Shame Isn't Enough to Get Mark David Chapman Parole on Fifth Attempt

In the last 30 years, Mark David Chapman has been denied parole five times. In his most recent hearing this month, Chapman seemed to be shifting his approach. Only then did he admit for the first time to a feeling of shame over his 1980 murder of singer John Lennon. According to NME.com, Chapman told prison officials that at the age of 53 he has finally come to an "appreciation and understanding of the significance of the life he took." Chapman also reportedly discussed his new realization of the effect his crime had on Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, and children. According to USA Today, in the transcript of the August hearing, Chapman referred to his personal depression and sense of failure and named his attempt to become "something other than a nobody" the primary reason for shooting the former Beatle. According to the New York Times, prior to Lennon's murder, Chapman had told his wife he was going somewhere to find himself, write a children's book, and get his life together. Instead, he left his home in Hawaii and flew to New York City, where he shot Lennon on December 8, 1980 outside Lennon's Manhattan home. Despite these new admissions on the part of the killer, the parole board again denied Chapman his release. The New York Times reported that the board had reasoned that paroling the notorious assassin "would not be compatible with the welfare of society at large."