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Eyewitnesses Recount John Lennon’s Final Moments in Chilling Detail
New York, NY – The tragic final moments of music icon John Lennon have been brought to vivid life through the recollections of eyewitnesses in the Apple TV+ documentary, “John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial.” The series, which premiered in December 2023, delves into the devastating events of December 8, 1980, when Lennon was fatally shot outside his Manhattan residence, the Dakota building, by Mark David Chapman, a fan fixated on the star.
Concierge Jay Hastings, who was on duty at the Dakota’s reception desk that fateful evening, provided a harrowing account of the immediate aftermath. Lennon, residing there with his wife Yoko Ono and their young son Sean, “runs past me.
He goes, ‘I’m shot,'” Hastings recalled in the documentary. “He had blood coming out of his mouth.
He just collapsed on the floor. I half rolled him to his back and took his glasses off, put them on the desk.
And Yoko was screaming, ‘Get an ambulance, get an ambulance, get an ambulance.'”
Taxi driver Richard Peterson also offered a chilling perspective, having witnessed the shooting from his parked vehicle outside the Dakota. “Lennon was walking in and this kid says, ‘John Lennon,'” Peterson stated.
“He was a chunky guy. I’m looking at him through the front window of my cab.
I’m watching him shoot him. This guy just shot John Lennon.
I thought they were filming a movie, but I didn’t see any lights or cameras, so I realized, ‘Hey, this isn’t a movie.'”
Chapman, who traveled from Hawaii to New York with the premeditated intent to kill Lennon, lingered outside the Dakota before discharging his weapon. After the shooting, he remained at the scene, notably reading J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” until authorities took him into custody.
Chapman subsequently pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life behind bars. He has been denied parole 14 times, most recently in August, and his next parole hearing is scheduled for February 2027.
During his last parole hearing, Chapman, now 70, admitted his motive was to achieve “fame.” “To be famous, to be something I wasn’t,” he told a board member.
“And then I just realized, hey, there is a goal here. I don’t have to die and I can be a somebody.
I had sunk that low.”
Chapman is currently serving his sentence at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Beekman, New York.