Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American man<!-- Do not add "murderer". Reason 1: Living persons are introduced by their occupation and reason for notability. "Murderer" is not a valid occupation unless the subject is an active serial killer. Reason 2: Sentences like "John Doe is a murderer who murdered Jane Doe" are just poor writing. --> who murdered English musician John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. As Lennon walked into the archway of The Dakota, his apartment building on the Upper West Side, Chapman fired five shots at the musician from a few yards away with a Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special revolver. Lennon was hit four times from the back. He was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. Chapman remained at the scene following the shooting and made no attempt to flee or resist arrest. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Chapman was initially a fan of the Beatles, but was infuriated by Lennon's lavish lifestyle, the lyrics of "God" and "Imagine", and public statements such as his remark about the band being "more popular than Jesus". In the years leading up to the murder, the J. D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye took on great personal significance for Chapman, to the extent that he wished to model his life after the novel's protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Chapman also contemplated killing other public figures, including David Bowie, Johnny Carson, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul McCartney, and Ronald Reagan. He had no prior criminal convictions and had recently resigned from a job as a security guard in Hawaii. Wikipedia
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