John Lennon’s killer says there was “evil in my heart”

By MICHAEL HILL
Associated Press

The man who gunned down John Lennon outside his New York City apartment building in 1980 told a parole board that he knew it was wrong to kill the beloved former Beatle, but that he was seeking fame and had “evil in my heart.” Mark David Chapman made the comments in August to a board that denied him parole for a 12th time. The board cited his “selfish disregard for human life.” State officials released a transcript of the hearing Monday. Chapman says the decision to kill Lennon was “my big answer to everything. I wasn’t going to be a nobody, anymore.”