The Final Hours of John Lennon

foreign [Music] this evening one of the world's great entertainers and musicians John Lennon of The Beatles were shot outside apparently it happened around town this evening Roosevelt Hospital he said that Lennon was brought here this evening [Music] the sun rises over Central Park the 40 year old John Lennon gets out of bed and puts on his black kimono and his wife Yoko sleeps both are riding high after five years of the public eye their new album double fantasy is on top of the charts but they are also busy with the promotion and recording of new material it's one of the warmest days of the season but Jon and Yoko don't have time to fully enjoy it they have a full day of work ahead of them including a photo shoot and a radio interview meanwhile 20 streets away from them at the Sheraton Center on 7th Avenue Mark David Chapman is also contemplating his day he flew into the city two days earlier intending to kill John Lennon over the weekend and spent hours outside the Dakota building where John and Yoko lived foreign left the Dakota and had breakfast at the cafe La Fortuna on East 71st Avenue John ate eggs and followed with a cappuccino and a gitan cigarette then decided to get a haircut because he had a photo shoot scheduled for the Rolling Stone magazine by photographer Annie Leibovitz [Music] John is excited to be working again he tells Annie that he has the idea for the magazine shoot he tells her that he knows that the publication will probably just want Lennon on the cover but he's hopeful that they will include Yoko he tells his idea for the cover Jon wants to be photographed naked clinging to a clothed Yoko Ono Leibovitz has no problem with that and the photographs are taken the image turns out to be one of the most iconic and would be the cover of Rolling Stone magazine just a few weeks later foreign the San Francisco radio producer Dave scholen arrives to do what would become John Lennon's last interview during the three-hour session John began reflecting on the recent celebration of his 40th birthday and encroaching middle age I hope I die before Yoko he said because if Yoko died I wouldn't know how to survive I couldn't carry on we are either going to live or we are going to die I consider that my work won't be finished until I'm dead and buried and I hope that's a long long time when the Lenin stepped onto the sidewalk along West 72nd Street the area around the entrance to the Dakota was unusually vacant where are my fans John asked at that point amateur photographer Paul garesh walked up to show Jon the proofs from a recent visit he had made as John scanned the photos another fan walked up sheepishly extending a copy of Double Fantasy and a pen in his direction do you want me to sign that John writes John Lennon 1980. his name was 25 year old Mark David Chapman in his coat pocket he has a Charter Arms 38 caliber revolver after signing the record Jon hands it back to him looks the boy in the eyes and asks is that what you want Chapman doesn't answer and Lennon gets into his car as the car pulled away garesh saw Jon wave goodbye to him seizing the moment as their driver navigated the snarling Midtown traffic sholin resumed their conversation asking John about his current relationship with Paul for his part John didn't miss a beat telling sholin that the rifted being overblown and that Paul was like a brother I love him families we certainly have our ups and downs and our quarrels but at the end of the day when it's all said and done I would do anything for him and I think he would do anything for me John and Yoko spent four and a half hours working at the record plant they are finishing a song called walking on thin ice which will be a single for Yoko faced with optimism Lenin says to her you just recorded your first number one during the session David Geffen head of the label visited the couple in the recording studio to tell them that their Double Fantasy album had just gone gold record Lenin left the studio a happy man probably as happy as he'd been in years John made arrangements to return at nine in the morning the next day saying goodbye to producer Jack Douglas with a smile on leaving the studio Yoko asked John to go to dinner together but Jon insisted on going to say goodnight to Sean his limousine takes him down 8th Avenue to Columbus Circle continues North on Central Park West and then left on 72nd Street Chapman is still loitering in front of the Dakota where he struck up a conversation with the doorman there was a vehicle parked in front of the Dakota entrance so the limo doesn't enter the building and pulls up just ahead of the door Yoko gets out followed by Jon holding a tape recorder and cassettes Jon looks at Chapman as he passes Chapman says Mr Lennon and as John starts to turn Chapman shoots him the first two hit Jon in the back spinning him around immediately while two more hit him in the shoulder and a fifth misses each bullet passing through his body and the last crashing into the building Lenin stumbles down the five steps of the building's office the security man was reading a magazine but when he sees Jon fall he immediately presses the alarm button under the desk and calls the police Yoko rushes to back up her husband and shouts for a doctor outside Chapman takes off his coat so the police can see he is not armed but Chapman does little to escape either within two minutes the street is full of police cars Chapman in seconds is handcuffed two officers lift the musician onto their shoulders and place him in the back of their patrol car one remembers hearing John's bones Creak as they lifted him the police sirens go on and they immediately head to Saint Luke Roosevelt's hospital just a few blocks from the Lenin home when Jon arrived at the emergency room he had lost almost 80 percent of his blood he has no pulse Dr Steven Lin director of the emergency room returned to the hospital immediately after finishing his shift doctors do an emergency threctomey the surgery is an opening in the side of the body to access various organs such as the lungs or heart one of the most advanced Protocols of cardiopulmonary resuscitation Lenin has made an incision in the left chest and the ribs are separated where they found a large amount of blood they discovered that the main blood vessels leaving the heart were simply destroyed I literally held his heart in my hand and pumped said the main doctor but every time I pumped most of what I did came out of all the blood holes it was totally ineffective although seven doctors had tried desperately to revive him John finally died I have very bad news says the doctor to Yoko Ono despite all our efforts to save your husband we couldn't and he died Yoko was devastated on ABC News while Monday Night Football was happening Howard Coos he announces John Lennon's deaths to the world remember this is just a football game no matter who wins or loses an unspeakable tragedy confirmed To Us by ABC news in New York City John Lennon outside of his apartment building on the west side of New York City the most famous perhaps of all the Beatles shot twice in the back rushed to Roosevelt Hospital Dead on Arrival John was taken in a body bag from the morgue to Frank E Campbell Funeral Chapel at Madison and 81st Street from there he went to Ferncliff Mortuary in Hartsdale for a cremation Lennon was extremely fearful of the practice of cremation and despite this Yoko chose to burn the beetle I'm sure she was aware of his feelings because he had once wrote against the practice in a song according to the documentary the real John Lennon none of his family in England were consulted about what to do with his remains in fact in his will only his son Sean as mentioned nothing is said about Julian meanwhile well Chapman was charged with second-degree murder of Lenin as premeditation in New York state was not sufficient to Warrant charge of first-degree murder despite advice by his lawyers to plead Insanity Chapman pleaded guilty to murdering Lenin saying that his guilty plea was the will of God under the terms of his guilty plea he was sentenced to 20 years to life with eligibility for parole in 2000 before his sentencing he was given the opportunity to address the court at which point he read a passage from The Catcher in the Rye as of September 2022 he has been denied parole 12 times and remains incarcerated at Greenhaven Correctional Facility but they couldn't because his message is still alive [Music]

Channel: Music Box USA

Views: 35,124

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Id: 4r8wMecla54

Length: 9min 41sec (581 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 08 2022