American Murder Houses by Steve Lehto

Author:Steve Lehto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA
Published: 2015-01-19T16:00:00+00:00

* Dave Lindorff, “For Ira Einhorn, a Fate Worse Than Death,” Salon, October 18, 2002.

* “Ronnie Polaneczky: The Ira Einhorn Interview,” (Philadelphia) Daily News, October 14, 2010.

* Steve Lopez, “The Search for the Unicorn,” Time, September 29, 1997.

The Murder of John Lennon

THE DAKOTA

1980

1 West 72nd Street

New York, New York 10023

On December 8, 1980, a mentally ill twenty-five-year-old man from Hawaii walked into a bookstore in New York City and bought a copy of The Catcher in the Rye. He had read the book previously and was obsessed with it. He wrote This is my statement inside the front cover and then put Holden Caulfield below that, as if it were his signature. It wasn’t; his real name was Mark David Chapman. Chapman then walked over to a large co-op apartment building named the Dakota. The Dakota was one of the most expensive and well-known co-ops in New York City. It faced Central Park and units in it cost millions of dollars. It housed some of New York City’s richest and most famous residents.

Chapman lingered near the front entrance of the Dakota. Along with the book The Catcher in the Rye, he also had a copy of the LP record Double Fantasy. John Lennon and Yoko Ono owned five apartments in the Dakota and lived there with their young son. Lennon actually walked past Chapman into the building at one point when Chapman did not see him. A little later, the housekeeper took Sean, Ono and Lennon’s son, for a walk and Chapman recognized the child as Lennon’s. He approached the two and tried shaking the young boy’s hand.

In the early evening, Lennon and Ono walked out the front door of the Dakota and as they walked toward a limo, Chapman approached Lennon and asked him if he would autograph the record he had brought. Lennon obliged. A photographer on the street caught the moment on film, Lennon signing the album cover with Chapman looking on. Lennon and Ono then left. Chapman stayed, lurking near the entrance of the building.

Almost six hours later, shortly before 11:00 P.M., Lennon and Ono returned to the Dakota, and their limo let them out at the curb. The two walked toward the entrance. Chapman was still there. As Lennon walked through the door to the building, Chapman pulled out a .38-caliber handgun and fired it five times at Lennon, hitting him four times. Lennon stumbled into the building, entering the office of the doorman. Yoko screamed, “John’s been shot. John’s been shot.” The doorman triggered an alarm and watched in horror as Lennon fell onto the floor of the office, bleeding profusely, his life swiftly slipping away. The doorman called 911 and asked for help to be sent urgently. Yoko and the doorman watched Lennon die.

Outside, Chapman dropped his gun on the sidewalk and calmly walked to the curb. He began reading his copy of The Catcher in the Rye. Police arrived and decided they could not wait for an ambulance. Two officers carried Lennon to a squad car as other officers arrived on the scene.

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