John Lennon’s Killer, Mark David Chapman, Moves to Different Prison [VIDEO]

I was working on the air the night John Lennon was murdered.  We played records back then.  Commercials were recorded on 4-tracks, and Sunday church services came by way of reel-to-reel tape.  There was a red telephone in the control room, and when it blinked (phones don't 'ring' inside a studio environment), not picking it up meant the D.J. career would be on hold.

I seem to recall it was just after 8 p.m. on December 8, 1980.  The AP Teletype Machine was unusally active for this time of night, so I began ripping off the paper like a dog with rabies.  And, there it was, the reason that the clickety-clack of the hammer was ferociously giving the paper a non-stop barrage of letter and number pounding.

"JOHN LENNON DEAD".  I stared in disbelief as I could see the red light illuminating just 10 feet away.  I knew it was The Program Director calling.  "Take that 'b&*c#&%' Air Supply off and go all Beatles", he said.  Here's how the news sounded during the Monday Night Footbal telecast:

Today, we're reminded of this senseless tragedy again.  Mark David Chapman, Lennon's executioner, was moved from New York's Attica Prison to the Wende Correctional Facility.  I hope going from a "prison" to a "correctional facility" doesn't mean this guy is getting closer to probation.  His sentence was 20 years to life, and he's been a model inmate since 1994.  Chapman's next hearing is scheduled for August.

R.I.P., John