Lennon Family, Fans Relieved Killer Not Freed

Oct. 3 -- If John Lennon were alive today, he would be turning 60 next Monday.

Instead of a birthday celebration, family, friends and fans are instead seeking comfort in the fact that convicted murderer Mark David Chapman will not be released on parole yet. The state parole board today declined to free Chapman, who has served 20 years of a life sentence.

Chapman, 45, who gunned down Lennon outside of the former Beatle’s Manhattan apartment in 1980, maintained he is a “changed man.” He also said Lennon, with his liberal beliefs, would want him to be set free.

But the victim’s widow, Yoko Ono, said she and Lennon’s two sons, Sean and Julian, “would not feel safe for the rest of our lives” if Chapman got out.

‘The Light Went Out’

Ono, who was with her husband on the night he was shot, said Lennon “was not ready to die,” and not a day passes by that she doesn’t think of the event.

“For the people of the world, it was as though the light went out for a moment and darkness prevailed,” Ono had written in a letter to the New York State Parole.

“With his one act of violence in those fewseconds, the [subject] managed to change my whole life, devastate[Lennon’s] sons, and bring deep sorrow and fear to the world,” she wrote. “It was,indeed, the power of destruction at work.”

In urging the board to deny parole, Ono could not bring herself to use Chapman’s name, apparently feeling it would only increase his notoriety. She referred to him as “the subject,” and said his release could unleash a torrent of violent reaction.

“If ‘the subject’ were to bereleased now, many will feel betrayed. Anger and fear would riseagain. It would also give a “go” signal to the others who would liketo follow in the footsteps of the ‘subject… to receive worldattention,” she wrote. “I am afraid it will bring back the nightmare, the chaos and confusion once again.”