The Crime Book

240

See also: Madame Caillaux 217 ■ The Murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie

Smalls 254–57 ■ The Assassination of John F. Kennedy 316–21

W

hen Mark David

Chapman fired bullets

into John Lennon’s back

on 8 December 1980, he not only

destroyed an icon of his generation,

but also announced the arrival of a

new kind of murderer: the celebrity

killer. As a child in the Deep South,

he was mesmerized by the Beatles,

but would later turn against them.

Fixated on fame

Chapman had an unstable identity

and was plagued by chronic

feelings of worthlessness. At a low

point, in 1977, he attempted suicide

in Hawaii, but failed to end his life.

Chapman became obsessed

with Beatles frontman John Lennon

after reading his biography. At the

time, he was also heavily influenced

by J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the

Rye, and came to see Lennon as a

“phony”. For months, he stalked the

star in New York City.

In December 1980, he finally

made a move, ambushing Lennon

as he returned to the Dakota

Building from a recording session.

Chapman shot Lennon five times

with a .38-calibre pistol. As the

doorman took Chapman’s gun, the

killer did not try to escape. Instead,

he sat and waited for police to arrive

at the scene. Lennon was rushed to

hospital, but was declared dead

within 15 minutes of his arrival.

Chapman said he shot Lennon

to achieve notoriety. He was

diagnosed as psychotic. In June

1981, he pleaded guilty to murder,

and was sentenced to 20 years to

life. He remains behind bars. ■

I WAS MR NOBODY

UNTIL I KILLED THE

BIGGEST SOMEBODY

ON EARTH

THE MURDER OF JOHN LENNON, 8 DECEMBER 1980

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

New York City, US

THEME

Celebrity stalker

AFTER

1981 John Hinkley Jr enrols

at Yale in order to stalk actress

Jodie Foster on campus.

On 30 March, he attempts to

assassinate US President

Ronald Reagan as a “love

offering” to Foster.

1989 Robert John Bardo

shoots actress Rebecca

Schaeffer after stalking her

for three years.

1995 Yolanda Saldívar stalks

Tejano singer Selena in a bid

to take over the running of

her fan club. Selena fires her,

and Saldívar kills the singer

on 31 March.

2004 Nathan Gale, a fan of

the band Pantera, murders

several people at a heavy metal

concert. He is upset at the

news that the band is splitting.

Fans pay homage to Lennon at the

Dakota Building. News of the murder

led to an international display of grief;

at least three fans committed suicide

in response to his death.

240-241_Mark_Chapman_Roberto_Calvi.indd 240 13/01/2017 15:19

241

See also: Bernie Madoff 116–17 ■ The Sicilian Mafia 138–45 ■ The Beer Wars

152–53 ■ The Assassination of Rasputin 312–15

I

n 1975, Roberto Calvi became

the chairman of the Banco

Ambrosiano, a Catholic bank

founded 75 years earlier to serve

moral and religious organizations.

Its main shareholder was the

Vatican Bank. This connection led

Calvi to be called “God’s Banker”;

however, his actions as the bank’s

chairman were decidedly not holy.

Calvi made a number of shady

moves: siphoning money to fund

political parties; securing a

controlling interest in the Banco

Cattolica del Veneto; and creating

offshore enterprises. He transferred

billions out of Italy, inflated the

prices of shares, and took out a

fortune in unsecured loans. In 1978,

his activities came to the attention

of the Bank of Italy, who began to

investigate him.

Calvi was convicted, given a

four-year suspended sentence, and

released on bail. Close to $1 billion

(£1.6 billion) in debt, the bank owed

a huge sum to the Sicilian Mafia.

The Banco Ambrosiano collapsed

in June 1982, and that month, Calvi

disappeared from his flat in Rome.

His body was found eight days

later, hanging from scaffolding

under London’s Blackfriars Bridge.

The banker had belonged to the

P2 Freemasons, frati neri (black

friars), and the name of the bridge

did not escape notice. Initially ruled

a suicide, prosecutors came to

believe that the Mafia had killed

Calvi to stop him revealing details

of their dealings – or those of

freemasons, politicians, and other

powerful groups. Five suspects

were charged in 2005, but were

acquitted due to lack of evidence. ■

MURDER CASES

WHO HAS SENT YOU

AGAINST ME? WHO

HAS TOLD YOU TO

DO THIS THING?

THE MURDER OF ROBERTO CALVI, 17 JUNE 1982

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

London, England

THEME

Mafia hit

BEFORE

1957 In New York, Albert

“The Mad Hatter” Anastasia

is murdered in his barber’s

chair on the orders of mobster

“Don Vito” Genovese.

1980 Philadelphia crime boss

Angelo Bruno is murdered and

stuffed with dollar bills on the

orders of his own consigliere,

Antonio Caponigro, following a

dispute about the meth trade.

AFTER

1986 Chicago Outfit boss

Rocco Infelice orders the

murder of Anthony Spilotro,

who runs the Outfit’s business

in Las Vegas, and his brother.

1990 Lucchese family member

Anthony DiLapi moves to

California to escape the mob,

but is found and gunned down

on Anthony Casso’s orders.

There was the Vatican, the

Mafia, Freemasons, and

politicians. This trial is... just

a part of all of these stories.

Luca Tescaroli

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