Topic: Mark David Chapman

Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American prison inmate who murdered former Beatle John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He committed the murder as Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were outside their apartment in New York City. Chapman shot Lennon four times in the back, outside the Dakota apartment building. He remained at the scene until arrested by police, and pleaded guilty to the crime. He was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life and has been imprisoned at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York since 1981, having been denied parole five times. His applications for parole have been opposed by Ono.

Chapman has been widely associated with the book The Catcher in the Rye, which he carried with him at the time and claimed would explain his perspective. Various specific motivations have also been suggested. Chapman has since stated that what he did was wrong. There have been a number of interviews, books and films concerning Chapman and the murder of Lennon.

Chapman was born in Fort Worth, Texas. His father, David Curtis Chapman, was a staff sergeant in the United States Air Force, and his mother, Kathryn Elizabeth Pease, was a nurse. His younger sister, Susan, was born seven years later. He said that he lived in fear of his father as a child, who was physically abusive towards his wife and son. He also fantasized about having god-like power over a group of imaginary "little people".