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"There really is no Mark Chapman...That’s the person who killed John Lennon… I don’t live that life."
—Mark David Chapman on Mark David Chapman

CHAPMAN CLAIMS LENNON WOULD WANT HIM FREE

Beatle-Killer Claims He Could Have A "Positive Impact"…And Why Would He Lie?

Mark David Chapman, the man who in 1980 shot and killed John Lennon outside his New York apartment building, believes that the slain Beatle would have forgiven him by now. In fact, Chapman believes a lot of things—enough to warrant front-page coverage in today's always-informative New York Post.

In an interview with London's Daily Express—which the Post story is based on (which, in turn,our story is based on…and you'll tell two friends and they'll tell two friends and so on and so on...)—the 45-year-old murderer says that Lennon would even want him freed from prison.

"I think he would be liberal, I think he would care," Chapman says. "I think he would probably want to see me released."

Currently serving a life term at New York's Attica prison, Chapman is now a born-again Christian, but who isn't these days? He believes he could have a "positive impact" in the outside world. "I could travel to different places and tell people what happened and how their answer, as well as mine, is in Jesus," Chapman says. Funny, we thought it was in "Catcher In the Rye," but what do we know?

Chapman also insists he's been mentally well for 12 or 13 years. "I'm on their highest grade of mental wellness," he says, then claimed he's a changed man. "There really is no Mark Chapman," Chapman says. "That's the person who killed John Lennon… I don't live that life... I'm the Walrus now."

It's no coincidence that Chapman's comments emerge just a week before his next parole hearing. The Post reports that Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has sent a heartfelt letter to the parole board urging them to keep Chapman behind bars.

When asked about Chapman's comments on Lennon wanting his murderer to be freed, Ono's spokesman Elliot Mintz wouldn't speculate, instead saying, "John would have loved to have been here to speak for himself."

Despite front-page play in the Post, a spokesman for the Parole Division said Chapman's comments would carry no weight. "The board will base its decision on his answers to the questions they ask him. And then, of course, there's the swimsuit and talent portions, which count for one-third each."