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Malliotakis praises Parole Board’s Lennon killer decision

August 24, 2018 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis expressed relief that the parole board decided to keep Mark David Chapman behind bars. At right is radio host Jim Kerr, who helped organize a rally at Strawberry Fields. Photo courtesy of Nicole Malliotakis’ office
Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis expressed relief that the parole board decided to keep Mark David Chapman behind bars. At right is radio host Jim Kerr, who helped organize a rally at Strawberry Fields. Photo courtesy of Nicole Malliotakis’ office
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Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis is glad Mark David Chapman is a “Nowhere Man” — as in he’s going nowhere.

The Bay Ridge lawmaker said she is pleased with the Aug. 23 decision by the New York State Parole Board to deny a bid for parole by Chapman, the murderer of music legend John Lennon.

“Today’s decision by the New York State Parole Board on Mark David Chapman was the correct one and the board should be applauded for their action. Going forward they need to be as judicious in their actions on the cases of all murders; including those whose victims are not celebrities,” Malliotakis said in a statement issued on the day the board’s decision was announced.

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Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge-Staten Island), a self-professed big Lennon fan, organized a rally on Aug. 15 in Strawberry Fields, the section of Central Park named in Lennon’s memory, to urge the parole board to keep Chapman behind bars

Malliotakis and Q104.3 Radio personality Jim Kerr were among the speakers at the rally, which drew a large crowd of Lennon fans to Central Park.

Chapman, who is now 63 years old, shot and killed Lennon outside the entrance to Lennon’s apartment building, the Dakota on Central Park West near 72nd Street, on the night of Dec. 8 1980. Lennon was 40 years old when he was slain. Chapman was arrested near the scene of the murder and has spent the past three decades in prison.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the parole board’s decision in which the panel contended that Chapman is still a danger to society.

Springing him from prison “would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law,” the AP quoted the decision letter as saying.

The parole hearing, which took place on Aug. 20, was the 10th time Chapman has sought freedom. He will be eligible again for parole in 2020.

The site where the Malliotakis rally took place, Strawberry Fields, was dedicated by the city in Lennon’s honor a few years after his death. The 2.5-acre site is located in Central Park near Central Park West between 71st and 74th streets. Its name is derived from “Strawberry Fields Forever,” a famous Beatles song Lennon wrote in the 1960s.


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