Lennon 's killer pleads guilty
He received the word from God, he said, and even repeated arguments from his defense lawyers could not dissuade him. So Mark David Chapman, 26, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan courtroom last week to the Dec. 8 murder of John Lennon. When Assistant District Attorney Allen Sullivan asked the defendant why he had used especially destructive hollow-point bullets in the shooting, Chapman laconically replied, "To ensure Lennon's death."
After the hearing, Sullivan revealed that Chapman had a "hit list" of other celebrities he had considered killing if he could not get to Lennon. The list reportedly included Johnny Carson and Jacqueline Onassis. "He did not intend to kill all of them," said Defense Attorney Jonathan Marks. "In the event he could not find A, he would kill B. He just intended to kill somebody."
Though Chapman faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, acting State Supreme Court Justice Dennis Edwards promised that in return for the guilty plea, he would not receive more than 20 years to life. At Chapman's sentencing on Aug. 24, Marks plans to use the testimony of two psychiatrists and one psychologist—as well as his defendant's God-given plea—to argue that Chapman is insane and thus should be given the most lenient sentence.
Meanwhile, the killer sits alone in his cell at Rikers Island, reading and watching TV. The only other inmate in the 13-cell maximum-security row is Craig Crimmins, 22, convicted of murdering a violinist at the Metropolitan Opera House. The two no longer speak; Chapman is still furious that Crimmins called him a "nut case" last month.