A new docu-series titled John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial is set to arrive on Apple TV+ on December 6.
The three-part show will provide the "most thoroughly researched examination" of the murder of Beatles legend John Lennon, who was fatally shot outside of his New York apartment on December 8, 1980 by a deranged fan.
The crime never went to trial due to killer Mark David Chapman infamously pleading guilty to police at the scene of the crime. He was sentenced to twenty years to life in prison for second-degree murder.
With narration by Kiefer Sutherland, Murder Without Trial will revisit the killing via previously unseen photos and accounts "told for the first time by those who were there", such as witness/taxi driver Richard Peterson, and Jay Hastings, a doorman at Lennon’s apartment building who heard his final words.
In order to secure the interviews, the creators behind the series were apparently “granted extensive Freedom of Information Act requests from the New York City Police Department, the Board of Parole and the District Attorney’s office”.
Other interviews will feature testimony from psychiatrists, detectives and prosecutors, as well as Lennon’s friends and Chapman’s defence lawyers.
In the trailer for the series, it's revealed that Chapman offered a bizarre apology to onlookers nearby.
One witness recalls: “‘He actually apologised to us. He said: 'Gee I’m sorry I ruined your night.' And I said, You gotta be kidding me, you just ruined your whole life.”
In 2022, Chapman was denied parole for the 12th time. He is next due to appear before the parole board in February 2024.
Watch the trailer below:
