John Lennon Murder: New Details Promised

A new three-part documentary series from AppleTV+ is promising new details about John Lennon's murder and the subsequent arrest, investigation and conviction of Mark David Chapman, who was convicted for the musician's murder.

"John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial is the most thoroughly researched examination of John Lennon’s 1980 murder," a release from the company reads.

The series, which will be narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, will include eyewitness interviews and new crime scene photos that have never been seen before.

As part of creating the series, the "production was granted extensive Freedom of Information Act requests from the New York City Police Department, the Board of Parole and the District Attorney’s office."

Some of Lennon's friends and interviews with people involved with Chapman (including defense lawyers, psychiatrists, detectives and prosecutors) will also be part of the upcoming docuseries.

Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980, after he was shot in the entrance to his New York City apartment building the Dakota.

Chapman was denied parole for a twelfth time in 2022 and is up for parole again in February 2024, according to the AP.

The musical legacy of Lennon and The Beatles lives on. The band will share their long-awaited final song on Nov.2, more than 50 years after releasing their last album Let It Be.

Lennon began working on "Now and Then" in the late '70s before his death. Yoko Ono found the demo and gave the recording to Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1994. The trio recorded new parts on drums, guitars and bass to finish a rough mix of the song, but at the time, technological shortcomings made it difficult to produce with Lennon's existing audio. But now, thanks to AI, the single is coming off the shelf.

McCartney said they've been working on the unreleased track for years, and clarified that they didn't use AI to generate fake voices or instruments, but merely to clean up the recordings. "Nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It's all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings," he wrote earlier this year.

In 2022, surviving members McCartney and Starr set out to complete the song. Starr recorded a new drum part, while McCartney contributed bass, guitar and piano to match Lennon's original playing, plus a Harrison-inspired slide-guitar solo. They both sang backing vocals, as well.

"There it was, John's voice, crystal clear. It's quite emotional," McCartney said in a statement. "And we all play on it, it's a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven't heard, I think it’s an exciting thing."

Starr added, "It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It's far out."