i am simply a lawyer representing a client. this is not a whodunit. there were witnesses who saw him do the shooting and he made no effort to flee the scene. it was clear from the initial investigation that the defendant was going to lodge an insanity defense. and the first order of business was to have chapman mental state evaluated. the only issue will be whether or not he was ip sane at the time of the shooting. this is the front entrance of the bellevue hospital where the killer of john lennon mark chapman is being held by extraordinary security precautions by the department of corrections. and asked if i would help on the chapman case. i agreed. forensic psychiatrist dr. daniel schwartz interviewed mark david chapman on eight separate occasions for the defense. clearly, mr. chapman knew what he was doing, he used a gun
care as he is. he committed a heinous act. whether or not he s been treated or cured, i can t tell you. i don t know. he did something that was horribly wrong. he changed the track and the life of the world, in my opinion. i think he needs to stay where he is. this guy murdered him. he shot him in the back which is what people don t realize, he shot him in the back. he s a coward. i don t think the killer of john lennon should ever been paroled. the damage that he wreaked on a wife, two sons, beatles fans around the world. i can t imagine there s anything he could do or say that would warrant parole. john lennon s widow yoko ono has repeatedly opposed chapman s release from prison. my husband john lennon was a very special man. a man of humble origin. he both liked and helped the whole world with his words and
during the 1960s, the beatles were the biggest rock group in the world. their influence and popularity were unparalleled. i think the beatles spoke to young people in the 60s in a way that no other band did. they influenced so many people, not just musically but socially, politically, culturally. they were the touch stone for everything going on in the 60s. among the millions of american kids who worshiped the beatles was a shy, reclusive teenager named mark david chapman. he was an especially fervent fan of john lennon. during their heyday, the beatles were open about they are use of psychedelic drugs. like his idols, chapman begins experimenting. the defendant described there was periods of time in his life when he was more of the hippie nature, tried experimental drugs, as many people during
begins to drift through a series of jobs and half-hearted attempts at college. in 1977, he flies to hawaii where he plans to kill himself, and he reportedly tries twice, but fails. chapman stays in hawaii. over the next three years, he is hospitalized at least once, gets married, takes a job in a print shop, then quits. and goes to work as an unarmed security guard at a luxury, high-rise condo. he is obsessed with jd salinger s catcher in the rye. chapman identifies closely with the book s protagonist halden caufield who rails against the phonies he encounters. chapman claims that by the summer of 1980, he was coming unhinged. j.d. salinger who has been reclusive for years wrote the catcher in the rye and read by and admired by millions, and
i wonder what he must be thinking if he is watching this. in 1992, larry king interviewed mark henry chapman via remote feed from aica prison. mark, why are you blaming a book? i am blaming myself for crawling inside of the book. i want to say that j.d. salinger and catcher in the rye did not cause me to kill john lennon. in fact, i wrote j.d. salinger i got his box number from someone, and i apologized to him for this. in october 1980, chapman turns his resentment against phonies towards john lennon when he reads an article about the upcoming release of double fantasy. this thing started with the dakota, i m angry at seeing him on the dakota.