‘I know what shame is now’: John Lennon’s killer expresses remorse over murder

John Lennon’s killer admitted to a parole board that he feels a sense of shame for murdering the famous singer outside his Manhattan apartment in 1980.

A new transcript of Mark David Chapman’s most recent parole board hearing reveals he showed remorse for shooting down The Beatles’ member and that his feeling of shame has continued to grow since that fateful day on December 8.

“Thirty years ago I couldn’t say I felt shame and I know what shame is now,” Associated Press reports he said in a testimonial released on Thursday by New York prison officials.

“It’s where you cover your face, you don’t want to, you know, ask for anything.”

The 63-year-old is currently serving a 20-year-to-life sentence for the murder of the talented singer 38 years ago in the lobby of New York City apartment building, The Dakota. Lennon sustained four major gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Chapman has remained in prison ever since, having been denied parole 10 times. However, during his 10th parole hearing in August, the killer did express his remorse claiming Lennon was “incredible” to him earlier that day when he signed an album for him.

“I do remember having the thought of, ‘hey you have got the album now. Look at this, he signed it, just go home’. But there was no way I was just going to go home,” Chapman said. 

The murderer continued by describing the brutal attack on The Beatles’ star adding that he didn’t feel any animosity for him at the time and was immediately concerned that Lennon should not suffer. 

Despite his growing sense of shame, Chapman was denied release with the parole board claiming it wouldn’t be smart to release him as people could try to harm him out of anger, which would put the general public at risk.

Chapman will next be up for parole in August 2020.

Read more: John Lennon’s murderer revealed his plan months before killing The Beatle

Just months ago, Chapman’s loyal wife confessed that her husband told her of his plans to kill Lennon two months before he actually went through with the crime, shattering the hearts of music fans around the world.

Gloria Hiroko Chapman, who remains married to the murderer, told the Daily Mirror that her husband originally didn’t go through with the murder plot because of his love for her.

Hiroko Chapman, 67, told the British newspaper she knew instantly that her husband was responsible when she saws news alerts flash across the TV screen while watching Little House on the Prairie.

Despite her husband’s conviction for murder, she has remained married to him ever since and the pair regularly enjoy conjugal visits at maximum-security Wende Correctional Facility.

Can you remember hearing the news that John Lennon had been murdered?