Killer of John Lennon makes parole bid

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NEW YORK, July 27 (UPI) -- The killer of former Beatle John Lennon will be considered for parole next month, 30 years after he shot and killed the famous musician, authorities said.

A three-member parole board panel will interview Mark David Chapman, serving a 20-years-to-life sentence for killing Lennon in front of the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan in 1980, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

It will be Chapman's sixth bid for parole, the newspaper said.

Lennon's widow Yoko Ono has consistently opposed release for Chapman and has sent a letter to the parole board, her lawyer said.

"Her position has not changed," Peter Shukat said.

In the letter, Ono wrote, "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."

The head of a prisoner's rights group says he doubts Chapman, 55, would be released because of the outrage it would cause among the public.

"Given that he committed a high profile crime and he killed one of the most famous and most beloved figures literally in the world," Robert Gangi of the Correctional Association of America said, "it's highly unlikely three parole commissioners would vote to grant him release."