Beatle John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono sent another letter of appeal this year to counter Mark David Chapman’s sixth bid for parole, according to her lawyer Peter Shukat.
Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by a three-member parole board panel during the week of Aug. 9.
Dec. 8 will be the 30th anniversary of Lennon’s murder. He and his wife Yoko Ono were returning to their New York apartment from rehearsal that day. Chapman shot Lennon in front of their apartment.
Chapman is serving a 20-year-to-life sentence in Attica Correctional Facility in Upstate New York in a special unit apart from the general population, and works as a porter, cleaning offices. He also assists inmates in one of Attica’s law libraries. Despite some early minor prison violations, Chapman’s record has been clean since 1994, and he first became eligible for parole in 2000.
Yoko Ono wrote in one of the letters that if Chapman is released, “I am afraid it will bring back the nightmare, the chaos, and confusion once again. Myself and John’s two sons would not feel safe for the rest of our lives.” She also wrote that Chapman, now 55, would not be safe if allowed back on the streets, the New York Daily News reported.
As part of the “family reunion program” Chapman is said to receive yearly visits (up to 44 consecutive hours is allowed) from his wife who lives in Hawaii. In previous parole interviews he cited jealousy and emotional problems to explain his motive to kill his onetime idol, who would be 70 this October. Chapman once said Lennon would have forgiven him.
Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by a three-member parole board panel during the week of Aug. 9.
Dec. 8 will be the 30th anniversary of Lennon’s murder. He and his wife Yoko Ono were returning to their New York apartment from rehearsal that day. Chapman shot Lennon in front of their apartment.
Chapman is serving a 20-year-to-life sentence in Attica Correctional Facility in Upstate New York in a special unit apart from the general population, and works as a porter, cleaning offices. He also assists inmates in one of Attica’s law libraries. Despite some early minor prison violations, Chapman’s record has been clean since 1994, and he first became eligible for parole in 2000.
Yoko Ono wrote in one of the letters that if Chapman is released, “I am afraid it will bring back the nightmare, the chaos, and confusion once again. Myself and John’s two sons would not feel safe for the rest of our lives.” She also wrote that Chapman, now 55, would not be safe if allowed back on the streets, the New York Daily News reported.
As part of the “family reunion program” Chapman is said to receive yearly visits (up to 44 consecutive hours is allowed) from his wife who lives in Hawaii. In previous parole interviews he cited jealousy and emotional problems to explain his motive to kill his onetime idol, who would be 70 this October. Chapman once said Lennon would have forgiven him.
