Yoko Ono Once Again Opposes Parole for John Lennon’s Killer

John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, is up for parole again next month, and Yoko Ono has once again sent a letter to the parole board, opposing his release.

Chapman is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in New York for the December 1980 slaying of the former Beatle.  He became eligible for parole in 2000 and is allowed to make a bid for his release every two years.  Ono’s attorney, Peter Shukat, tells the New York Daily News his client has consistently opposed Chapman's release and “her position has not changed.”  Chapman will be interviewed by a three-member parole board during the week of August 9th.

Shukat refused to say if Ono’s most recent letter to the board is the same one she has submitted every time Chapman has been eligible for release.  In that letter, Ono wrote that if Chapman were to be released, she was “afraid it will bring back the nightmare, the chaos and confusion once again.”  Ono added, “Myself and John’s two sons would not feel safe for the rest of our lives.”  Ono also states in the letter that she believed Chapman himself wouldn't be safe if he was allowed back on the street.

Chapman, now 55, is incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York, and is kept in a special unit separate from the general prison population.  John Lennon would’ve celebrated his 70th birthday this October.

                
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Image used with permission by Michael Ochs Archives

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