This week (December 8-14) in crime history – John Lennon was murdered (December 8, 1980); Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped (December 10, 1963); Bernie Madoff was arrested for masterminding a Ponzi scheme (December 11, 2008); Singer Sam Cooke was shot and killed (December 11, 1964); Leona Helmsley was sentenced for tax fraud (December 12, 1989); The Mona Lisa was recovered two years after it was stolen from the Louvre (December 12, 1913); Texas Seven escape from a maximum security prison (December 13, 2000).

Highlighted Crime Story of the Week –

On December 8, 1980, singer John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside his apartment building in New York City. After committing the murder, Chapman waited calmly outside, reading a copy of The Catcher in the Rye. Chapman was a troubled individual who was obsessed with Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the J.D. Salinger’s novel about a disaffected youth, and with various celebrities. While working as a security guard in Hawaii, he decided that Lennon was a phony and, while listening to Beatles tapes, Chapman decided to plan his murder. Chapman purchased a gun and traveled to New York. Although he called his wife to tell her that he was in New York to shoot Lennon, she ignored his threats. Unable to buy bullets in New York due to strict laws, Chapman flew to Atlanta and purchased hollow-nosed rounds.

On the day of the murder, Chapman bought an extra copy of The Catcher in the Rye and joined fans waiting outside The Dakota, Lennon’s apartment building. That evening, as Lennon walked by on his way into the building, Chapman shot him in the back and then fired two additional bullets into his shoulder as the singer wrenched around in pain. On June 8, 1980, just two weeks before he was scheduled to present an insanity defense at trial, Chapman pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 20 years-to-life. Ironically, Chapman was sent to Attica prison, where 10 years earlier, rioting had inspired Lennon and wife, Yoko Ono, to record a benefit song to “free all prisoners everywhere.” In prison, Chapman became a born-again Christian and spends his time writing evangelical tracts for publication.

Check back every Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”

Michael Thomas Barry is columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of six nonfiction books that include Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949.