The man who killed John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, has made headlines once again as he makes his seventh bid for freedom this week.  The New York State Department of corrections announced on the weekend that the 57-year-old Chapman will stand before the parole board once again, having been denied parole at his previous six hearings.  According to department spokesperson, Linda Foglia, the decision as to whether or not to grant his release will be announced to the public by the end of the week.

Chapman was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of the Beatles legend.  One the day of the shooting, December 8, 1980, Chapman spent most of the day hovering around the entrance to The Dakota, Lennon’s New York apartment building, requesting an autograph as the musician left around 5:00pm.    When Lennon and Yoko Ono returned to their building later that evening, Chapman fired five shots, hitting Lennon in the back four times.

Parole hearings have been held every two years since 2000 and Chapman’s request for release has been denied each time.  According to Reuters, the parole board cited “[the] disregard you displayed for the norms of our society and the sanctity of human life” as reasons for denying parole after the 2010 hearing.  Prior to the hearings the parole division has received numerous letters lobbying against Chapman’s release including ones from Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono stating that she feared for her safety as well as the safety of Lennon’s two sons, Julian and Sean Lennon.

When Chapman first came up for parole in 2000, a member of the Correction Association of New York told the Associated Press that “If Jesus Christ returned to earth for the sole purpose of decreeing that it would be appropriate to release Mark Chapman, the parole board wouldn’t be willing to take the political heat they would get by doing it.