| Rethinking John Lennon’s Assassination The FBI’s War on Rock Stars By Salvador Astucia |
PART I: LENNON’S MURDER Chapter 1: The Crime Scene | ||
| The Dakota John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980, at about 10:50 pm, as he and his wife Yoko Ono attempted to enter their apartment at the Dakota building on West 72nd Street in Manhattan across from Central Park West. Lennon and Ono were returning from a record plant when the shooting occurred. Ironically, Lennon had autographed a copy of his most recent album (Double Fantasy) for the accused assailant as Lennon and Ono left for the record plant at around 5:00 pm that evening. In my research of the Lennon case, I quickly realized that details about the crime scene are sketchy at best. Clear unobstructed photographs of the Dakota's entrance are simply unavailable to the public. To remedy the situation, I traveled to Manhattan recently and personally photographed about 35 pictures of the Dakota with emphasis on the entrance, the area where Lennon was shot. I also obtained older photos of the Dakota from Roman Polanski's renowned 1968 movie, Rosemary's Baby, which was filmed at the Dakota. The information and crime scene photographs I obtained reveals quite a bit of new information about the murder. The Dakota is an upscale older apartment/condominium complex with an entrance on West 72nd Street. The entrance, shown in Figure 1, is two stories high with a fancy archway overhead. Architecturally, the Dakota is a set of buildings covering an entire block, as shown in aerial photograph labeled Figure 2. | ||
Figure 1: Entrance of the Dakota from W. 72ndStreet | |||
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| Figure 2: Aerial view of the Dakota | |||
The elegant building complex has two security levels: a guard booth at the entrance (left), and a main lobby about 25-to-30 feet inside the front entrance (right). A doorman is stationed at the guard booth and keeps watch over the entrance. A desk clerk is stationed at the main lobby. Someone is on duty at both positions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A maintenance man (concierge) is frequently on duty as well, but it is unclear if that position is filled 24-by-7 like the others. The maintenance man is apparently stationed at a concierge stand in the main lobby, next to the front desk. I observed such a person assist the doorman unload luggage from an SUV temporarily parked in the entryway. The maintenance man then carried the luggage through a door which apparently leads to a service elevator. A maintenance man (aka, elevator operator; aka, handyman) was reportedly on duty the night Lennon was killed. In fact, Lennon reportedly collapsed by the concierge stand after being shot. There are seven critical locations in the entrance area: (1) the arched entrance; this is where Chapman reportedly stood when the shots were fired. (2) the courtyard gates; (3) the "entryway" which provides passage from the entrance to the courtyard gates, a distance of about 47 feet from the front entrance to the courtyard; (4) the doorman's booth (aka, the guard booth) on the outside of the entrance to the left; (5) a lobby on the right (not shown in picture) where Lennon collapsed after being shot; six stairs lead to the lobby; (6) a service elevator on the left, (not shown in picture); (7) a door on the left (not shown) which leads to the service elevator. NYPD Police Report Appendix D contains the official NYPD Police Report of John Lennon's murder, dated December 9, 1980. Surprisingly, I had no trouble obtaining it. I simply mailed a certified letter to the NYPD requesting the report and within a month a copy was in my possession. Unfortunately, the report's astonishing lack of detail was disappointing to say the least. There is no precise description of the crime itself, no narrative of where Lennon was standing when he was shot, no explanation of where Chapman was standing when he fired, no sketches, no names of witnesses, nothing of any consequence. Had Chapman not pled guilty months later, the prosecutors would have had little evidence to build a case against him. At a minimum, one would think the police report would contain names of witnesses. The report barely indicates that a crime occurred at all. Here is a summary of the rudimentary information found in the report:
The following are excerpts from the report which describe the crime in extremely general terms.
That is essentially all the information of substance provided in the NYPD police report. (see Appendix D) The rest is bureaucratic paperwork, a whitewash. That's putting it mildly. NYC Medical Examiner refuses to release autopsy report On July 1, 2003, I sent a letter to the New York City Medical Examiner's Office requesting a copy of John Lennon's autopsy report. I was referred to the Medical Examiner's Office by the NYPD after making a similar request from them. Subsequently, I received a letter, dated July 18, 2003, from Ellen Borakove, Director of Public Affairs at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Charles S. Hirsch, MD. The following is the contents of Ms. Borakove's letter:
In other words, Ms. Borakove is advising me to contact Yoko Ono and get permission to see John's autopsy report, something Borakove obviously knows will lead nowhere. Being the widow of John Lennon, Yoko is a constantly inundated with letters and requests from all sorts of people and will likely not respond to a stranger, particularly someone asking questions about a painful, traumatic experience she would prefer to forget. Why is John Lennon's autopsy report being suppressed? Since when did autopsy reports become closed for public inspection? I do not doubt the truthfulness of Ms. Borakove's statement, but when did this sort of information become off limits to the public? It seems odd that the autopsy report of a celebrity living in America--or anyone living in America, for that matter--would be denied to any American citizen who requests it. Who is being protected? Certainly not the deceased. Besides being denied access to the autopsy report, I sent three additional requests to Lieutenant Michael Pascucci, at the NYPD Legal Bureau, for other items related to the crime. All three requests were refused. The requested items were as follows: (a) the personal notes of Officer Peter Cullen, (b) the personal notes of Officer Stephen Spiro, and (c) crime scene photographs. As previously stated, Cullen and Spiro were the arresting officers of murder suspect Mark David Chapman. The reason given by Lieutenant Pascucci for refusing to release copies of Cullen's and Spiro's personal notes was "unwarranted invasion of privacy." It's interesting that excerpts from Officer Spiro's personal notes were published in British author Fenton Bresler's book, Who Killed John Lennon? I'm not criticizing the British, but why does a British author have free access to American police records which are denied to an American author? Copies of all referenced letters between Ellen Borakove, Lieutenant Michael Pascucci, and myself are shown in Exhibits M through T (in Appendix E). Chapman’s Gun Fenton Bresler described in great detail—in his book, Who Killed John Lennon? (1989)—how Chapman purchased—on October 27, 1980—a .38 Special revolver from J&S Enterprises Ltd, a gun shop in midtown Honolulu. Bresler even provided the weapon’s serial number, 577570, and implied that the stated weapon was used by Chapman to murder John Lennon about six weeks later on December 8, 1980.15 The NYPD’s police report indicates that a ".38 cal snub nose" was the weapon found at the crime scene; however, the serial number is not shown in the report. Consequently, it is unclear if the serial number of the .38 revolver purchased by Chapman on October 27, 1980 matches the weapon found by the NYPD at the crime scene on December 8, 1980. Tracing the murder weapon is convoluted because Chapman made two trips to New York City: one from October 29, 1980 through November 10, 1980; another on December 6, 1980. On the first trip, there is little doubt that Chapman carried the .38 revolver, serial # 577570, as Bresler described. In fact, Bresler gave a detailed account of how Chapman brought the gun with him to NYC on October 29th but forgot to bring bullets, and subsequently flew to Atlanta to get hollow-point bullets from his cop friend, Dana Reeves (aka, Gene Scott). The reason for the Atlanta trip was because NYC forbade the purchase of ammunition by persons not living in the state of New York. Although Bresler presents several interesting facts, his discussion about the murder weapon itself is confusing. For example, Bresler gives Dana Reeves a pseudonym, Gene Scott. This is an unnecessary layer of confusion since Reeves’s identity was revealed by Jim Gaines in an article, "Descent Into Madness," published in People Magazineon June 22, 1981. I have analyzed Chapters 13 and 14 of Bresler’s book quite a bit and he covers so much ground that is impossible to determine if the gun Chapman purchased on October 27, 1980 is the same one found by the NYPD at the crime scene on December 8, 1980. Bresler even introduces the possibility that Chapman threw the gun and the bullets into the ocean after returning to Honolulu from his first trip to New York. I will address that later. For now, let’s focus on matching the serial number of the purchased gun to the weapon found at the crime scene. On August 26, 2003, I phoned the NYPD switchboard (646-610-5000, listed on website) and asked to speak with Lieutenant Michael Pascucci of the Legal Bureau. I do not know Mr. Pascucci personally, but I have exchanged several letters with him regarding requests for various documents related to the Lennon case, including the police report. Mr. Pascucci was out to lunch when I phoned, but I spoke with a colleague and asked if I could obtain the serial number of the weapon found at the crime scene. I specifically asked if it would be possible to get the serial number quickly without going through a lot of red tape. Unfortunately, my fast-track request was denied, but I was advised to submit an official request with the FOIL Unit [Freedom of Information Legal Unit]. I am continuing my research in this area and will publish the serial number of the weapon found at the crime scene when it is in my possession; however, it could time for the NYPD to respond, should they choose to release the serial number at all. In the meantime, I shall proceed without it. There is a strong possibility that the .38 revolver Chapman purchased on October 27, 1980 is NOT the same .38 revolver found at the crime scene on December 8, 1980. There is also a possibility that if the serial numbers match, that the gun was brought to the crime scene by someone other than Chapman. In both scenarios, I suspect the gun was planted, that Chapman was unarmed on the night of the murder, and the notion that he was carrying a gun was a hypnotic suggestion planted in his mind. Think about it. If a second gunman killed Lennon, the planners wouldn’t want Chapman to carry a loaded weapon to the crime scene. He might start firing wildly, possibly shooting the second gunman or doorman Jose Perdomo. Chapman’s role was to be the patsy, not the shooter. A smarter approach would be to send Chapman to NYC on a prior visit carrying the murder weapon, and plant a hypnotic obsession in his mind to kill Lennon. The planners had no intention of killing Lennon during Chapman’s first visit to New York. The objective was to create a real image in Chapman’s mind that he carried a gun to NYC while he struggled to resist an obsession to murder Lennon. Chapman admitting fighting the obsession and ultimately won during the first visit and did not harm Lennon. On the second trip to NYC, Chapman would be unarmed, but through the use of hypnosis/mind control, Chapman would confuse the second trip to NYC with the first. Hence, he would confuse his real memory of being armed during his first trip to NYC with his second trip where he was unarmed. Let’s review the stated scenario again because it’s complicated. During Chapman’s first trip to NYC from Honolulu—from October 29, 1980 through November 10, 1980—he brought with him a gun similar to the murder weapon found at the crime scene on December 8, 1980, but he forgot to bring bullets. Because of NYC’s strict gun control laws, Chapman flew to Atlanta—from November 7 through November 9, 1980—where he obtained bullets from his cop friend, Dana Reeves. Keep in mind, this all occurred during Chapman’s first trip to NYC which ended on November 10, 1980 when Chapman returned to Honolulu. But Lennon wasn’t killed until a month later, two days after Chapman arrived in NYC a second time on December 6, 1980. The question is this: Did Chapman bring with him to NYC on December 6, 1980 the same gun he brought with him on October 29, 1980, the same gun he purchased from J&S Enterprises in Honolulu on October 27, 1980? (serial # 577570) In addition, did Chapman bring with him to NYC on December 6, 1980 the same hollow-point bullets he obtained from Dana Reeves (aka, Gene Scott) in Atlanta during his trip there from November 7 through November 9, 1980? Bresler does not make this clear at all. Instead he confuses things by introducing several side issues which are interesting but divert attention from the murder weapon found at the crime scene. Bresler jumps back and forth between Chapman’s first and second trips, getting into all sorts of minutia, and completely loses track of the alleged murder weapon. Again, did Chapman carry the same gun on both trips? Did he carry the same bullets on the second trip that he acquired from Dana Reeves on the first trip? Adding to the confusion, Bresler introduces a major anomaly by citing the following excerpt from Albert Goldman’s book, The Lives of John Lennon:
Run that by me again? Chapman threw the gun and the bullets in the ocean? That is probably the most profound bit of information in Bresler’s entire book, yet Bresler leaves it unchallenged. Remember, Bresler is quoting Goldman. It was Goldman who asserted that Chapman threw the .38 revolver—serial number 577570—in the ocean, along with the hollow-point bullets acquired from Dana Reeves (aka, Gene Scott). Did this event happen or not? Bresler makes no attempt to directly refute Goldman’s bombshell assertion. Instead, Bresler criticizes Goldman for making several mistakes of lesser magnitude. True, many of Goldman’s conclusions about Lennon’s personal life—and other facts—are dubious. But since Bresler was criticizing Goldman anyway, he should have challenged Goldman’s revelation that Chapman threw the original gun and bullets into the ocean. How could Bresler let an assertion of that magnitude go unchallenged? Yet that is precisely what he did. Bresler then fixated on the logistics of Chapman’s second trip to NYC. Most accounts claim Chapman flew from Honolulu to NYC on December 6, 1980, stopping in Chicago only to change planes. Bresler claims, however, that Chapman left Honolulu around December 2nd, visited his grandmother in Chicago for three days, then took a flight from Chicago to NYC on December 6, 1980. I have no reason to challenge Bresler’s version of events, but it seems to be somewhat trivial. Bresler acts as though this a major discovery. There’s nothing wrong with clarifying Chapman’s itinerary, but Bresler devoted several pages to it while ignoring Goldman’s more important assertion that Chapman threw his gun and bullets in the ocean while in Honolulu. It would seem that Bresler could easily resolve the anomaly by interviewing Chapman directly. Bresler gets around this by claiming he requested an interview with Chapman but Chapman refused. Obviously that’s an excellent excuse; however, Bresler may have maneuvered events to discourage Chapman from granting him an interview. Anyone who has read Bresler’s book knows that Chapman is depicted with great empathy, but Bresler also interjects a recurring theme that Chapman has repressed homosexual tendencies. The gay theme is completely gratuitous as far as I can determine. Chapman’s sexual preference has no bearing on his guilt of innocence; it’s just something Bresler interjected for no apparent reason. Think about it. If you were Chapman, would you grant an interview to someone who called you queer? Chapman has never acknowledged being gay or bisexual. He led a heterosexual life. I don’t mean to seem anti-gay, but in reality, most straight men are extremely offended when someone suggests—in a serious manner—that they are gay. By implying Chapman was gay, Bresler virtually guaranteed Chapman would deny his request for an interview, thereby leaving critical issues unresolved, like whether Chapman threw his gun and bullets in the ocean as Goldman claims. To summarize events related to the alleged murder weapon, here is a timeline of Chapman’s purchase of the .38 revolver in Honolulu and his subsequent trips to NYC:
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| ENDNOTES |
| 15 | Fenton Bresler, Who Killed John Lennon? (1989), p 174 |
| 16 | ibid, p 193 |
| 17 | ibid, p 174 |
| 18 | ibid, p 175 |
| 19 | ibid, pp 177-180 |
| 20 | ibid, p 184 |
| 21 | ibid, pp 186-187 |
| 22 | ibid, p 193 |
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