John Lennon’s killer denied parole for 10th time
ALBANY, N.Y. » John Lennon’s killer has been denied parole for a 10th time and will remain behind bars for at least two more years.
Mark David Chapman appeared before New York’s parole board on Wednesday. In a denial decision obtained by The Associated Press Thursday, the board said it had determined Chapman’s release “would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law.”
Chapman, 63, shot and killed the former Beatle outside Lennon’s Manhattan apartment on Dec. 8, 1980. He is serving 20-years-to-life in the Wende Correctional Facility in western New York.
“You admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety,” the parole panel wrote in its denial decision. “While no one person’s life is any more valuable than another’s life, the fact that you chose someone who was not only a world renown person and beloved by millions, regardless of the pain and suffering you would cause to his family, friends and so many others, you demonstrated a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life and the pain and suffering of others.”
It said releasing Chapman would not only “tend to mitigate the seriousness of your crime,” but also would endanger public safety because someone might try to harm him out of anger or revenge or to gain similar notoriety.
As Chapman faced the parole panel Wednesday, politicians and fans called for his release to be denied during a rally at Strawberry Fields, Lennon’s memorial in Central Park across from his former home.
Jonas Herbsman, the attorney for Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
A transcript of the parole hearing wasn’t immediately released. At previous hearings, Chapman has said he still gets letters about the pain he caused and was sorry for choosing the wrong path to fame.
Chapman will be up for parole again in August 2020.
Boston woman says celebrity chef Batali groped her
BOSTON » A Massachusetts woman says in a lawsuit filed against Mario Batali that the celebrity chef forcibly kissed her and groped her in a Boston restaurant in 2017.
According to media reports, the suit filed Wednesday in Superior Court in Boston seeks unspecified damages for “severe emotional distress” including anxiety and self-doubt.
The suit alleges that the 28-year-old woman spotted Batali in the restaurant in April 2017 and tried to take a photo. The suit says Batali invited her to take a selfie with him then, without asking for permission, repeatedly kissed her face, rubbed her breasts, grabbed her buttocks and put his hands between her legs.
Neither Batali nor his representatives immediately responded to emails for comment sent to his website and production company on Friday.
Several other women have previously come forward to allege sexual misconduct by Batali.
Black bear wanders hotel that inspired ‘The Shining’
ESTES PARK, COLO. » A black bear wandered the lobby of the Colorado hotel that inspired Stephen King to write “The Shining.”
Stanley Hotel vice president Reed Rowley tells KDVR-TV 300 guests were sound asleep as the bruin figured out how to open the door and climbed over furniture. A front desk supervisor captured video of the romp.
There was no damage, but the furniture got rearranged before the bear walked out of the lower level door.
The hotel in Estes Park opened in 1909. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
King wrote “The Shining” after he and his wife stayed at The Stanley in 1974. The 1980 horror film was not shot there.