1980 assassination in New York City
On the evening of 8 December 1980, the English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. The killer, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fan who was envious and enraged by Lennon's lifestyle, alongside his 1966 comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". Chapman said he was inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye", a "phony-killer" who loathes hypocrisy.
Chapman planned the killing over several months and waited for Lennon at the Dakota on the morning of 8 December. Early in the evening, Chapman met Lennon, who signed his copy of the album "Double Fantasy" and subsequently left for a recording session at the Record Plant. Later that night, Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, returned to the Dakota to say goodnight to their son before an impromptu date night. As Lennon and Ono approached the entrance of the building, Chapman fired five hollow-point bullets from a .38 special revolver, four of which hit Lennon in the back. Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital in a police car, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m. at age 40. Meanwhile, Chapman remained at the scene reading "The Catcher in the Rye" until he was arrested by the police. It was later discovered that Chapman had considered targeting several other celebrities including David Bowie.
A worldwide outpouring of grief ensued; crowds gathered at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of the Dakota, and at least two Beatles fans died by suicide. The day following the murder, Lennon was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. In lieu of a funeral, Ono requested ten minutes of silence around the world. Chapman pleaded guilty to murdering Lennon and was given a sentence of twenty years to life imprisonment. He has been denied parole thirteen times since he became eligible in 2000.
Background.
Mark David Chapman.
Mark David Chapman, a 25-year-old former security guard from Honolulu, Hawaii, with no prior criminal convictions, was a fan of the Beatles. J. D. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye" (1951) had taken on great personal significance for Chapman, to the extent that he wished to model his life after the novel's protagonist, Holden Caulfield. One of the novel's main themes is Caulfield's rage against adult hypocrisy and "phonies". Chapman claimed that he had been enraged by Lennon's infamous, much-publicized remark in 1966 that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus", and by the lyrics of Lennon's songs "God" (in which Lennon states that he does not believe in the Beatles, God or Jesus) and "Imagine", where Lennon states "imagine no possessions", despite having a lavish lifestyle (as depicted in Anthony Fawcett's 1976 book "John Lennon: One Day at a Time"). Chapman concluded that the latter made Lennon a "phony."
On 27 October 1980, Chapman purchased a five-shot revolver, manufactured by Charter Arms and chambered in .38 Special, in Honolulu. He flew to New York City on 29 October after contacting the Federal Aviation Administration to learn the best way to transport a revolver. Chapman learned that bullets could be damaged during air travel, so he did not bring ammunition on the flight. He left New York on 12 or 13 November, then flew back on 6 December and checked into the Upper West Side YMCA for a night before moving to a Sheraton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
8 December 1980.
Chapman waited for Lennon outside the Dakota in the early morning and spent most of the day near the entrance to the building, talking to fans and the doorman. During that morning, Chapman was distracted and missed seeing Lennon step out of a taxi and enter the Dakota. Later in the morning, Chapman met Lennon's family nanny, Helen Seaman, who was returning from a walk with Lennon's five-year-old son Sean. Chapman reached in front of the housekeeper to shake Sean's hand and said that he was a beautiful boy, quoting Lennon's song "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)".
Portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz went to the Lennons' apartment to do a photo shoot for "Rolling Stone" magazine. Leibovitz promised them that a photo of the two of them naked together would make the front cover of the magazine. Leibovitz took several photos of John Lennon alone and one was originally set to be on the cover. Although Ono did not want to be naked, Lennon insisted that both he and his wife be on the cover, and after taking the pictures, Leibovitz left their apartment at 3:30 p.m. After the photo shoot, Lennon gave what would be his last interview, to San Francisco disc jockey Dave Sholin, writer Laurie Kaye and recorder/producer Ron Hummel for a music show to be broadcast on the RKO Radio Network. At around 5 p.m., Lennon and Ono, delayed by a late limousine shared with the RKO Radio crew, left their apartment to mix the song "Walking on Thin Ice", an Ono song featuring Lennon on lead guitar, at the Record Plant.
As they left the building, Lennon and Ono were approached by Chapman, who asked for Lennon's autograph on a copy of his recently-released album, "Double Fantasy" (1980). Lennon liked to give autographs or pictures, especially to those who had been waiting for long periods of time to meet him. Later, Chapman said, "He was very kind to me. Ironically, very kind and was very patient with me. The limousine was waiting... and he took his time with me and he got the pen going and he signed my album. He asked me if I needed anything else. I said, 'No. No sir.' And he walked away. Very cordial and decent man." Paul Goresh, an amateur photographer and Lennon fan, took a photo of Lennon signing Chapman's album.
Shooting.
The Lennons returned to the Dakota at approximately 10:50 p.m. Lennon wanted to say goodnight to his son before going to the Stage Deli restaurant with Ono. The Lennons exited their limousine on 72nd Street instead of driving into the more secure courtyard of the Dakota. They passed Chapman and walked toward the archway entrance of the building. As Ono passed by, Chapman nodded at her. As Lennon passed by, he glanced briefly at Chapman, appearing to recognize him from earlier. Seconds later, Chapman drew his revolver, which was concealed in his coat pocket, aimed at the center of Lennon's back, and rapidly fired five hollow-point bullets from a distance of about .
Based on statements made that night by New York City Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives James Sullivan, numerous reports at the time claimed that Chapman called out "Mr. Lennon" and dropped into a combat stance before firing. Later court hearings and witness interviews did not include either of these details. Chapman said that he does not remember calling out to Lennon before he fired, and that Lennon did not turn around. He claimed to have taken a combat stance in a 1992 interview with Barbara Walters.
One bullet missed Lennon and struck a window of the Dakota. According to the autopsy report, two bullets entered the left side of Lennon's back, travelling through the left side of his chest and his left lung with one exiting from the body and one lodged in his neck. Two more bullets hit Lennon in his left shoulder. Lennon, bleeding profusely from his external wounds and from his mouth, staggered up five steps to the lobby where he said, "I'm shot! I'm shot!" He then fell to the floor, scattering cassettes that he was carrying.
Jose Perdomo, the doorman, shook the revolver out of Chapman's hand and kicked it across the pavement. Concierge worker Jay Hastings first started to make a tourniquet, but upon ripping open Lennon's blood-stained shirt and realizing the severity of his injuries, he covered Lennon's chest with his uniform jacket, removed his blood-covered glasses, and summoned the police. Chapman removed his coat and hat to show that he was not carrying any concealed weapons and remained standing on 72nd Street, waiting for police to arrive. Underneath his coat, he wore a promotional T-shirt for Todd Rundgren's album "Hermit of Mink Hollow". Perdomo shouted at Chapman, "Do you know what you just did?" to which Chapman calmly replied, "I just shot John Lennon."
Officers Steven Spiro and Peter Cullen were the first policemen to arrive at the scene; they were at 72nd Street and Broadway when they heard a report of shots fired at the Dakota. The officers arrived around two minutes after the shooting and found Chapman standing very calmly on 72nd Street reading a paperback copy of "The Catcher in the Rye". They immediately put Chapman in handcuffs and placed him in the back seat of their squad car. Chapman made no attempt to flee or resist arrest. Cullen said of Chapman: "He apologized to us for ruining our night. I turned around and said to him, 'You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're worried about our night? Do you know what you just did to your life?' We read him his rights more than once."
Officers Herb Frauenberger and Tony Palma were the second team to arrive on the scene. They found Lennon lying face down on the floor of the lobby, blood pouring from his mouth and his clothing already soaked with it, with Hastings attending to him. Officers James Moran and Bill Gamble soon arrived as well. Frauenberger put Lennon in Moran and Gamble's car, concluding his condition was too serious to wait for an ambulance to arrive. Moran and Gamble then drove Lennon to Roosevelt Hospital on West 59th Street, followed by Frauenberger and Palma, who drove Ono to that location. According to Gamble, in the car, Moran asked, "Are you John Lennon?" or, "Do you know who you are?" Lennon nodded, but could only manage to make a moaning and gurgling sound when he tried to speak, and lost consciousness shortly thereafter.
Resuscitation attempt and death.
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If [Lennon] had been shot this way in the middle of the operating room with a whole team of surgeons ready to work on him... he still wouldn't have survived his injuries.
— Stephan Lynn, head of the Emergency Department at Roosevelt Hospital
A few minutes before 11:00 p.m., Moran arrived at Roosevelt Hospital with Lennon in his squad car. Moran carried Lennon on his back and placed him onto a gurney, demanding a doctor for a multiple gunshot wound victim. When Lennon was brought in, he was not breathing and had no pulse. Three doctors, a nurse, and two or three other medical attendants worked on Lennon for ten to twenty minutes in an attempt to resuscitate him. As a last resort, the doctors cut open Lennon's chest and attempted a resuscitative thoracotomy to restore circulation, but they quickly discovered that the damage to the blood vessels above and around Lennon's heart from the bullet wounds was too great.
Three of the four bullets that struck Lennon's back passed completely through his body and out of his chest, while the fourth lodged itself in his aorta beside his heart. One of the exiting bullets from his chest hit and became lodged in his upper left arm. Several of the wounds could have been fatal by themselves because each bullet had ruptured vital arteries around the heart. Lennon was shot four times at close range with hollow-point bullets and his affected organs—particularly his left lung and major blood vessels above his heart—were virtually destroyed upon impact.
Reports regarding who operated on and attempted to resuscitate Lennon have been inconsistent. Stephan Lynn, the head of the Emergency Department at Roosevelt Hospital, is usually credited with performing Lennon's surgery. In 2005, Lynn said he massaged Lennon's heart and attempted to resuscitate him for twenty minutes, that two other doctors were present, and that the three of them declared Lennon's death. Richard Marks, an emergency room surgeon at Roosevelt Hospital, stated in 1990 that he operated on Lennon, administered a "massive" blood transfusion, and provided heart massage to no avail. "When I realized he wasn't going to make it," said Marks, "I just sewed him back up. I felt helpless." David Halleran, who had been a third-year general surgery resident at Roosevelt Hospital, disputed the accounts of both Marks and