Inside the mind of John Lennon’s killer

It was 35 years ago to the day that my English teacher in high school told us John Lennon had been killed. And then he cried. This is Danielle Sloane at CNN:

There was a voice in his head, a gun in his hand, and John Lennon's wife right in front of him. Mark David Chapman knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to take the life of one of the world's most beloved musicians.

“When the car pulled up and Yoko got out, something in the back of my mind was going 'Do it, do it, do it,'” he said, recalling the night of December 8, 1980.

“I stepped off the curb, walked, turned, I took the gun and just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”

Chapman was speaking with reporter Jim Gaines in a visiting room at Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York, three years after he killed Lennon. After initially refusing interview requests, he had finally agreed to talk.

The convicted killer sat with Gaines for hundreds of hours of exclusive taped conversations which have been obtained by CNN.

For Gaines, it was personal interest that compelled him to delve into the mystery of why Chapman killed Lennon.

More here.