The Backroom

The Assassination of John Lennon


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On the night of December 8, 1980, former member of The Beatles, John Lennon, was shot four times in the back outside the Dakota on 72nd Street in New York City. The gunman was a 25 year old man from Hawaii named Mark David Chapman. Chapman was, at one time, a huge Beatles fan. He also had become fixated with the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" and its protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Like Caulfield, Chapman started to resent people who were phony. Chapman was upset with Lennon's lavish lifestyle and anti-christian beliefs. In a 1966 interview with the Beatles, Lennon stated that the Beatles were possibly "More popular than Jesus". Chapman remained at the scene and was arrested. Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital by police car, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Chapman, against his defense team's wishes, immediately plead guilty and was sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole starting in 2000. Since 2000, Chapman has been denied parole eleven times.

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The BackroomBy Tyriek Ingram