The Murder of John Lennon
On the evening of 8 December 1980, English musician\xa0John Lennon, formerly of\xa0the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of\xa0The Dakota, his residence in\xa0New York City. His killer was\xa0Mark David Chapman, an American Beatles fan who was incensed by Lennon's lavish lifestyle and his 1966 comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". Chapman said he was inspired by the fictional character\xa0Holden Caulfield\xa0from\xa0J. D. Salinger's novel\xa0The Catcher in the Rye, a "phony-killer" who despises hypocrisy.