Murder of John Lennon

On the night of 8 December 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of The Dakota, his residence in Manhattan, New York City. The shooter, Mark David Chapman, an American and alleged Beatles fan who was envious and enraged by Lennon's lifestyle, was inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, a "phony-killer" who loathes hypocrisy.

Chapman planned the murder over several months. Earlier in the day, he had met Lennon, who signed his copy of the album Double Fantasy as Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, were leaving for a recording session at the Record Plant. Later that night when the couple returned home, Chapman, still waiting at the building's entrance, fired five hollow-point bullets from a .38 Special revolver, four of which hit Lennon in the back. Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital in a police car, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m. Chapman remained at the scene of the shooting reading The Catcher in the Rye until he was arrested by police.

The murder triggered a global outpouring of grief, with crowds gathering at Roosevelt Hospital and outside the Dakota, and tributes held worldwide. The day after the murder, Lennon was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. In lieu of a funeral, Ono requested 10 minutes of silence around the world on 14 December. Chapman pleaded guilty to murdering Lennon and was given a sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment; he has been denied parole multiple times after becoming eligible in 2000.