Sixty-three-year-old Mark Chapman has told a parole board that he feels “more and more shame" every year for the murder of John Lennon. He uttered these words during his tenth failed attempt to secure his release in August of this year. The transcript of this hearing has just been released by New York prison officials. Chapman is serving a sentence of 20 years to life at the Wende maximum security prison in New York.
He shot dead the Beatles star outside his Manhatten apartment on the 8th of December 38 years ago. In denying his appeal, the Board stated that it "would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law".
Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, 85, has said she fears for the safety of herself and the singer's two sons, Julian and Sean, should he ever be released.
