During a parole hearing last week, Mark David Chapman, the man who shot and killed John Lennon nearly 34 years ago, apologized for his infamous crime, even calling himself "an idiot," Billboard reports.
"I am sorry for causing that type of pain," the 59-year-old Chapman said during the parole hearing, his eighth since his sentencing in 1981. "I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong way for glory."
Chapman claims that he still receives letters to this day from Lennon's fans about the pain he caused back on Dec. 8, 1980, when he shot Lennon four times outside of the former Beatle's Manhattan apartment. "Many, many people loved him. He was a great and talented man and they are still hurting," Chapman said. "I get letters so that's a major factor. It's not a regular crime."
Despite his remorse for the crime, New York Daily News reports that Chapman also reminisced about how "well thought out" the murder was, and how he tricked his wife into believing he had abandoned the plot. "I told her I was coming to New York to write a book," he said, "and she believed me...I was very convincing. This wasn't a, you know, naïve crime. It was a serious, well thought out crime..."
Chapman reportedly told the board members that he would understand if they denied his parole, which is exactly what they did, saying his release would "so depreciate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law." Chapman will again be eligible for parole in two years. He is currently being held at Wende Correctional Facility outside of Buffalo, NY.
