Crime / John Lennon No Parole for Lennon's Killer Mark David Chapman denied release for 7th time By Kate Seamons, Newser Staff Posted Aug 23, 2012 9:28 AM CDT Copied This 1975 file photo shows Mark David Chapman as a member of a YMCA group at Fort Chaffee, Ark. (AP Photo) The seventh time wasn't the charm for John Lennon's killer. Mark David Chapman was today denied parole, in yet another appearance before a parole board. He was sentenced in 1981 to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, and has appeared before the board seven times since 2000. In his last parole hearing in 2010, the parole board noted the "disregard you displayed for the norms of our society and the sanctity of human life." (More John Lennon stories.) Report an error