Authorities in New York have for the seventh time denied parole to Mark David Chapman, the man who shot dead musician John Lennon in 1980.
Mark David Chapman, now 57, was sentenced to 20 years to life in 1981 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
He shot John Lennon four times outside a Manhattan apartment block. He can reapply for parole in two years.
Authorities in New York have for the seventh time denied parole to Mark David Chapman, the man who shot dead musician John Lennon in 1980
The board said on Wednesday that Mark David Chapman’s release would risk trivializing John Lennon’s murder.
“Despite your positive efforts while incarcerated, your release at this time would greatly undermine respect for the law,” the New York State Board of Parole said in its decision.
Mark David Chapman, a former security guard, was recently transferred to the maximum security Wende Correctional Facility in western New York state.
John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, faces his seventh parole hearing later this week.
Mark David Chapman, now 57, was jailed for 20 years to life after he confessed to shooting the Beatles singer outside his New York apartment in 1980.
He has come up for parole every two years since 2000 and has been turned down each time. In 2010, officials said his release remained “inappropriate”.
A decision on whether to release Mark David Chapman will likely be made public by the end of the week, a prison spokeswoman said.
John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, faces his seventh parole hearing later this week
Mark David Chapman’s interviews with the parole board will take place at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Alden, New York, where he is currently held.
He was transferred to the facility in May this year, where he was understood to have been placed in protective custody, though the reason was never made public.
In the past, John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono is among those who have urged New York state officials to keep him behind bars, saying she fears for her own life and that of her two sons.
The former security guard, who has a history of mental illness, claims to have undergone a religious conversion while in prison.
On his last attempt at release – in September 2010 – Mark David Chapman is understood to have told the parole board he believed that “by killing John Lennon I would become somebody”.
“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Mark David Chapman stated.
“I made a horrible decision to end another human being’s life, for reasons of selfishness.”
“I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies,” he said.
Denying parole at the time, the board cited his “disregard” for human life, adding: “This premeditated, senseless and selfish act of tragic consequence… leads to the conclusion that your discretionary release remains inappropriate at this time and incompatible with the welfare of the community.”
