"Gimme Some Truth" Book

(Thanks to Larry McGahey)

New Release From Q Online----
Lennon killer up for parole hearing

John Lennon's assassin Mark Chapman will appear before a US state parole board later this year, which will decide whether he should be freed - and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono will help them decide. Chapman, who has served the minimum twenty years of his sentence, may be released in December this year if he is granted parole.

Ono has the right to request an audience with her husband's killer, but it's known that John's two sons Sean and Julian are strongly opposed to Chapman's release. Apparently, Yoko has refused to discuss her plans with her son and his half-brother. Chapman regularly gets death threats from distraught Beatles fans, but is protected inside the maximum security Attica Prison.

A friend of Yoko's says, "The point we make to Yoko is that if he is allowed out, it will only be a matter of time before someone decides to get the man who got the Beatle. We're not trying to give her a cop out, but if John Lennon could speak from the grave, I'm sure he would say it would be wrong to subject Mark to a situation in which he would almost certainly be killed, perpetuating the circle of senseless violence."

No date for a parole hearing has been set, according to Q. But Rolling Stone's online news report indicated the hearing would be held in October and Chapman could be free by December, 2000.

Concerns about whether John's murderer would go free eventually have been on fans' minds for years. One fan took her concerns and turned them into action. As IK! reported several months ago, Kristy D. Mundt started a petition in 1997 that she hopes to deliver to the parole board when the time comes. The petition reads: "We the undersigned wish to let the New York Department of Corrections know of our belief that Mark David Chapman should never walk the earth as a free man. He took from us a person who believed in peace and love. John Lennon was very important to all of us, whether we grew up with the Beatles or are just learning what a creative mind John had. John is missed by all ages and backgrounds."

Chapman apparently spends his time in prison reading religious material, visiting his wife and sorting through his mail.

If you are interested in circulating one of Mundt's petitions, visit her web site to download a copy. sunmoonstars

Main News Source:
Q Online