On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman was photographed as he approached John Lennon outside his New York home. He asked the Beatles member to autograph his copy of the “Double Fantasy” album. Five hours later, Chapman returned and shot Lennon to death. The record album in question is now up for sale by Moments in Time at a fixed price of $1.5 million.
John Lennon signs his autograph five hours before his death
Five hours after Lennon autographed Chapman’s album, signing on the neck of his wife Yoko Ono’s image, Lennon returned home from a recording session to the Dakota building where he lived with his wife.
Chapman then assassinated Lennon. It turned out the killer still had the album on him and in the chaos following the shooting, the album was dropped. It was later discovered by a maintenance man who worked in the building and handed over to the police as evidence in the shooting.
A chilling pic of John Lennon signing an autograph for his killer, Mark David Chapman, just moments before his death. pic.twitter.com/GJ0K3KEX4a
— ahsatan (@sadwafffle) July 10, 2017
New York prosecutors later returned the album to the maintenance man, with a note from the district attorney, thanking him for his help.
The black and white album cover shows Lennon kissing Ono, with his autograph scrawled across her neck.
To make it more gruesome, the forensically enhanced fingerprints of the killer are still on the cover, along with an evidence marker WJ-T2. There are also other elements of the police investigation included in the sale.
The “Double Fantasy” album that John Lennon signed for his killer Mark David Chapman just… https://t.co/dIwBFedQ9O pic.twitter.com/m904XKHYzI
— Rumor Bus (@RumorBus) July 15, 2017
'Double Fantasy' album has been sold several times
Probably the most gruesome artifact in rock history, the album has been doing the rounds ever since, after being sold several times.
In 1998 it went for $150,000, while in the most recent sale in 2010, the album fetched $850,000.
Gary Zimet of Moments in Time is offering the album on behalf of an anonymous owner. He says it is an “important piece of music memorabilia” and a major part of rock history. Zimet added that the sale is at the fixed price of $1.5 million.
Speaking to Moments in Time, agent Bob Zafian said he had never come across a piece with such iconic and historic origins. The sale of the album includes fingerprint documentation, police reports, along with the District Attorneys letters.
Chapman remains behind bars for assassinating John Lennon
Meanwhile, Chapman continues to serve his 20 years to life sentence for second-degree murder. He has tried for parole nine times and each time has been denied. Page Six notes that Chapman once tried to reclaim his “Double Fantasy"’ album. He wrote in 1986 that he wanted to auction the album in aid of a children’s charity and that this was the least he could do to make amends.
