The murder of John Lennon is being documented in a new series by Apple TV+.
John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial is narrated by actor Kiefer Sutherland and will look into the pre-meditated crime and its aftermath by troubled fan Mark David Chapman, who fatally shot the former Beatle outside of his New York City apartment block on December 8, 1980.
Per a statement from Apple TV+, makers of three-part documentary were “granted extensive Freedom of Information Act requests from the New York City Police Department, the Board of Parole and the District Attorney’s office”.
The series includes interviews with Lennon’s friends and Chapman’s defence lawyers, psychiatrists, detectives and prosecutors. A premiere date has not yet been confirmed.
Chapman pleaded guilty to the crime. In 1981 he was ordered to receive psychiatric treatment and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
The former security guard, 68, was first up for parole in 2000 and has had hearings every two years since, however, he has not been granted a release from prison. He remains incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York.
In 2021 Chapman was denied parole for the 12th time. Transcripts from the hearing revealed that he is remorseful for the murder, which he said he committed due to a hunger for fame.
Speaking to the parole board, Chapman said [via Sky News] that he had a “selfish disregard for human life of global consequence”.
“I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was evil. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the fame so much that I was willing to give everything and take a human life. I am not going to blame anything else or anybody else for bringing me there,” he said.
“This was evil in my heart. I wanted to be somebody and nothing was going to stop that,” continued Chapman, who then said that killing Lennon was “my big answer to everything. I wasn’t going to be a nobody anymore”.
Chapman’s story was previously dramatised onscreen in the 2007 film Chapter 27, which starred Jared Leto.
Meanwhile, the BBC has announced that it will be broadcasting a series of programmes to celebrate the legacy of The Beatles.
The new itinerary from the broadcaster comes following the recently shared details of the band’s “final” song that’s set to arrive next week and will be the last to feature all four members.
Titled ‘Now And Then’, the song project was completed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr with the help of AI, and comprises past demo recordings of Lennon that the surviving members salvaged and used to make a new song.