John Lennon’s Murder Was “Unfortunate,” Says Killer Mark David Chapman

John Lennon’s killer last week told a parole board panel that he believed that by slaying the ex-Beatle, “I would become somebody, and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies.”

In a September 7 appearance before the New York State Division of Parole, Mark David Chapman said he made a “horrible decision” to shoot Lennon in front of his Manhattan home in December 1980. “Instead of taking my life, I took somebody else’s; which was unfortunate,” Chapman said.

Click here to download a PDF of the transcript of Chapman’s parole hearing, which ended with commissioners denying his release.

Noting that, “I am not anybody special just for pulling out a gun,” Chapman claimed that his “life has changed because of Jesus Christ.” According to the transcript, Chapman spoke at length about his religious devotion, noting that there is “something more important than me getting out and that is me knowing him and finding his forgiveness in my life; that is extremely important to me, the number one thing in my life.”

Chapman, who has served nearly 30 years in prison, is next scheduled for a parole hearing, his seventh, in 2012.