John Lennon’s killer is said to have apologised to witnesses after he assassinated the singer.
The Beatle was shot dead aged 40 by obsessed fan Mark David Chapman, 68, outside his New York City apartment block on December 8, 1980, and a new Apple TV+ documentary contains a claim from one onlooker the murderer said sorry for “ruining” their night with his shooting.
One of the witnesses says on the three-part ‘John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial’ series: “He actually apologised to us. He said, ‘Gee I’m sorry I ruined your night.’”
The witness said they responded: “You gotta be kidding me, you just ruined your whole life.”
Actor Kiefer Sutherland, 56, narrates the documentary, due out on 6 December, and its makers say they were granted extensive Freedom of Information Act requests from the New York City Police Department, the Board of Parole and the District Attorney’s office.
It features interviews with John’s friends as well as Chapman’s defence lawyers, psychiatrists, detectives and prosecutors.
Also talking on the documentary are Richard Peterson, a taxi driver who witnessed the shooting and Jay Hastings, a doorman at Lennon’s apartment building who heard his last words – said to be “I’m shot”, or “I’m hit.”
The show’s title is taken from the fact there was minimal investigation of the murder as Chapman waited at the scene and plead guilty as soon as the police arrived.
He was sentenced to serve a prison term of twenty years to life for second-degree murder.
In 2020, Chapman publicly apologised to John’s wife Yoko Ono, 90, during a parole hearing by saying: “It was an extremely selfish act. I’m sorry for the pain that I caused to her. I think about it all of the time.”
Chapman was denied parole for the 12th time last year, meaning he will remain behind bars until February 2024 at the earliest, while John’s voice features on the newly-released Beatles track ‘Now and Then’.