John Lennon‘s killer Mark David Chapman will remain in prison for at least another two years after being denied parole.
The Guardian reports that the decision was made by a three-member panel after a hearing in New York on Wednesday (August 20). It was Chapman’s eighth failed parole request.
In 1981, Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. On December 8, 1980 he fired five shots at Lennon outside the Dakota apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side where the ex-Beatle lived. Lennon, who was accompanied by his wife Yoko Ono, was hit four times.
Writing to Chapman to explain their decision, the panel concluded that if released the 59-year-old would “not live and remain at liberty without again violating the law”. The board added, “Your actions have devastated a family and those who loved the victim”.
At a 2010 hearing, Chapman revealed that he had also considered shooting talk show host Johnny Carson or actress Elizabeth Taylor but had opted to target Lennon as he felt the ‘Imagine’ singer was more accessible.
Chapman will again be eligible for a parole hearing in two years.