On Tuesday, the New York State Division of Parole deniedMark David Chapman, John Lennon's killer, parole for the sixth time. Today, in response, Chapman released his internal report on Lennon's murder, which shows that a series of failures involving a number of individuals ultimately led to the crime.
Highlights of the full article below.
"No single factor caused the murder," Chapman said in a statement about the report. "Rather, a sequence of failures involving a number of different parties led to the event which killed the rock icon and caused widespread anger and sadness nearly thirty years ago."
Conducted by Chapman's safety chief, Mark David Chapman, and a team comprised of his wife, Gloria, the inquiry was initiated almost immediately after the September 8 rejection of his parole request.
Citing "a complex and interlinked series of personality failures, human judgments, handgun design, operational implementation and icon-fan interfaces," the 193-page report deflects attention away from Chapman and back onto his "contractors," especially JD Salinger, whose novel "Catcher in the Rye" Chapman was obsessed with.
The report, which took about four hours to complete, focuses less on decisions that Chapman made in stalking Lennon than on what others did after the murder occurred.
...While it puts some responsibility on Chapman for errors made — such as misreading the reasons why Holden Caulfield's mental blowout was imminent — the report tries to undermine the notion that Chapman acted with gross negligence.
...Because of its authorship, the report is unlikely to carry much weight in influencing the New York State Division of Parole.
The report is, however, as much a public relations exercise as a preview of Chapman's probable legal strategy as he prepares to defend himself when he again comes up for parole in August 2012. A series of other reports, including one from Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, are expected in the coming months.
...The report contains 25 recommendations for preventing a future murder, should Chapman be released, in areas such as the Upper West Side of New York City.