John Lennon’s murderer denied parole for ninth time
Mark David Chapman shot the former Beatle dead outside his apartment in New York in 1980
THE man who shot dead John Lennon has been denied parole for the ninth time.
Mark David Chapman murdered the former Beatles legend on December 8, 1980 in New York.
A New York prison spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that he has been denied.
"I don't have any other details at this point."
It comes two years after Chapman's last parole refusal.
Lennon would have been 75 if he was still alive - he was gunned down at his apartment building, which was near Manhattan's Central Park.
According to a New York State parole official, Chapman was told in writing when his last parole request was submitted, it "would be incompatible with the welfare of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law."
Chapman, 61, is held at the Wende Correctional Facility, maximum security prison in Alden, New York.
He was sentenced to 20 years in jail for killing Lennon.
Other stories
Chapman is thought to suffer from a mental illness, and although he was eligible to be released in 2000, he has had his request refused every two years since.
He will be able to make another request in August 2018.
Lennon, who was born in Liverpool on October 9, 1940, once joked The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus."
When the band split he had huge success as a solo artist, and he and his wife Yoko Ono, who is against Chapman ever being released, devoted time to pacifist activism.
