03 December 2023 , 14:55
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John Lennon’s last words are revealed for the first time in a new documentary about the night he was brutally gunned down.
In Lennon: Murder Without a Trial the concierge of the Dakota building – where the Beatles star was shot on December 8, 1980 – speaks publicly about the tragedy for the first time. The Apple TV series also includes chilling audio of murderer Mark Chapman discussing his motive.
Jay Hastings, who worked on the front desk at the Manhattan apartment block and heard Lennon’s last words, says the star cried out “I’m shot” before falling to the ground.
Jay adds: “He runs past me. He goes, ‘I’m shot.’ He had blood coming out of his mouth. He collapsed on the floor. I half rolled him to his back and took his glasses off, put them on the desk. And Yoko was screaming, ‘Get an ambulance, get an ambulance, get an ambulance!’”
John Lennon’s killer Mark David Chapman bizarre apology revealed in trailer for new documentary (Getty, REX)Taxi driver Richard Peterson, who witnessed the shooting, says: “Lennon was walking in and this kid says, ‘John Lennon’. He was a chunky guy. I’m looking at him through the front window of my cab. I’m looking at him shoot him. This guy just shot John Lennon.”
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In another first, audio recordings of Chapman speaking to his lawyers before his trial are heard. Asked by his legal team why he shot Lennon, Chapman refers to the Beatles song when he says, “All You Need Is Love, have you ever heard that? Well, this is what I say to that: all you need is love and $250million. He was the biggest, phoniest b*****d that ever lived.”
He is also heard discussing being inspired by JD Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, in which protagonist Holden Caulfield hates “phoniness”. Chapman, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder before trial, was sentenced to at least 20 years. He has been denied parole 12 times.
Other contributors to the show include first police responders and nurse Barbara Kammerer, who broke the news to Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono. Series director Nick Holt added he wanted to capture peoples’ testimony before it “was lost for ever”.
- Lennon: Murder Without A Trial is released on Apple TV on Wednesday.