John Lennon’s Killer Denied Parole

Mark David Chapman, the convicted killer of John Lennon, will remain behind bars at least another two years.

He has just been denied parole for the 5th time. In a one-page decision, the parole board sides with Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, who said she and Lennon's two sons would never feel safe again if Chapman were released, the New York Daily News reported.

The board noted that Chapman has had a clean disciplinary record since 1994 at New York's Attica Correctional Facility, where he is serving 20 years to life. However, Chapman's "discretionary release, at this time, would ... not be compatible with the welfare of society at large and would tend to deprecate the seriousness of the instant officense, and undermine respect for the law," the board writes.

Chapman twice traveled from Hawaii to kill Lennon, and shot him to death as he was returning to his Manhattan home from a recording session, "with an essentially clear mind," according to the board.

The legendary former Beatle was murdered Dec. 8, 1980.