John Lennon - It was 25 years ago today...

It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since former Beatle John Lennon was shot to death by a crazy "fan". On the night of Dec. 8, 1980 Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were returning home from a recording session when Mark David Chapman, who had been waiting hours for Lennon to return, fired 4 shots into Lennon's back. He had travelled all the way from Hawaii to New York to do this one deed. John died shortly thereafter. He was 40 years old and an ex-Beatle for 10 years. Chapman was 25 at the time and has now spent half of his life in prison for the murder. I wonder if he thinks it was worth it?

The photo above was taken by another fan a few hours before John's murder. It shows the would-be killer aquiring an autograph from his "obsession". [Click the photo for a larger version]