Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American man who murdered English musician John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980.

As Lennon walked into the archway of The Dakota, his apartment building on the Upper West Side, Chapman fired five shots at the musician from a few yards away with a Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special revolver.

Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Chapman was initially a fan of the Beatles, but was infuriated by Lennon's lavish lifestyle, the lyrics of "God" and "Imagine", and public statements such as his remark about the band being "more popular than Jesus".

In the years leading up to the murder, the J. D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye took on great personal significance for Chapman, to the extent that he wished to model his life after the novel's protagonist, Holden Caulfield.

Chapman also contemplated killing other public figures, including David Bowie,[5] Johnny Carson, Elizabeth Taylor,[6] Paul McCartney, and Ronald Reagan.

Following the murder, Chapman's legal team intended to mount an insanity defense based on the testimony of mental health experts who said that he was in a delusional psychotic state at the time of the shooting.

Chapman refused requests for press interviews during his first six years in prison; he later said that he regretted the murder and that he did not want to give the impression that he killed Lennon for fame and notoriety.

He ultimately supplied audiotaped interviews to journalist Jack Jones, who used them to write the investigative book Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman in 1992.

[3] His father, David Chapman, was a staff sergeant in the United States Air Force and his mother, Diane (née Pease), was a nurse.

He was very popular with the children at the camp, who nicknamed him "Nemo" (after the protagonist of the Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas), and he was promoted to assistant director after winning an award for Outstanding Counselor.

[11] After graduating from high school, Chapman moved for a time to Chicago and played guitar in churches and Christian night spots while his friend did impersonations.

He was named an area coordinator and a key aide to program director David Moore, who later said Chapman cared deeply for children and worked hard.

Using his YMCA connections for free or discounted accommodations, Chapman visited Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, New Delhi, Beirut, Geneva, London, Paris and Dublin.

After this, Chapman took a job as a night security guard at a high-end apartment complex and began drinking heavily to cope with depression.

[14] As his psychological state worsened, Chapman developed a series of obsessions, including artwork, The Catcher in the Rye, and the English musician John Lennon.

Chapman later said: "He told us to imagine no possessions and there he was, with millions of dollars and yachts and farms and country estates, laughing at people like me who had believed the lies and bought the records and built a big part of their lives around his music.

[1] According to Chapman in a later parole hearing, he had a hit list of other potential targets in mind, including Lennon's bandmate Paul McCartney, talk show host Johnny Carson, actress Elizabeth Taylor, actor George C. Scott, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, recently elected U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Hawaii governor George Ariyoshi.

"[24] Chapman went to New York City in late October 1980 intending to kill Lennon, but left to obtain ammunition from his unwitting friend Dana Reeves in Atlanta before returning in November.

[31] Chapman remained at the scene following the shooting and appeared to be reading The Catcher in the Rye when New York City police officers arrived and arrested him without incident.

[34] Chapman later said that he harbored a "deep-seated resentment" toward his wife, "that she didn't go to somebody, even the police, and say, 'Look, my husband's bought a gun and he says he's going to kill John Lennon.

All six defense experts concluded that Chapman was psychotic; five diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia, while the sixth felt that his symptoms were more consistent with manic depression.

In February, Chapman sent a handwritten statement to The New York Times urging everyone to read The Catcher in the Rye, calling it an "extraordinary book that holds many answers.

Judge Edwards interrupted Dorothy Lewis, a research psychiatrist who was relatively inexperienced in the courtroom, indicating that the purpose of the hearing was to determine the sentence and there was no question of Chapman's criminal responsibility.

Lewis had maintained that Chapman's decision to change his plea did not appear reasonable or explicable, and she implied that the judge did not want to allow an independent competency assessment.

Central New York Psychiatric Center director Martin Von Holden said that Chapman refused to eat with other inmates but agreed to take liquid nutrients.

[43] He was held in a solitary confinement unit for violent and at-risk prisoners, in part due to concern that he might be harmed by Lennon's fans in the general population.

In 2004, Department of Correctional Services spokesman James Flateau said that Chapman had been involved in three "minor incidents" between 1989 and 1994 which included delaying an inmate count and refusing to follow an order.

[49] Chapman declined all offers for interviews following the murder and during his first six years at Attica, later stating that he did not want to give the impression that he killed Lennon as a route to acquire fame and notoriety.

Before his first parole hearing, Yoko Ono sent a letter to the board requesting that Chapman should stay behind bars and serve out the remainder of his life sentence.

[55][56] In addition, New York State Senator Michael Nozzolio, chairman of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee, wrote to Parole Board Chairman Brion Travis saying: "It is the responsibility of the New York State Parole Board to ensure that public safety is protected from the release of dangerous criminals like Mark David Chapman.