned a piece of paper above his workplace that said “John Lennon,” and four days later he bought a short-barreled pistol. In a few days Mark Chapman I was already in New York. Then he visited his hometown of Atlanta, where he told the local priest that there was a constant struggle between good and evil in his soul, but he refused to give any details. He also visited Jessica.

Later she will say that Mark looked quite dejected. Chapman returned to New York even more depressed, since a visit to the Young People's Christian Union, where he spent several happy summers, showed that he had been completely forgotten there. Chapman began to hang around near the house where Lennon lived, trying to get lost in the crowd of onlookers and passers-by who dreamed of catching a glimpse, at least once, of looking at their idol.

After arrest Brand one man exclaimed: “Why, I saw him on the day of the murder! I live near here and remember that I saw this guy a few days earlier. There are always a lot of people here waiting for John. But this guy stood out among them. He was scurrying back and forth, seemed to be burning with impatience."

Chapman stayed at the New York YMCA. On December 7, Sunday, he checked in there and moved to an expensive hotel. The next day he again wandered in front of Lennon's house with a fourteen-hour tape of Beatles songs in his hands and with the new Lennon and Yoko album under his arm. He also had a pistol and a constant companion in his life - the book "The Catcher in the Rye".

In the crowd of fans Mark got into a conversation with a young blonde. Together they had a bite to eat at a restaurant, and after dinner they were joined by Paul Goresh, an amateur photographer who was also an ardent fan of the musician. A few minutes later, at exactly 4:30 p.m., Lennon came out into the street, followed by Yoko. He headed towards the limousine, and at that time he emerged from the crowd Chapman and handed him the album. “Autograph, please,” he asked, his voice breaking with excitement. John paused for a moment while Goresh took a photo of him.

"I just shot John Lennon"

John Lennon returned home at 11.30 pm. Mark Chapman was waiting for him, hidden in the shadows. "Mr. Lennon!" - he called. John turned to see who had called him, and then, torn by the most conflicting feelings, Chapman fired five bullets at the musician. Yoko Ono knelt down and, clasping her husband's head in her hands, rocked him, as if the doorman was screaming. Chapman: “Do you know what you’ve done?” - “I just shot John Lennon,” he calmly replied. Mark. He was arrested right there, near the house, and Lennon was rushed to the Roosevelt Hospital. He was semi-conscious, but still alive, although he had lost a lot of blood.

“He could not be saved by any means,” Dr. Stephen Lynn, head of the ambulance service, would say a few hours later. “He had lost too much blood, about eighty percent of the total. Yoko had already been informed of his death.” The news spread through the New York night like lightning. In about an hour, thousands of people gathered near the house where John Lennon lived. They stood with lit candles in memory of him. The crowd sang Lennon's songs, and telegraphs transmitted details of this terrible murder to all the newspapers of the world.

President Jimmy Carter spoke of the irony of how "Lennon fell victim to violence, although he himself always fought for peace," and new president United States Ronald Reagan called the assassination "a great tragedy." The world was plunged into mourning. Chapman charged with murder and ordered to undergo a thirty-day psychiatric examination.

Under heavy security Chapman He was placed in a separate room in one of the hospitals, where they kept an eye on him twenty-four hours a day to prevent him from committing suicide. But since there was concern that Chapman could be killed by Lennon's fans out of revenge, he was transferred to the city prison. The second lawyer - the first one refused to conduct the case, since people's indignation grew day by day, and with it the threat of reprisals against the killer - said that at the trial the accused would be acquitted, since doctors recognized him as mentally ill.

When the case was heard in court in August 1981, lawyer Jonathan Marx spoke out against allegations that Mark tracked Lennon, as if sneaking up on him, and after the murder he did not feel remorse. He characterized him as a person with a deeply disturbed psyche, especially emphasizing: “All the reports contain the same conclusion: Mark David Chapman- an abnormal person. This was not a premeditated crime. It was committed in a state of madness." But he himself Chapman pleaded guilty to murder. Nevertheless, it is impossible to say unequivocally that he is a person with a healthy psyche. When given the opportunity to say a few words in court, he simply quoted a passage from the book "The Catcher in the Rye" that became his gospel.

Psychiatrists gathered in a New York television studio to try to explain to America why Lennon died. The most convincing version of the motives for the crime was put forward by Hawaiian psychiatrist Robert Marvit. He said: " Mark started signing Lennon's name. It's safe to say that he believed he was Lennon or was becoming one. At a critical moment Chapman I could say to myself: "Lord, Lennon knows there are two of us. I have to reduce them to one." But if we consider the phenomenon Brand David Chapman All in all, I am not sure that we will ever know what really controlled him, what set this diabolical mechanism in motion."

Possessed by demons

Many years passed before Lennon's insane killer first spoke about the demons that led him to murder, about how he begs God's forgiveness for this terrible crime. In 1991 Mark Chapman agreed to be interviewed about the events that led him to the fatal shots. He claimed to have heard an ominous whisper: "Do it! Do it! Do it!" He said he trained for three days in a hotel room before ambushing Lennon outside his New York apartment. While in prison Chapman received more death threats than any other prisoner in America.

Fans of the Beatles did not forgive him for the murder of the singer of peace and freedom John Lennon. Even his father could not forgive him and never visited him in prison. However Chapman hopes to eventually beg forgiveness from God and people. He says: "I felt completely defeated. I was furious with the knowledge that I would be a false Lennon. I looked at his photographs. Put yourself in my place. Here he is standing on the roof of a luxurious building. So young and beautiful! He called us develop imagination, not be greedy. And I believed him! All the walls of my room were covered with photographs of the Beatles. I believed that they were not doing all this for money. From the age of ten I was imbued with the truth of John Lennon, I accepted him with all my heart. .. But suddenly I discovered “little men” in my head. I talked to them every day, asked them what to do. And it was they, “little men”, who convinced me to kill the famous musician John Lennon. They were scared. They were shocked. They were part of my conscience, and when I acted against my conscience, there was nothing left in me that would control me. And then I tore off my clothes, played Beatles records and prayed to Satan. squealed and screamed into the tape recorder: “John Lennon must die! John Lennon is a liar!

The crazy monologue was accompanied by an ominous melody, which he recorded on tape over the song " Strawberry glades". Chapman said that he hesitated between God and Satan for two months in 1980, and then he went to a gun store and bought a rapid-fire pistol. He intended to kill John Lennon with this weapon. He admitted that for several days he was obsessed with the thought of murder. "I prayed and after a long struggle, with God's help, I won. I called my wife Gloria and said: 'Your love saved me.' I won a big victory. I'll be home soon." But the demons returned, and in December I left for New York."

Chapman waited three days and on December 8 went to the house where Lennon lived with the singer’s new album. "Lennon was very cordial to me," he continued. Chapman. “I handed him the album, and he took out a black pencil and, while signing, scratched it on the cover. He tried to write out the first letter of his name, then scratched it a couple more times and laughed. Then he wrote: “John Lennon” and below - “1980”. Handing me the album, he asked: “Is that all you want?” His wife was waiting in the car. The door was open. And I said, "Thank you, John." Now I think about his words back then: “Is that all you want?” It seems he had a presentiment of his death."

"Do it!"

"I was so happy that John Lennon signed the album for me. So happy that I wanted to take the first taxi I could find and rush home to my wife. I wanted to get out of there. But I didn't. I couldn't leave this place because was completely subordinated to another force." He returned here in the evening to complete his mad search. "Do it! Do it! Do it!" - the demons repeated. And I did it. I did what I had rehearsed dozens of times in my hotel room.

As Lennon walked past, I aimed at his back and pulled the trigger five times. I remember that it was as if someone had pushed him forward onto the steps, and then he began to slowly fall in jerks. The doorman, Jose, I remember well, snatched the gun from my hands and shouted: “Look what you've done! Get out!” And I said, “Where should I go?”

When the police arrived Chapman I was reading my favorite and perversely interpreted book, “The Catcher in the Rye.” Term of imprisonment Brand David Chapman- until 2000. Recently he spoke because he felt remorse. He stated that he was haunted by nightmares. In them he visits Lennon's house. "I spoke to Yoko and his sons as a family friend. We were all saddened by what happened. They understand that I am very sorry about it. They know that I did not really want to kill him. John Lennon was a seeker of the truth. He knew that there will be no perfect world, but he urged us to think about it. If a person has the power to create this world in his imagination, then he has approached it. Good idea should not cause pain. I'm sorry that I hurt everyone. But now, perhaps, I will become at least somewhat useful. Yet it is very, very difficult to determine who I really am. I often experienced great confusion and pain because I Mark David Chapman"