The 61-year-old Chapman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving a sentence of 20-years to life in Wende Correctional Facility in western New York. In a description of its decision, the parole board noted that Chapman has since described the murder as "selfish and evil." The board concluded that the factors supporting Chapman's parole were outweighed by the premediated and "celebrity-seeking" nature of the crime.
"Your release would be incompatible with the welfare of society and would so deprecate that seriousness of the crime as to undermine respect for the law," the board wrote. Chapman was notified of the board's decision last week. He was last denied parole in 2014, and will be eligible to seek parole again in 2018.
In his 2014 parole hearing, Chapman told the board that he still gets letters about the pain he caused in his pursuit of notoriety. "I am sorry for causing that type of pain," he said. "I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong way for glory."
At a 2010 hearing, Chapman recalled that he had considered shooting Johnny Carson or Elizabeth Taylor instead, and said again that he chose Lennon because the ex-Beatle was more accessible, that his century-old apartment building by Central Park "wasn't quite as cloistered."
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