On December 8, 1980, the world was shocked with the news of the murder of former Beatle, John Lennon.  Purported plans of a Beatles reunion were dashed when Mark David Chapman fired five shots at Lennon while the latter was walking into his home, an apartment in Manhattan, together with his wife Yoko Ono.  

Chapman, an avid Beatle fan, had been angered by Lennon’s lavish lifestyle and by such historic statements that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ.  

Although Lennon had declared this years before, in a March 1966 interview, Chapman ruminated on such an outrageous statement.

The lyrics of the mega-hit, Imagine in which Lennon ‘imagined’ a peaceful world without religions, was also offensive for Chapman.  

The murderer did not flee the murder scene as he calmly stood by reading J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye while Lennon breathed his last and Yoko Ono screamed for help.  

It turned out that Chapman’s role model was Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist of the Salinger novel.  This fictional character became an icon of teenage rebellion and developed into his role model.  

Every December 8, flowers are placed by fans at Strawberry Fields in Central Park, New York, dedicated to John Lennon’s memory. Photo: Timothy A. Clary /AFP

Although he had no prior criminal convictions, Chapman fantasised killing other world-famous public figures like Lennon’s fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, Ronald Reagan who was to become President of the United States the following year, and David Bowie.  

In fact, Bowie’s name was second after Lennon’s in a hit-list that also included TV personality Johnny Carson.  

Bowie was a very close friend of Lennon; the former Beatle had provided backing vocals for the glam-rock star’s worldwide hit, Fame.  

Knowing that he was next on the list had the plot to kill Lennon failed, shook Bowie to the core and for some years after, he didn’t move around unless accompanied by a posse of bodyguards.  

Chapman’s legal team tried to mitigate their client’s guilt and a resulting drastic court sentence.  It did so by attempting to mount an insanity defence and that the murderer was delusional and prone to psychotic episodes.  

However, Chapman fully cooperated with the prosecutor who counterargued that schizophrenia did not tally with the symptoms that Chapman displayed.  

As the day of the trial approached, he instructed the lawyers to plead guilty to the charge and that his murderous behaviour was following the will of God.  

He was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life, while making sure that mental health treatment would be provided to Chapman along the years.  

Parole was denied 11 times although he came eligible for it in the year 2000.  

This anniversary is of significant relevance to the numerous Beatles and Lennon fans.  

For them, December 8, 1980 is the day that music died.