Who Killed John Lennon?

by Fenton Bresler

Book Overview

(On December 8, 1980, the world was shocked by the news. Rock and roll star John Lennon was assassinated outside his New York City apartment. The murderer, Mark David Chapman, a pudgy, blue-eyed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312034520
• ISBN13: 9780312034528
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 309 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Nothing to Kill or Die For

This well researched book explores a possible political component to the 1980 murder of John Lennon. Outspoken and involved in political causes, the late former Beatle had a dossier by the FBI. He was considered an insurgent rebel by many politicos of the day.Bresler's book does an excellent job of following the man who killed John Lennon. He accurately chronicles the assassin's movements during the latter part of 1980 and his boyhood overidentification with the former Beatle. Bresler does not skip a beat, his work takes his readers along that sad, psychotic trail Lennon's killer took in late 1980.The assassin, caught in a love-hate obsession concerning John Lennon appears to be confused about his own identity. A former Beatles fan, the killer would, by 1966 turn against them because of John Lennon's comment that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Irate and confused, the killer appeared to try to suppress his natural love for their music while justifying his hatred of John. It is indeed the killer's behavior that calls attention to his desire to emulate the late Beatle. The assassin marries a woman who is Japanese; he expresses an enjoyment for the same types of art and music that Lennon publicly endorsed. By late 1980 the lines between reality and fantasy blurred; on his last day of work, the killer signed out of his company log book as "John Lennon." He then left Hawaii where he was then living for New York. An extremely confused man, he overidentifies with Holden Caulfield, the young protagonist of "Catcher in the Rye" infamy. He, like Holden declares a moratorium against "phonies" and in his mind, John Lennon is one of those phonies His fantasies ultimately consume him and the results are...devastating.Bresler does an excellent job of chronicling the series of events that took place when and after John Lennon was murdered; he also does an excellent job of debunking many of the tabloid biographies of the day, e.g. Goldman and Guiliano's biographies of the late Beatle. John's youngest son, Sean, for example comes down hard on the Goldman book which portrays John as punitive and uncomfortable around children as a "total lie." He said that John did indeed enjoy being kissed by Sean and his older half brother Julian and that Goldman's statement otherwise was untrue. I was impressed with the accuracy and objectivity of this work. It will certainly hold a reader's interest and is an invaluable source of information. I'm lucky to have this. It would be nice to see this back in print.

There is hope in speaking truth to power

John Lennon's death never DID make sense to me outside of the context of some kind of conspiracy. When he died, I was 27 years old. I had lived through the trauma of JFK's, RFK's and MLK's assassinations. I did not believe they were lone nut killings either, they were too important, and the question "who benefits?" usually leads to an obvious motive and an obvious suspect, even if it can't be proven. Once he was dead, I understood that John Lennon was the last hope of a dying spirit, the spirit of the 60s, the hope of a generation that had dreamed of creating a world of freedom, love and non-violence. That, to me, was the motive of a generation unwilling to pass the torch of life onto the next generation, the very baby boom they had created at the end of WWII to expand their own egos, yet were unwilling to acknowledge as having minds of their own and perhaps valid resentments having grown up with the values of a war torn parentage. This book dovetails nicely with the other books I have read and reviewed (see more about me) and the evidence is startling and massive to validate Bresler's theory that Chapman was, indeed, a mind controlled killer. The fact is, the CIA's shenanigans go far beyond MK-ULTRA, and have not stopped yet. They are gathering power as you read this, and looking the other way will not stop them. I'm not sure what will, but letting anyone else do your thinking for you won't. Learn as much as you can and know your own mind. Question authority, as the mantra from the 60s challenged, and do not allow the dreams and visions of the flower children to be silenced. They are not dead. They did take root. The toxic poison that surrounds us all is a deadly threat, but as long as we are open to learning and knowing and speaking truth to power, there is hope.

This book asks very disturbing and challenging questions

When I first saw this title I said, "No, no, no. I'm not ready for this. I still haven't come to terms with several other murder conspiracies and I don't need this one." I was inclined to take the story at face value, that which was offered by the major media at the time. I certainly did not want to think there was something more sinister behind the Lennon killing. When I picked up the book out of curiosity I found not the ravings of a "conspiracy nut," but a very coherent and rational investigation into the murderer. It had been "an open and shut" case, so few questions were ever raised about it. But the book reminded me that some of the reports about it had made me wonder at the time. I had not pursued the questions then and believed that I was being told the truth. Like others who loved John Lennon, I was grief stricken at the time and not inclined to ask a lot of questions. But when news reports described Chapman's movements the week of the murder, they said he traveled to Hawaii, to Chicago, sold some paintings, then came to New York. I wondered: if this guy is such a loser as they describe, who can barely get a job, where does he get the money to travel widely and deal in art? This book picks up that thread and examines Chapman, where he came from, how he spent his life before he entered history as another "lone assassin" and where, indeed, he did find the means to travel and purchase expensive works of art. The resulting picture is not pretty, does not inspire confidence in our government agencies. Some of the FBI documents on the surveillance of Lennon, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, reflect the frightening cloak-and-dagger mindset of agents of the bureau as they watch and take notes on Lennon as he goes to the deli to buy yogurt during a recording session, or whatever else his daily routines entailed. Whatever your final conclusion, it is hard not to be disturbed by how these people are spending your tax money. I wish the book were still in print.

read this book

Read this book not for its literary value, but for the rather shocking facts it reveals. Bresler is the only individual to have seriously investigated the Lennon assassination - no one in law enforcement did. Since Chapman confessed and refused the plea of his lawyer to plead insane, there was no trial, hence no investigation. Bresler makes the case that he was a programmed assassin, manipulated by the CIA (with whom Bresler shows he had close proximity, even if contact can't be proved). Did you know that he spent June 1975 in Beirut? Lennon was murdered because the CIA was about to launch its Central America war (its War of the Decade), and it needed to dispose of the one individual popular enough - and inclined enough - to galvanize a popular movement. If you don't believe they're capable of it, try "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: the CIA and Mind Control" by John Marks.

read this book

Read this book not for its literary value, but for the rather shocking facts it reveals. Bresler is the only individual to have seriously investigated the Lennon assassination - no one in law enforcement did. Since Chapman confessed and refused the plea of his lawyer to plead insane, there was no trial, hence no investigation. Bresler makes the case that he was a programmed assassin, manipulated by the CIA (with whom Bresler shows he had close proximity, even if contact can't be proved). Did you know that he spent June 1975 in Beirut? Lennon was murdered because the CIA was about to launch its Central America war (its War of the Decade), and it needed to dispose of the one individual popular enough - and inclined enough - to galvanize a popular movement. If you don't believe they're capable of it, try "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: the CIA and Mind Control" by John Marks.