How John Lennon's death shocked the world: 35 years after the Beatle's murder | Daily Mail Online
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On a cold night 35 years ago, Mark David Chapman waited for John Lennon outside the New York City apartment building where the former Beatle lived with his wife Yoko Ono and his son.
Chapman, who was 25 at the time, had asked Lennon earlier that day for an autograph, which the former Beatle signed. 
Yet five hours later, the killer, who said he wanted to be famous, opened fire with a Charter Arms .38-caliber pistol striking Lennon four times.
The 40-year-old singer-songwriter collapsed, mortally wounded. TV networks in the United States interrupted their Monday Night Football broadcast to announce news of Lennon's death. Within hours, the shocking murder became front page news across the globe. With his death on December 8, 1980, vanished any hope that The Beatles could reform.
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John Lennon, right, pictured with Yoko Ono, left, was shot dead outside his New York apartment 35 years ago
Mark David Chapman, pictured, admitted murdering the former Beatle to become famous 
Lennon was hit four times outside the Dakota Building in New York City, pictured, where he lived with his family
Thousands of people held a vigil outside the apartment complex which is beside Central Park
Up to 100,000 people gathered across from the apartment complex for a memorial on December 14, 1980
Chapman spent months stalking Lennon, travelling from his home in Hawaii to New York City. He even managed to smuggle his gun the almost 5,000 miles to the crime scene. 
Famously, Chapman was carrying a copy of JD Saligner's The Catcher in the Rye  
Culturally, the murder of John Lennon was one of the 'remember where you were' moments. 
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Lennon was shot outside the Dakota Building. The doorman told the first police to arrive at the scene: 'He just shot Lennon! He just shot Lennon!'
NYPD officer Tony Palma picked up Lennon with his partner Herb Frauenberger and dragged him into the back of a squad car. Lennon was lying face down in a growing pool of blood.
According to Palma, Lennon was still alive at this stage, but in a critical condition. 
Lennon was just 40 years of age when he was gunned down in New York City in December 1980
Lennon, pictured with his wife Yoko in August 1980, was returning from a meeting with his record company when Chapman approached with a gun and opened fire, shooting the former Beatle four times 
Chapman, pictured being led through the 20th Precinct in New York's Upper West Side admitted the murder
The American flag flew at half mast above the Dakota Building, pictured, where Lennon was murdered 
Lennon's murder had an impact around the world, with fans travelling to record stores, such as this one in Stuttgart, Germany to mourn the slain Beatle who was murdered by Mark David Chapman 35 years ago
 In the days after his murder, large numbers of wreaths and tributes were laid outside Lennon's apartment 
These people , pictured, were part of a candlelight vigil being held on Boston Common on December 10, 1980
HOW DID MARK DAVID CHAPMAN MURDER JOHN LENNON? 
WHERE DID THE GUN COME FROM?
Chapman bought the gun legally six weeks before the shooting from J&S Sales, LTD, a shop in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Chapman had been living. He reportedly paid $169. Chapman had a permit and no police record and the dealer wouldn't have had any reason to block the sale.
HOW DID IT GET TO NEW YORK?
Authorities at Honolulu's airport said Chapman probably got the gun past airport security simply by placing it in his luggage. At the time, baggage checked with an airline was not searched or X-rayed. Chapman flew first to Atlanta, then on to New York City.
SINCE HE HAD A PERMIT, WAS THE GUN LEGAL?
No. New York does not recognize the validity of handgun permits issued in other states. Out-of-towners who bring handguns into the city frequently face criminal charges, even if they have a license elsewhere.
COULD CHAPMAN FLY WITH HIS GUN TODAY?
Air travelers are still able to take a gun with them on a flight as long as they declare the weapon, unload it, lock in a hard case and check it in their luggage. Security experts say there's nothing to prevent someone who follows proper security procedures from collecting the firearm from the baggage carousel at the destination airport, even if the weapon is illegal to possess in the jurisdiction to which they have traveled. 'The airline knows the gun is there, the TSA knows, and you're declaring it, but they're not doing the second piece, which is asking whether the firearm is licensed in the ultimate destination where you're going,' said attorney Jeremy Saland, who represents gun owners in airport arrest cases. 'It's an extra headache for them.'
SO, IS NEW YORK CITY'S BAN EVER ENFORCED AT AIRPORTS?
It does get enforced at New York airports, but usually only on outbound flights. Saland said he gets about 15 calls a year from out-of-state gun owners who have been arrested at New York airports trying to leave with the firearm in their checked baggage. The National Rifle Association has been lobbying for a federal law that would require states to honor gun permits issued in other states.
WHERE'S CHAPMAN'S GUN NOW?
The revolver is stored behind bullet-resistant glass at the Forensic Investigative Division in Queens, New York, where it has been in police custody for 35 years, stored alongside the gun wielded by 'Son of Sam' killer David Berkowitz. The division has about 800 guns, most of which are hung on the walls.
WHAT ABOUT CHAPMAN?
Chapman waited for police to arrive and was arrested. He pleaded guilty after initially planning to mount an insanity defense. Chapman is serving a 20 years-to-life sentence at Wende Correctional Facility in western New York. He was denied parole in August 2014. He is eligible again next year.
'Your actions have devastated a family and those who loved the victim,' the parole board said in denying the application.
The squad car took Lennon to Roosavelt Hospital where medics battled to save his life. 
Palma took the hysterical Yoko Ono, who witnessed the shooting to the hospital. But within 15 minutes, Lennon was declared dead, around 11pm. 
At the time, the Beatles' song 'All My Loving' was playing in the background. 
Chapman had been arrested at the scene and was taken to the 20th Precinct, where he made a statement admitting the murder. 
He boasted about the amount of time and preparation it had taken. He said it involved 'incredible stalking' and 'incredible planning'.
Speaking after the murder he said he committed the crime because he wanted 'that bright light of fame, of infamy, notoriety was there,' he said. 'I couldn't resist it.'
Chapman was sentenced to 20-years to life after pleading guilty to second degree murder. 
He became eligible for parole in 2000, but officials have rebuffed each attempt. 
Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, who still lives in the Dakota Building, is said to be vehemently opposed to Chapman's release. 
During his most recent parole hearing in August 2014, the court asked how he was able to afford to travel between Hawaii and New York to commit the murder.  
The court also asked how he was able to financially handle traveling back and forth between Hawaii, where he lived with his wife, and New York where he followed Lennon.
He says they sold a Norman Rockwell painting, and he was supposed to give the money to his father-in-law. Instead, he pocketed the money and used it for his trips to New York.
Chapman went on to talk about the amount of thought that went into the shooting.
He said it took 'incredible planning...incredible stalking' and that it was 'very well thought out'.
He finally decided to carry out the crime in December, 1980, when he told his wife he was travelling to New York to get some space and write a children's book.
She wasn't concerned at all because 'I was very convincing'.
'This wasn't a, you know, naive crime. It was serious, well thought out crime.'
Chapman also boasted about the media attention he continues to receive from the shooting, saying he's still approached for interviews.
'I haven't had an interview in 24 years and believe me they come. It's not my interest anymore at all...
'Believe me I am not interested in any press whatsoever at all, and there has been many times where I could have and very recently too. I won't mention names, but you would be surprised,' he said.
Chapman fired five shots on December 8, 1980, outside the Dakota apartment where Lennon lived on Manhattan's Upper West Side, striking the ex-Beatle four times.
Chapman was sentenced in 1981 to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
He will be eligible again for parole next summer. 
The board decided that Chapman should remain imprisoned because there is a 'reasonable probability that [Chapman] would not live and remain at liberty without again violating the law. 
Mark David Chapman, pictured, has been eligible for parole since 2000, but has been repeatedly denied his release due to the objections of Yoko Ono and fears that he will profit from his infamous crime 
Chapman has spent the past 15 years pleading for his release having been sentenced to 20 years to life
Chapman lied to his wife that he was going to New York to write a children's book rather than commit murder