Lennon's Killer Seeks Release

September 26 -- ROCHESTER, N.Y. (ABCNEWS.com) — The man who killed John Lennon wants out of prison — and intends to argue his case in his first parole hearing, set for Oct. 3.

In a rambling series of interviews with reporter Jack Jones of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Mark David Chapman says in the same breath that he deserves to die for what he did but should be set free.

He claims to accept responsibility for his crime but also blames his father. He says he craves anonymity but hopes to tour the country as a Christian revivalist.

"I could have an impact, a positive impact. I could travel to different places and tell people what happened and how their answer, as well as mine, is in Jesus," he says.

"I don't know how easy that would be, but I'd try just to lead an ordinary life again," says Chapman. "Stay out of the papers. There's not many places to go once you've killed someone like John Lennon."

He also believes Lennon would want him free.

"I think he would be liberal; I think he would care. I think he would probably want to see me released," says Chapman, described as a model prisoner. "That's my opinion."

But Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, apparently feels otherwise. The New York Post reported that Ono sent a "heartfelt" letter to the parole board asking that her husband's killer be kept in jail.

In a statement liable to further alarm Ono, who has said she fears for the couple's son, Sean, and Lennon's other son from a previous marriage, Julian, Chapman says that he's dreamt of visiting her Manhattan residence.

"I've had that dream several times," he says. "In it, Yoko Ono is friendly to me and I am, you know, accepted in the home and feel loved. To me, that's guilt, but that was a while ago. I haven't had those dreams in a long time."

Chapman shot Lennon outside his Central Park West apartment building on the night of Dec. 8, 1980. The ex-Beatle would have turned 60 next month.

Chapman spoke to Jones — author of a book on the killer and the only member of the media Chapman will speak to. The interviews will be broadcast in a Court TV special, Death of a Beatle, which airs Oct. 2. Excepts were posted on the Internet sites of the Democrat and Chronicle and London Express.