Posted on 09/25/2004 6:38:50 PM PDT by Pikamax
Lennon fans threaten his killer as release looms
Paul Harris in New York Sunday September 26, 2004 The Observer
Mark Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon, could be released from jail next month in a move that has sparked fears of retribution from Beatles fans. Chapman will have a parole hearing in the week beginning 4 October, officials at the New York State Parole Division said. It will be held behind closed doors. However, one official said they had 'no idea' what the outcome of the hearing would be.
But if Chapman is released after 24 years in prison, some Lennon fans have already threatened to take action. News of the parole hearing has spread on the internet and dozens of websites have been filling up with messages from fans around the world, many already promising to take revenge on the man who gunned down Lennon on 8 December 1980 as he arrived at his New York apartment building off Central Park.
'Chapman should be executed. I would gladly get rid of him myself,' wrote a fan from Finland on one website. Another fan has already set up an online petition to have Chapman's parole denied. It is already full of messages that show Chapman's safety outside jail would be difficult to maintain. 'If Mark David Chapman is let out of jail, he wouldn't last a day. There are too many people who want him dead,' wrote a New York-based female fan.
Any security conditions for protecting Chapman if he is released will be down to the New York State Parole Board. 'It is up to them. It is nothing to do with the police,' said a spokesman for the New York Police Department.
New York is used to handling such releases. Recently Joel Steinberg, jailed for 17 years after the violent death of his six-year-old daughter, was released from jail in a move that shocked New York and generated huge media interest. Steinberg faced numerous death threats from the public but still travelled back to the city from jail in a white limousine trailed by a pack of journalists. He has since been living in a charity-run halfway house in New York and reportedly considering a career in television.
However, other recent attempts by high-profile prisoners to get parole have failed. In August a California prison board refused to parole Leslie Van Houten for the 15th time. Van Houten was a disciple of notorious 1960s killer Charles Manson and was convicted for her role in cult murders carried out by Manson's 'Family'. Van Houten, now 55 was rejected in her bid for parole despite having been a long-term model prisoner and making a tearful apology for her part in the grisly 1969 crimes.
Chapman has had two previous requests for parole, in 2000 and 2002, denied. In 2000 he outraged Lennon fans by saying he believed his victim would want him to be freed. 'I think he would be liberal, I think he would care,' he said.
He was originally sentenced to at least 20 years in prison. Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has supported keeping Chapman in prison out of a fear for her own safety and that of their child Sean and Lennon's other son Julian.
I have the Beatles Anthology documentary on DVD, its a great buy for any Beatles fan. And I believe that story is told on the DVD. Not sure if Yoko tells it or if John tells it (in one of his taped interviews).
Comparing The Beatles to The Stones is like comparing apples and oranges.Two different groups with two varying styles and visions.
Sure,Lennon was a mushy liberal,often drug addled and abusive.
Yet his repetoire with the group-I'm not much of a Lennon solo material fan-was classic stuff and he and Mc Cartney both worked well as a balanced team.
That would be quite Ironic.
All you need is love.
(Rocky had come, equipped with a gun...)
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
I can't stand the Stones. Always thought their music was terrible. But have been a fan of the Beatles since they first appeared on Ed Sullivan. My very first 78 rpm was a Beatles album.
Can you think of an actor or rock star killed in a public place before Lennon? The murder of Teresa Saldana and other high=profile stalking cases came later. Even today, most stars don't have a bodyguard when they're out for a casual stroll (unless the bodyguards are really good at hiding from the paparazzi).
In interviews, Lennon said that was one of the reasons he lived in New York -- he could walk down the street without being hassled the way he was in London.
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