Chapman stays put

NEW YORK: The man who shot and killed John Lennon in New York City nearly 36 years ago has again failed to persuade a parole board to release him from prison on parole, officials said.

Mark David Chapman, 61, will remain behind bars at a maximumsecurity prison in Erie County near Buffalo, New York, after his request for parole was rejected for the ninth time since 2000.

Chapman, an obsessed fan of Lennon and his former group the Beatles, was convicted of shooting Lennon as he arrived with his wife, Yoko Ono, at his apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on December 8 1980.

Chapman received a sentence of 20 years to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. – Reuters