August 19, 2008 22:26

John Lennon's killer admits shame of killing former Beatle

Mark David Chapman's parole hearing transcripts released

John Lennon's killer admitted during his parole hearing last week that he is ashamed of shooting the former Beatle nearly 30 years ago.

In the hearing transcripts released today (August 19), Mark David Chapman told parole officials that he has developed a greater appreciation and understanding of the significance of the life he took.

"I recognised that that 25-year-old man, I don't think he really appreciated the life that he was taking, that this was a human being," he said. "I feel now at 53 I have grown into a deeper understanding of what a human life is. I have changed a lot."

Chapman also said that he has come to realise how much his actions also affected Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, and their children, reports the Associated Press.

Chapman was denied release from a New York prison where he has been serving a 20-years-to-life sentence after confessing to gunning Lennon down in Manhattan in 1980. He is scheduled to appear before the parole board again in August 2010.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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