John Lennon was assassinated forty-three years ago while making his way back to his apartment.
Jay Hastings, Lennon’s doorman, discussed the 43-year-old event with People. Hastings thought back to Lennon’s final remarks and a chat with another doorman that evening. Shortly after the singer was shot, the doorman Jose was the first person to see him. Recalling Hastings:
“I could hear Jose outside, ‘Oh Mr. Lennon.’ Boom, boom, doors close, and I could hear the quick march of heels coming up the driveway. So I walked over to the counter, where there was a hidden security button to unlock the door, so you could get into the Dakota proper.”
After Lennon was shot, Hastings had only heard two words come out of his lips. He disclosed:
“As I was there with my finger on the button is when he [Lennon] came running up, immediately after hearing gunshots, and he’s like, ‘I’m shot, I’m shot,’ and he just ran past me to the back office, and just collapsed.”
The singer’s wife, Yoko Ono, was also present. In actuality, she was the one who shot him and called for an ambulance. The doorman went on:
“[I] didn’t know how bad he was shot. I went into the back office, Yoko was there, like right behind him, screaming, ‘Get an ambulance. Get an ambulance.'”
At 10:50 p.m. local time, Mark David Chapman shot and murdered John Lennon in front of the apartment building on the Upper West Side. Lennon was brought to the adjacent Roosevelt Hospital less than ten minutes later when he was declared dead.
Yoko Ono’s Last Minutes with Lennon
The Beatle and Yoko Ono had a routine encounter just before he was assassinated. That evening, as he drove home from the Record Plant, John said his last words to his wife.
Yoko gave her spouse these last words in a 2007 interview with Desert Island Discs:
“I said, ‘Shall we go and have dinner before we go home?’ and John said, ‘No, let’s go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep.’”
In addition, she was asked if John had said anything following his shooting, but she declined. That was, as far as Yoko Ono knew, the final words.
Where Is Lennon’s Killer Today?
On the spot, Mark David Chapman made his confession. He acknowledged being a fan of the Beatles and that he was “seeking fame” in a subsequent declaration to a parole board. Lennon had seen Chapman earlier when he got the Beatle’s signature on a “Double Fantasy” record copy. Chapman had gone to New York City to perpetrate the crime, having bought the pistol three months prior. Chapman allegedly killed Lennon just because he was “too famous.”
Since his arrest after the incident, Chapman has been incarcerated. In June 1981, he pled guilty to second-degree murder, and two months later, he was sentenced to 20 years to life. Chapman is eligible for parole consideration even after his 12th parole denial in September 2022. In 2024, Chapman is expected to be eligible for parole once more.