Back Stories: Covering Mark David Chapman's Murder Trial

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – In January 1981, Mark David Chapman pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdering John Lennon.

WCBS reporter Irene Cornell remembers covering the high-profile trial.

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"His first lawyer who brought him to court very shortly after the murder summed it all up when he said, 'this guy is nutty as a fruitcake,'" she says.

The dozen psychiatrists and psychologists who interviewed Chapman over the next three years agreed.

He was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years to life. He's been denied parole nine times.