The Murder Of John Lennon

December 8, 1980

On the morning on the 8th of December, Annie Leibovitz arrives to the Dakota to take pictures of John and Yoko. When leaving for recording at the Record Plant, John signs the album of his killer.

At 10:50 pm, Lennon's limousine pulls up outside the Dakota and Jose Perdomo, the doorman leaves his post to open the car door for them. Yoko would get out first. She is then followed closely by her husband. As Yoko passes him, the killer says "Hello" and Lennon gives the guy a long, hard look. As John passes him, he suddenly steps back and pulls a snub nosed .38 revolver out from his pocket. He drops into a combat stance, with knees flexed, arms outstreched and one arm supporting the other at the wrist.

- Mr. Lennon?

As John turns around, the man fires two shots into him. Both catch him in the back, spinning him round. Blood already starts spurting from Lennon's wounds as the assassin takes aim again. He fires three more shots. Two bullets smash into John's shoulder, the other goes astray. Mortally wounded, John staggers up the steps into the Dakota's front lobby, his face horribly figured.

- I'm shot, I'm shot!

He moans as he falls to the floor. Yoko then screams, “John’s been shot!” as she helped her husband into the hotel. Jay Hastings, the security man reaches under his desk and sound the alarm, which summons the police. After pressing the alarm button, he rushes to John's side. He takes off his uniform to cover the victim. He wants to use his tie as a tourniquet, but can not decide where to apply it. John is dying, blood pours from his chest and mouth, his eyes are open but unfocused, he is gurgling and vomiting blood.

Alert. Shots fired. 1 West 72nd Street.

This was the cops dispatch that summons New York Police Officer Tony Palma and his partner Herb Frauenberger, to the scene of the crime. When they arrive, they run up the steps frantically. In Hasting's office they find a man lying face down with a small woman kneeled over him crying. Palma turns the body over and sees that the victim is badly injured and tells his partner “we need to get him out of here now!” By the time they lay him in the back of a squad car, John loses all control over his limbs. As the car takes off, the driver Officer James Moran yells to Lennon: "Do you know who you are?". Lennon is unable to speak, but nods. The car jumps the red lights on Colombus Avenue. It speeds down Ninth Avenue into 58th Street and swings into the entrance of Roosevelt Hospital. The hospital's major trauma team is already alerted. The rapidly fading John is carried to the emergency room. He has virtually no pulse. The two bullets which had hit him on the back had both pierced a lung and passed through his chest. A third bullet had shattered his left shoulder bone, and a fourth had hit the same shoulder and ricocheted inside his chest, where it severed his aorta and windpipe. After an unsuccessful attempt at cardiac massage, a medical team of seven people laboures to save John using every device and technique available. Nothing works. The official cause of death is shock produced by massive haemorrhaging...

Mark David Chapman was found at the scene of the crime, hands clenched onto his book. He had killed one of music’s greatest artist to ever live.

Comments

[sg4eva]

Poor guy, he was such a genious

[thestripeswhite]

Damn

[RMR101]

EXCELLENT article marc, excellent. very vivid and descriptive, had me on the edge of my office chair.

[_1LaStTrY]

nice work documenting the death of one of the most incredible artists that ever lived... rest in peace john !

[im not mental]

John, you didn't deserve to die. RIP.

[da_loyde]

nice article
lennon lives on in out hearts

[siamesedream]

R.I.P. John Lennon. He was a great musician.

[ohdarn323]

Hmm.

[bucky_2300]

kinda gruesome...but a good article.Poor John

[habebe girl]

RIP John. He didn't deserve death....He was such a genius. He could of acheived so much more, he had so much to live for. Both musically and family wise.

[moonraker]

sad

[Man Made Errer]

Nice article...shocking, provocative, touching and informative.

Poor John...Why? It's seems like such a senseless thing to do...

[Iam138]

great article 5 stars

[Underhander]

nice article man

[kurtpage]

GOod article. Its amazing that 1 person could be the cause of so many what ifs....what if he didnt shoot John..what would the world be like. Lennon already made a huge impact in our culture who knows what could have come next....................

[biohazardous56]

i like how it was written

he was a good beatle

kind of a cocky ass tho if you watch the documentary on him

[mikey192002]

Good article 5 stars

[RatiugLink]

The guy who shot him was standing outside his apartment waiting for hours for him to return home. That guy had problems. He's still alive in prison. I hope that bastard gets ass raped every night in his prison cell. If I were on death row and he were in prison with me, I'd strangle that bastard.

[civildp1]

he can't get ass raped because he's in the mental ward of the prison.

[Señor]

excellent article!!! I will always miss John Lennon.
RIP John...

[distortionsucks]

good article, Chapman was/is a ***ing loony

[Bad Company]

Why God why? RIP John

[FreebirdSolo]

Wow, great article, very descriptive. Man, i really hate that Chapman guy...

[Blankapeeto]

RIP, yes i hate chapman too.

[ad_lib_oz]

Why did the man kill John though? Please answer...

[comrad_travis]

Chapman had a facination with lennon, he was one of his biggest fans, he wanted to become famous, he killed lennon and became famous, Chapman is a fag. R.I.P John

[Scot-Guitarist]

exellent article,too bad, the guy was one of john's biggest fans to.R.I.P john almost 25 years from his death

[ad_lib_oz]

^ Jeez, that's so sad hey...oh well RIP John Lennon

[Elburrito]

His book was the catcher and the rie. RIP LENNON, the absolute best musican out their and ever to live. RIP. Chapman rot in hell! RIP!! 5 stars, R.I.P

[mojo_mattv]

its really bad im a huge lennon fan and he is a huge inspiration to me as a musician and a person. i hope nobody takes what im gonna say in a wrong way, but for mark chapmans sake i hope the guy never gets out because if he does hes basically dead or worse. if he ever does get out somebody will kill him or torture him or cause him great pain.

[ShamRocker88]

very nice, compelling article... my birthday, dec. 8, i never realized that... anyway, good job!

Lennon, we miss you.

[cannonball_900]

what was Mark David Chapman's motive anyways?

[ishallrock]

just to inform you guys, i watched a documentary on this and chapman is eligible for parole this year

[ishallrock]

and chapman killed lennon because in the book the catcher and the rye, the author makes a point that phonies should be killed, something like that

[Horebane]

Oh that article must have been so hard complete , copy+paste . Fucking ripoff.

[panther62]

yep ^^^^

[koreazz7]

R.I.P. John Lennon.

[VoodooChild15]

RIP John Lennon. Hey, have you ever noticed how assassins have three names? think about it, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, the guy who shot Martin Luther King Jr.(can't remember his name but I know that he had three)

[LastRockShow]

^ ever noticed how all bassists nicknames start with the letter F? Fieldy - KoRn, Flea - RHCP, Fuzz - Ex-Disturbed, Feenuz - Linkin Park (thats how he spells it too. sorry, a bit off topic....

man, that's sad. RIP Lennon, damm, it was too early....

[LastRockShow]

oh, meant Feenux*, but anyways....

[rocktillithurts]

R.I.P John Lennon. Why did he have to die?

[guitarista_rg]

Good article man, didn't know how lennon died.

[Jason144]

Great Article. Very descriptive and very visual.

R.I.P. John Lennon. May your soul find eternal bliss.

[Bilzzard_of_Ozz]

Sad sad story. Excelent writing, though! Never seen this many postitve comments on an article on this site before!

[FrostBone]

...Rest in Peace, John :
I'm sure John is sitting up there, smiling...and laughing at all the stupid and funny things we do...Having a wonderful time :
... Peace on earth...may John's birthday be an international day of Peace ... V
- Eric

[SwanSwan94]

once again, a great aric, RIP john

[CobainWorship]

John was probably one of the main reasons we have had all the bands we do now...the Beatles inspired way more than any other band ever...John's solo work is awesome too.

[chinko]

RIP john, damn you chapman!!!! if he gets parole then he is pretty much dead in the first hour of his release. which would be funny and no-one would care. they would just laugh at the dying chapman.

im a bassist and my nickname begins with c, which is my screen-name. hahahahahahahhahaha but GD point about the F thing

[Tcurtis]

John Lennon was a mastermind. he was a genius. R.I.P. Great article man 5 stars.

[SireGreat]

walrus's don't deserve to be shot. 5 stars.

[murdock]

wasn't mark david chapman like obsessed with Jodi Foster and he shot Lennon for her...or maybe I'm thinking of a different assassination...:S
RIP

[Kill em all89]

why the hell do all the good musicians who changed music die early Lennon R.I.P

[Backup Guitar]

http://www.john-lennon.com/december81980.htm

That's some nice re-wording and plagiarism, buddy.

[Rickydicky2004]

R.I.P.

[bigboi82]

hey MARCHOSO, that WOULD have been great if you actually came up with it yourself....the web site that Backup Guitar gave us was the real article.All you did was leave some things out....dickhead.
R.I.P. LENNON

[shibs]

R.I.P. John

[otd!!!!]

How could anyone live with them selves after killing the worlds greatest musicians. RIP John Lennon. See you on the other side.

[Tuegli]

That was an awesome article! Goo job, one of the best ones I've read. God Bless John Lennon's soul!

[WrappedInCold]

wait, can i take back my vote, i didn't know he plagirized it, and re-worded it a bit, dammit, and i gave you five stars

[HammetField]

O please... does it really matter that he got it from somewhere else? Information is information... doesnt really matter where you get it from. Most of us would have never come across that site anyway without him putting it on here for us... at least be thankful for that instead of calling him a fag or demanding a "re-vote". I think you guys would have rather read it and got the knowledge than never have seen the article in the first place.

[bigboi82]

your right hammetfeild but,He should have got the facts and put it in his own format.He copied the way it was written and everything even the little "alert.shots fired.1west72nd street."
my point is if your gonna plagiarze,make it n0ot so obvious

[bigboi82]

not^^

[slash_andrew]

Rest in Peace John, you were too great for this world...

FUCK DAVID MARK CHAPMAN...

[slash_andrew]

cannonball_900:
what was Mark David Chapman's motive anyways?

FUCK the world, i hope he burns in hell forever, and he must be ***ed by the ass every day by satan...

[slash_andrew]

http://www.john-lennon.com/december81980.htm
Shit, I gave you 5 stars...

anyway, its Lennon, great musician, such a bad luck...

[msierragtz]

too bad you copy-paste it

[masterchiefx12]

nice post, that was really well done. too bad that he died like that...too bad george died too. hard to believe that only two are left.

[Guitarooman692]

You would think that ass would kill a president but he had to kill prolly the most constructive musician ever

[Guitarz4me]

John Lennon was a great man who only wanted peace...
But yet, was sadly brutally murdered...
R.I.P. John Lennon
Michael H.

[)Eric(Draven]

Uhh... Thanks?

It was good except for you mixed past and present text...

[LpBlack_Beauty]

its sad he had to go.. RIP john..

[shredbeyndshred]

wait hes dead? dang

[Zhugs546]

I hope Mark David Chapman burns in hell for killing the very man that I would consider to be my main musical influence. Oh yeah, and a nice description of events.

[eliromero13]

john actually died from lose of blood. now mark david chapman is in a mental institution. john actually died on the 10th of december

R.I.P John Lennon Oct. 8th 1940 - Dec. 10th 1980

[Jasomat]

i hate thinking about how much great music he would have made. maybe music would be a lot different today if he kept making music through the 80's.

[spee]

This Chapman dude is the kind of person that deserves to be shot 5 times, then burned, then pissed on , then burned a couple more times and a couple more shots.......John was one of the greatest R.I.P.

[Buscubba]

john was awesome, if chapman gets on parole and comes near austin then i swear i will find some way to kill him

[Buscubba]

i like camping....

[Fozz!]

You Copy-Pasted?!?! I used to fuckin' respect you marchoso! Great read but stealing stuff and claiming it as your own dosen't do anything for me...

ummm... Claiming it as my own? where? I'm sorry you got to read this fabulous article... I re-worded it because the original had lots of mispellings and awkward sentences...

[cloud4004]

Anyone who wants to learn about music should listen to John Lennon

[just_keeding]

my tummy tickly hurts.. =s i hate hearing/reading where the bullet goes through.. ='(

[disposablehero7]

could you imagine....R.I.P. John

[beatleschick64]

that made me cry! God bless John. If you like to talk about the beatles, talk to me! Give peace a chance!

[Radray990]

wow those details were f*cking horrific. its so sad that he was actually somewhat alive after he had been shot. RIP

[Aneurysm1812]

that was an awesome article

[jubby]

what kind of a dumb-*** would do that? He didn't desrve to die...

[rhcpcure2826]

marchoso:
ummm... Claiming it as my own? where? I'm sorry you got to read this fabulous article... I re-worded it because the original had lots of mispellings and awkward sentences...

you dumbsh*t- youre supposed to CITE it if its not yours, and you jst stole this- WHEN SOMEONE WRITES AN ARTICLE AND UG GIVES US ONE NAME AND EVERYONES GOING "fabulous article" THEN YOU SAY, "I didn't write it." NOT WHEN SOMEONE FOUND THE SITE YOU STOLE IT FROM

[NiRvanAcobain]

Wow did you notice George and John died the same month? That's pretty weird. John didn't deserve to die at all. I guess geniuses just have a fate to die early or just have a sad way of dying. Like Kurt Cobain.

[rhcpcure2826]

kurt cobain wasnt a genious- some people might call him that only because hes dead.
1. He wasn't a great singer (oh wow, he can make his voice crack whenever he wants!)
2. His most played song is smells like teen spirit, and how worse and more basic can a chord progression be (the solo is just the melody!!!)
3. His lyrics arent so ingenious (i.e. RAPE ME, RAPE ME! and YEAH, YEAH, YEAH)

now john lennon was a genious PRIOR to his death, he didnt become jesus when he dided like cobain did; everyone knew that lennon was brilliant. how impressive, kurt cobain, youve managed to write the most generic beginners' song in the history of the world.

[rhcpcure2826]

but aside from your cobain thing, people like that are fated to die tragically sometimes. stevie ray vaughn, hendrix, lennon, martin luther king, randy rhodes, hillel slovak, and not to compare Him with anyone but Jesus is there too; these people all died of o.d.'s, crashes, or assasinations

[The_Eddster]

Haha well said

[The_Eddster]

That was referring to rhcpcure2826 by the way.

[box_car_racer51]

lennon was cool

[rhcpcure2826]

i was wondering any ug members more advanced in status if its considered spam to write "lennon was cool" or lennon was a genious" over and over, rendering it impossible for anyone to find certain relevent coments... for example:
1. I counted no less than ten comments with "R.I.P." lennon. this is fine, but its hardly paying any respects to him. if you wanted to im sure you guys could figure out a way to actually honor him.
2. One comment said, "Again, R.I.P." as though the first R.I.P. didnt get his point across, which was the point of EVERY user on this.
3. shouldnt this be deleted? as horrific of a thing chapman did, i dont think this is very contributive:


FUCK the world, i hope he burns in hell forever, and he must be ***ed by the ass every day by satan...

i dont want to repeatingly be one to criticize, as i already have. i just am wondering about some sh*t. marchoso, i freaked out with my caps lock button, but you really should do some citing cus its about someone who freaking died

[crisscoula3]

You get kudos for your article...I am a huge Lennon fan and you did him justice...FUCK the world, i hope he burns in hell forever, and he must be ***ed by the ass every day by satan...
I totally agree.

[iforgot539]

no mention of Catcher in the Rye?
chapman was obsessed with that book; he thought he was holden caulfield.
a look into that would have made this more intresting.

[iforgot539]

what was Mark David Chapman's motive anyways?

to become holden caulfield... guy's crazy.

(just now i meant he thought he could be caulfield, not that he was)


and salinger never says "phonies" should be killed... the charachter holden complains about them, death is never mentioned, chapmens simply crazy.


and catcher is a very good book. (don't worry, i'm not going to shoot anyone)

[kurdtlennon]

hell im with buscunna up there im from austin too and a good friend of buscubba's and ide be glad to lend a hand in beating chapman if he comes by... and im buddhist! that man was my inspiration... and the inspiration to thousands... stood for peace only to be taken down in violence... live on john.
Imagine..............................

[Pocket]

man, im not really into lennon, but feel so sorry for the guy and his wife as well. what a horrific death. id like to know what happened to the assasin though. good article though, i didnt know anything about his death till now.

[maxvcore]

Maybe that's why rock artists have 5 bodyguards with them at all times nowadays.

[guitarshroom]

kick ass article nicley writeten kutos dude

[andythefir]

he killed John Lennon because john made some anti-catholic remarks in Imagine and on the tour in 1964. We love you John.

[MidniteCowboy]

He killed John Lennon because he was told to by 'those guys' the same who did a lot of gods of our times.
By the way Chapman gets turned down for parole consistantly, and last year had his eyes put out with a coathanger. Nice one.
And if it was'nt for Lennon, we would'nt have guitar sites, or as much self belief, or any form of ***ing music that exists today. just thought I'd let you know

[darkagent591]

RIP FUCK WHAT THE WORLD COMING TO

[Benesyed]

but aside from your cobain thing, people like that are fated to die tragically sometimes. stevie ray vaughn, hendrix, lennon, martin luther king, randy rhodes, hillel slovak, and not to compare Him with anyone but Jesus is there too; these people all died of o.d.'s, crashes, or assasinations
[POSTED: 04 July 2004 - 14:52]|

Cobain was simple but I loved all his songs. He spoke so every could get a small grasp of what was said. Lennon was better than cobain but cobain deserves kudos aswell. So should Layne Staley of Alice in Chains

[Big Show1]

The beatles blew goats for beer money
good article tho

[Ramco]

Not a great article - there is a lot you left out, including Mark David Chapman's life, obsession with the Beatles, religion and fame by murder. There was a special on the Discovery channel, I think. It told the complete story.

[will_yeah]

jesus, my eyes were watering after reading that. why do people have to murder the people who think the way we all should

[lohnlennon]

was wondering any ug members more advanced in status if its considered spam to write "lennon was cool" or lennon was a genious" over and over, rendering it impossible for anyone to find certain relevent coments... for example:
1. I counted no less than ten comments with "R.I.P." lennon. this is fine, but its hardly paying any respects to him. if you wanted to im sure you guys could figure out a way to actually honor him.
2. One comment said, "Again, R.I.P." as though the first R.I.P. didnt get his point across, which was the point of EVERY user on this.
3. shouldnt this be deleted? as horrific of a thing chapman did, i dont think this is very contributive:


FUCK the world, i hope he burns in hell forever, and he must be ***ed by the ass every day by satan...

i dont want to repeatingly be one to criticize, as i already have. i just am wondering about some sh*t. marchoso, i freaked out with my caps lock button, but you really should do some citing cus its about someone who freaking died

shut the *** up he was the best songwriter of the 20th century his music was harder and deeper than any punk rock. btw im going to strawberry fields tomorrow in central park and taking pictures of the dakota where he got shot.

[lohnlennon]

by the way i didnt say that, slash_andrew did. FUCK U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Aqua_BurneR]

All HE WAS SAYING IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.....wuts not to understand?

[thommy]

'catcher in the rye' is about phoneys, and Chapman was obsessed with the book, he then became obsessed with Lennon because he saw him as a Fake, just someone acting on their superego all of the time, instead of obeying their natural instincts. To Chapman, this was crime enough to kill him.

THAT was his motive.....not that i agree with it.....

[tumble]

great article blunt and emotional but im sick of people whining on about how other peoples comments are wrong or they dont know all the facts, as if they know better

[NeverBeenKilled]

RIP John. Such a great guy.

[xarmedlovex]

r.i.p. john. and all the other great musicians who have suffered untimely deaths. jim morrison, jimi hendrix, bob marley, kurt cobain, jerry garcia...shit the list goes on. and now dimebag of pantera.

also FRANKNSLASH-i dont think its appropriate to come on here and say kurt cobain sucked,(god rest his soul. and he DID NOT commit suicide! www.cobaincase.com -> courtney is a ***ing murder and she knows it) but anyhow... if he sucked so much, then why did he (and dave and krist) change the grunge/rock music scene and have such a big influence on its lisiteners and later bands? he is not here to speak for himself, so lets have some respect for him, his music, and his fans.

[monkeyspks]

aw.... very good i LOVE it. john did not deserve to be dead. but yoko did.

[Rodders]

Dimebag died on the same day....Dec 8th.....Similar way too-obbsessive fan.....who is now luckily rotting in hell...R.I.P Dimebag and Lennon. And Hillek Slovak.

[ebashnitzil]

it's because Peter Griffin was singing along to a musical while he was ignorent enough to let someone simply break in

no im jk (it's an inside joke to the people who know who peter griffin is)

RIP john...

[justgivemetruth]

Why would anyone want to kill john...what a bastard. RIP John Lennon.

[Hong Siah]

R.I.P John Lennon...everybody close your eyes for one minute of silence.....
Done...i never heard of his music before but i just hate murderers...

[Ghetto Clown]

Mark Chapmann was probably the f*** who shot 50 Cent 9 times

[pagezoso777]

why would you want tokill john lennon

[Matt Montoya]

Although I don't approve of what chapman did, I have some sympathy for him because he was mentally ill, suffering from voices in his head.

[DT191511]

...i might just be weird, but i wana know what book was the crazy guy holding.

[pagan_bloodlust]

i know im gonna get flamed for this but i dont really find john lennon to be the "great musical genius" that everyone portrays him as, i will agree that he was talented but i think its a case of him being dead and then being idolised because of it, like how people use dimebag to sell shit (music magazines-twisted has had a pantera or damageplan poster in every issue for about a year) good article

[trjafreak208]

I don't care if he's mentally retarded. Does anyone know exactly where Chapman's being held in? Hell, I'm not waiting 'til he gets parole. I need the adress of the place, a ride, some rope, and a machine gun. Nevermind, the machine gun I have. Lol. Anyway, I haven't really listened to a lot of Beatles but from what I have heard, they were really good. Anything for the sake of music. Damn assassins. To think I actually wanted to be one one day. Damn Chapman. I hope one day he bumps me if I don't get to break into wherever they're keeping him. Rest In Peace John Lennon, you did the world good. Let's just hope the next generation can do a fraction of the good.

Checked

[Lennon27]

This is so sad, for me, because John is a great influence for me. I've listened to all the Beatles albums and it makes me so happy when i hear his(and their) music, like i can escape from everything thats going wrong.

[due 07]

The book was Catcher in the Rye, which sure enough, mark never read.