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Chapman Ashamed He Killed Lennon

In failed bid for release, gunman says he had been in search of fame

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 20, 2008 11:27 AM CDT

(Newser) – Mark David Chapman told the parole board that he is ashamed of killing John Lennon, according to transcripts of the hearing released yesterday. "I feel now at 53 I have grown into a deeper understanding of what a human life is. I have changed a lot," he said in his failed bid, the AP reports.

Chapman also said that he had been looking for fame when he killed the former Beatle. "I would be something other than a nobody, and that was my reasoning at the time," he said. In denying parole for the fifth time, officials cited “concern for the public safety and welfare."

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This 1975 file photo shows Mark David Chapman as a member of a YMCA group. Chapman, convicted of shooting John Lennon in 1980, was denied parole for the fifth time Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008. (AP Photo)

John Lennon is seen at a news conference in this May 13, 1968, file photo in New York. Lennon was shot to death by Mark David Chapman in New York on Dec. 8, 1980. (AP Photo/John Lindsay, file)

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I recognized that that 25-year-old man, I don't think he really appreciated the life that he was taking, that this was a human being. I have changed a lot. - Mark David Chapman

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Chapman Ashamed He Killed Lennon