John Lennon’s killer is up for parole for the eighth time — and for the eighth time, Yoko Ono is fighting his release.
Mark David Chapman, serving a 20 year-to-life sentence at upstate Wende Correctional Facility for the Dec. 8, 1980, shooting of the Beatle, is awaiting his fate after being interviewed by state parole officials this week.
A decision could be announced as early as Friday.
It’s not expected he’ll be released.
Chapman, 59, has had a clean prison record since 1994, but in the past the parole board has said his release would “undermine respect for the law.”
Lennon’s widow Ono has opposed Chapman’s parole, saying it would leave her and Lennon’s two sons fearful and even put Chapman at risk of being attacked by fans of the slain icon.
This time around, Ono submitted a letter reaffirming her statements in prior letters to the Parole Board, according to her lawyer, Jonas Herbsman.
In previous hearings, Chapman has said he targeted Lennon because of his fame and a twisted belief that the rocker was a phony for living an elite lifestyle.
He gunned down Lennon, 40, as the singer and Ono returned home to the landmark Dakota building facing Central Park after a late-night recording session.
If denied release, Chapman would have to wait another two years to be eligible again.
The once-portly killer is kept in protective custody against his will and works as an administrative clerk. He’s allowed out of his cell a minimum of three hours a day.
He also is registered in the prison system’s “family reunion” program, which allows him conjugal visits with his wife, Gloria Hiroko Chapman, who married him 18 months before the murder, and visits with his stepfather. His wife lives in Hawaii and did not return a call for comment.
Chapman in previous parole hearings said he’s found Jesus behind prison walls and is willing to pay for his crime in prison “however long it takes, forever.”
He has said he killed Lennon for the notoriety, but now realizes “I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies.”
Chapman once angered Ono when he said he believed Lennon would have forgiven him.
He also admitted to having eyed other targets, including Johnny Carson and Elizabeth Taylor, now both dead, if he hadn’t been able to get to Lennon.
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