John Lennon
...ds covering her face and tears streaming off of her cheeks. I know not why she is crying and not letting me hold her. Then when I was staring at this man lying on the hospital bed, with no heart beat; it hit me why Yoko was crying. The man dead in the bed……….WAS ME! Mark David Chapman’s statement I still have no reason why in my sane mind I would want to murder John Lennon. The only explanation I have for this is that it was not me. I was only acting on the instructions given to me by a voice. That voice spoken to me was the voice of God. It all began on the morning of December 8, 1980. Around lunch time I arrived at the Dakota, where I remained outside for the next ten hours. While I was here I held conversations with really interesting people. I met Paul Goresh, who was an amateur photographer from New Jersey. This is the man whom I spoke to for the next nine and a half hours. We talked about the Beatles, John and Yoko, his personal life, and his new album. Then around five o’clock in the evening, John arrived back to the Dakota. Here is where Paul introduced John to me, and he signed my Double Fantasy copy ‘John Lennon 1980.” I remember feeling like a six-year old child on Christmas Day. I was so thrilled to meet John Lennon and to have him sign my record. It was amazing! John and Yoko then finally returned back home around 10:50 at night. Yoko was the first one to get out of the limousine and was about 35 feet in front of John. I could not see exactly what John was carrying, but he had a lot of stuff in his arms. When John passed me he had given me a hard look; like he was angry, angry at me. When he passed me I heard a voice in my head saying “Do it…Do it…Do it!” I took a couple of steps forward and dropped into the combat stance. I said “Mr. Lennon” and when he turned around I began shooting at him. I shot five bullets at him, but only four making contact with him. The first two hit him in the back and the other two were in his shoulder. From this pint on, everyone was asking me if I knew what I have done and I told them that I did. The reason that I killed John Lennon is because God told me to! NYPD Police Report December 9, 1980 The following passage is a complete police report taken on John Lennon’s murder. At roughly 10:50pm, a limousine pulls up to the Dakota apartments and Yoko One and John Lennon exit the limousine. The doorman, Jose Perdomo greets them. Yoko is the first one to exit the limousine and about 35 to 40 feet behind is John; whom is carrying tapes from the record studio. Chapman is standing on the right side of the front entrance, which is directly under the arch. Both Yoko and Lennon pass him without saying a word. Before John can make it pass the iron gates of the entrance Chapman yells out to him “Mr. Lennon,” and begins shooting John with a .38 caliber revolver. Four out of the five shots hit John. Two of which hit him in his left shoulder and two in the left side of his back. There are three bullet holes in the glass lobby doors. John is shot from about 22 feet from the curb and after he has been shot he runs about 20 feet towards the lobby stairs. He crawls up the six stairs and into the lobby, where he collapses on the ground, face down. From the time he was shot, he traveled roughly 35 feet to make it into the lobby. The doorman, Jose Perdomo, then proceeds to yell at Chapman to leave, but Chapman does not leave. When Jose asks Chapman if he knows what he did, Chapman responses by saying “I just shot John Lennon.” He then puts his gun down, takes off his coat, folds it at his feet, and begins reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The New York Police Department then arrived in minutes and arrest Chapman. They realize that John needed to be at the hospital that minute, and they carried John to one of the police cars and drove him to Roosevelt Hospital. In the emergency room is where John is pronounced dead, because of several gun shot wounds. A Letter from a Devoted Fan: December 21, 1980 Dear Miss Yoko Ono, I am so sorry for your lost. The world and you have lost an amazing man. John has touched the hearts of millions and will always for all eternity. On know...