Original text: Lennon's last moments (reprinted)

When "Start Over" topped the charts on October 23, 1980, there was a man named Mark David Chapman, a 25-year-old security guard who quit his job at a Honolulu high-rise, signed his name "John Lennon." Later that day, he called one of his career counselors and told her he was quitting. She asked him: "Are you looking for other jobs?"

Mark said: "No, but I already have a job."

On the surface, Mark ·Chapman, like thousands of kids, idolized John Lennon and the Beatles. He doesn't know the day he separated into two people, John Lennon and himself, and then he felt forced to become one person again. Chapman had many of the psychological traits of a presidential assassin. They are people who have low self-esteem and have lost confidence in life. They identify themselves with the hero, first as an admirer, then as an imitator, and finally as a murderer.

Chapman was born on May 10, 1955, in Fort Warn, Texas, the son of a retired U.S. Staff Sergeant, but he grew up outside of Atlanta, Georgia. His father worked as a credit manager at a major Atlanta bank there. There Chapman was just an ordinary teenager, taciturn and whose interests ranged from flying saucers to the Beatles. He fell in love with the Beatles, grew his hair long, and began learning to play guitar, much to the distress of his parents. In high school he played in a local band and was a campground manager for the Young Men's Christian Association. His aspiration was to become the director of a Young Men's Christian Association.

In 1969, Chapman experienced a drastic change. In high school, he was addicted to hallucinogens. No matter what kind of hallucinogen he could get his hands on, he would smoke it, and he would often smoke it until he was intoxicated. . His parents wanted him to quit drugs, but he rebelled against them when he stayed out for two weeks. Later, just as he suddenly stopped using LSD, the 15-year-old Chapman became crazy about Jesus. He sold his Beatles records, cut his hair short, put on a white shirt and black tie, and hung a large wooden cross around his neck. His friends remember him reciting passages from the Bible endlessly. He carried his Bible with him. In school, he used his free time to study the Bible. At one point in prayer, Chapman publicly renounced his relationship with the Beatles because John Lennon once said that they were more popular than Jesus. The song "Imagine" became the most hated song among church members, who sang it lyrically, "Imagine John Lennon is dead."

After high school, Chapman attended Dekelberg Community College for a time before dropping out. He worked at the YMCA camp for a while until a friend told him about an official YMCA camp job in Beirut, Lebanon. Chapman earned enough money from washing cars and packing groceries to buy a plane ticket, and in June 1975, he left the United States for Lebanon. For two weeks, Chapman was away from Lebanon just as the civil war there began and he and some other Americans had to evacuate the country. As he left, he recorded the roar of the artillery fire on his tape recorder, and when he returned to Atlanta, he played the tape over and over to his friends.

At the end of this year, he fell in love with a beautiful girl named Jessica Blankenship with long hair. It was an unrequited love, and Chapman went to great lengths to impress her, including hanging a "Happy Birthday Jessica" banner at the local Holiday Inn marquee. He even attended a disciplined Presbyterian college to impress her. He dreams that one day they will leave the United States together as a pair of Christian missionaries to live in an exotic place. But Presbyterian College was too difficult for him, he dropped out again, and Jessica decided he was a loser. Working at the Vietnamese Refugee Center in Arkansas briefly revived his spirits. But when the job ended in December 1975, he went astray again.

In 1977, he moved to Hawaii, where his mother had moved after her divorce from his father.

Shortly after arriving there, he connected the car's exhaust gas with another pipe into the train and tried to end his life. He was found in time and admitted to a hospital for psychiatric treatment, from which he was soon discharged. Later he worked for the local Young Men's Christian Association and printing office. In 1979, with some money he received from his father, he traveled around the world, visiting various Young Men's Christian Associations in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Paris, and London. When he returned to Hawaii in June 1979, he married a Japanese woman Glory Ebb, who was four years older than him. It was this Glory who booked a round-the-world ticket for him through a local travel agency. . Although his salary as a security guard was only $4 an hour, he was able to save enough money to collect lithographs. His first collection cost $5,000.

During this time, something made Chapman obese. He was a rude and indifferent partner who suddenly became interested in firearms and pistols. At home he became irritable and impatient with his wife, refusing to let her listen to the radio or read the newspaper. He particularly hates the Church of Scientology, which he believes is simply brainwashing. His duty station includes the Scientology headquarters. Every day someone calls the Scientology headquarters and says, "Ping, ping, you are all dead." He was once seen at work in his uniform, with the name card written on his chest not being his own, but John Lennon's. But Chapman never said what he wanted to do to John Lennon, so it would not lead people to believe that he planned to kill John Lennon.

In October, I read an article in the latest issue of "Esquire" magazine that introduced John. The article described Lennon as a 40-year-old businessman who often watches TV; there are 150 million people. With a fortune, a son he doted on, and a wife who kept cutting off his phone calls, John turned his back on his past self. Chapman whispered: "This liar."

On October 27, Chapman went to a store in Honolulu to buy a revolver. Because he had already applied as a security guard at the beginning of this month, there was no difficulty in purchasing the gun.

In November, Chapman went to Atlanta, Georgia, to visit his parents, and then to New York. He was at the Waldorf on Park Street. He stayed at the Astoria Hotel for a few days and then moved to the Alcott Hotel, not far from the Dakota. Chapman is said to have later told a minister that during this time he fought fiercely against "good" and "evil." In the end, good triumphed over evil, and Chapman immediately boarded a plane to Atlanta. After staying in Atlanta for a few days, he returned to his hometown in Hawaii. Later, Chapman came to New York for the second time on December 5. His round trip covered 17,000 miles.

The first night he stayed at the Young Men's Christian Association hotel on 63rd Street, nine blocks south of the Dakota, and then moved to the Seeferton Center on 52nd Street and 7th Avenue. hostel. The next day, he was on surveillance in front of the Dakota. He brought with him some Beatles recordings and a revolver. Chapman was not noticed by the ever-changing stream of singing star wannabes waiting outside Dakota's door to catch a glimpse of Lauren Bacall or Gilda Radner.

It was surprisingly warm in New York City on Monday, December 8, and there was no better day than waiting outside the Dakota to watch the celebrities. No one knows how long Chapman had been waiting outside that day. When John and Yoko Ono left for the recording studio at 5 p.m. John's car was blocked inside. As John got into his car, Chapman thrust a "Fantasy" record into his hands. Lennon paused politely and signed the record "John Lennon, 1980." Another singer caught up and quickly took the photo. Chapman was overjoyed when John and Ono climbed into the car and drove away.

John and Yoko Ono returned to Dakota at 10:50. John held the record of "Walking on Thin Ice" in his hands. The tall security door was still open, and the car drove in again. John had to Come out of the side path. Yoko Ono walked into the entrance before him. As they passed through the dark corridor, John heard a voice calling: "Mr. Lennon?"

John turned around and looked dimly into the darkness. Chapman was already in a fighting stance five feet away. Before John could speak, five bullets were fired at him.

After Yoko Ono heard the gunshot, she quickly turned around. At first she did not realize that John had been shot because he was still walking towards her. Then he knelt down and she saw blood. As John's face hit the floor of the Dakota Sheriff's Office, he shouted to her; "I've been shot."

Dakota's concierge, a muscular, bearded man Jay Hastings, 27, rushed from behind the desk to where John lay, blood spurting from John's mouth and a gaping wound on his chest. Yoko Ono supported John's head, and Hastings took off his blue jacket uniform and covered John's body. John was semi-conscious. When he tried to stand up again, he made loud noises and spit out something.

After the police arrived, Hastings ran out to catch the shooter, but he didn't have to run far as Chapman stood calmly in front of the Dakota door. After he fired, he dropped the gun on the ground. Hastings stepped forward and asked him: "Do you know what you just did?" Chapman replied calmly, "I just knocked out John Lennon."

Ono Yoko screamed hysterically until the police came. The first person to arrive on the scene was Patrolman Anthony Palma. Ignoring Yoko's request, he turned John over. Palma said: "I saw that he was covered in blood and had fatal injuries, so I took him away." At this time, a police patrol car arrived, and Palma and police officer James lifted John into the back seat of the car. They drove toward Roosevelt Hospital, sirens blaring all the way. Yoko was following in a police car behind her, repeating over and over: "This isn't true, tell me this isn't true."

On the way to the hospital, police officer James watched Looking at John's pocket, he couldn't believe it. James whispered to him, "Do you know who you are?" John groaned and nodded. This was his last gesture. By the time they arrived at Roosevelt Hospital's emergency room, 80 percent of John's blood had been lost from the massive gash in his neck. They rushed him to the emergency area, where several doctors and nurses worked nervously to save him for an hour and a half. The chief doctor of the hospital's emergency department said: "There is no way to revive him."

When the chief doctor walked into the waiting room, Ono Yoko asked frantically: "Where is my husband?" , I want to be with my husband! He needs me to be with him!" The chief doctor said: "We have a very sad news to tell you. Despite our best efforts, your husband is dead. There was no pain at all." Yoko sobbed and said, "Did you say he was sleeping?"

After midnight, Ono Yoko returned to Dakota alone. That night she hung up on three people. She called Julian, who knew nothing about losing his father; she called Mary Poppins, who had lost a child she once called her own; she hung up on Paul, who had lost the chance to save his soul. opportunity.

On December 10, a letter from Yoko and Sean was published in major newspapers around the world.

"I told Sean what happened. I gave him the picture of his father on the cover of the newspaper and explained everything to him. I took Sean to see the scene where his father lay down after drinking the bomb. Xiao En asked the man why he wanted to kill John because he liked him. I explained to him that maybe the man was insane. Sean said we needed to find out whether he was really insane or if he had a purpose to kill John. Let the court decide. What kind of yard does Sean mean, a tennis yard or a basketball yard? That's how Sean is used to talking to his father, and they are good friends, if John can still listen. He would be proud of what his son said. Sean cried later and said: 'Dad is a part of God, and I guess he will become even greater when he dies.'"

Yoko Ono still lives in the Dakota, and many of his friends imagine how painful it must have been for her to pass the spot where John was killed every day. But she still lived a busy and productive life with perseverance and strength. She often returned to the studio to work on tapes she had made with John or to record her own songs. A few months after John's death, she began a shaky, not-quite-friendship relationship with a young man named Sam Habitoy. This man had been an antique dealer and interior decorator, and for a while there were rumors that Yoko was going to marry Habitoy or that they were already married. But Yoko denied these rumors.

She had a busy job and John was always in her memory and no man could ever replace him in any way. No matter where she went, John's shadow was always with her. Indeed, she always talked about John as if he were still there, as if he was living in the next room and was knocking on the door to come in. In public, she was particularly open-minded about his death. When she was asked why witchcraft and astrology had not warned them of what was going to happen at Dakota Passage on December 8, she said that warnings had been given. But I don't know what day it will be, maybe John's future will be accompanied by bad luck. She said that some fate cannot be changed.

My memory is filled with sadness,

Sorrow so deep it is numbing.

——Excerpted from John’s letter to Star in 1961

Compiled by Fan Minmin and Xue Xin

There is a new explanation for the reason for John Lennon’s murder

Inspector Horton said that the prisoner who assassinated John Lennon liked Lennon's wife. The prisoner had severe schizophrenia and liked Lennon's Japanese wife very much. Later, the media reported that Lennon abused her. After his wife's scandal, the man stood in front of Lennon's recording studio and, as a fan, pulled out his sinful pistol when Lennon signed an autograph for him.