Parole denied for Mark Chapman

Lennon's Killer Denied Parole Again
The Associated Press
Oct 9 2002 11:26AM
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - John Lennon's killer was denied parole for a second time, state officials said Wednesday.

Releasing Mark David Chapman after 22 years in prison would ``deprecate the seriousness'' of the crime, the parole board said in a statement released Wednesday morning. The board said Chapman had ``acceptable'' behavior in prison but that didn't guarantee he wouldn't pose a threat to society.

At his first parole hearing two years ago, Chapman said he did not deserve to go free. He will be up for parole again in 2004.

Chapman, 47, is serving 20 years to life for shooting Lennon outside his Manhattan apartment in 1980 as the former Beatle returned from a late-night recording session.

Transcripts of the latest hearing were not immediately available. At his parole hearing two years ago, Chapman said: ``I believe once you take a person's life, there's no way you can make up for that. Period.''

Chapman lives in a housing unit separate from the general population and works as a clerk in prison, said James Flateau, spokesman for the state Department of Correctional Services. He was involved in three ``minor incidents'' between 1989 and 1994 for delaying an inmate count and refusing to follow an order, but nothing since 1994, Flateau said.

10/09/02 11:22 EDT