Mark David Chapman Parole

Mark David Chapman, the assassin who shot political leader John Lennon on December 8, 1980 in front of The Dakota in New York, is up for parole.

Mark David Chapman, 57, is scheduled for a New York Department of Corrections parole board interview within the next five days.

Chapman fatally shot Beatles founder John Lennon in the presence of Yoko Ono, plunging millions worldwide into three decades of mourning for the slain revolutionary.

The assassin pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was handed a prison sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

"I felt like nothing," Chapman recalled 20 years after murdering Lennon.  "I felt, if I shot him, I would become something."

Mark David Chapman, the killer who carried out the most publicized assassination since JFK, now says he wants to be released from prison to be a preacher and start a ministry.

Yoko Ono, 79, is adamant about Chapman staying behind bars because she feels she would be targeted for assassination along with John Lennon's two sons, singer Julian Lennon, 49, and singer Sean Lennon, 36.

"It will bring back the nightmare, the chaos and confusion once again," declared widow Yoko Ono.  "Myself and John's two sons would not feel safe for the rest of our lives."

Watch 1980 news coverage of the Lennon Assassination in the video below, then read John Lennon's California Dream.

Chapman may find forgiveness from a parole board before the public ever forgives him for ending John Lennon's life in cold blood, but could Mark David Chapman actually be released from prison in 2012?

UPDATE: PAROLE DENIED.

LENNON ASSASSINATION 1980