Question: December 8, 1980 -- What are the events leading up to John Lennon's murder?
Answer: October 23rd, 1980: The killer leaves his job as a security guard.
October 27th, 1980: He buys a gun at a store in Honolulu, HI, near where he was living at the time.
October 30th, 1980: He boards a plane for New York City. When he lands, the killer has a meal and spends the rest of the day walking around the Dakota building where John lived, striking up a conversation with the doorman (who gave out no useful information) and trying to find the windows of the Lennons' apartment. Finding that the bullets he needed for his gun were illegal in New York, he flies to Atlanta to visit a friend, sheriff's deputy Dana Reeves. Dana gives the killer the bullets, thinking they're for his own personal protection in New York.
November 10th, 1980: Arriving back in New York, the murderer sees the movie "Ordinary People" and has a revelation that stops him from committing the murder. He calls his wife in Hawaii, confesses everything, and flies home.
December 6th, 1980: Still disturbed by his mental problems, the killer returns to New York again, telling his wife that the trip was now a career move. He checks into the YMCA and walks to the Dakota, where he meets two fans who often talked to John outside the building. The killer gives up waiting and returns to the Y just fifteen minutes before John arrives. On the way, he purchases a copy of John's new album, "Double Fantasy," as part of his plan.
December 7th, 1980: Moving to the Sheraton on 52nd Street, the murderer again waits in vain three hours for John outside the Dakota.
December 8th, 1980: The murderer awakes and constructs a crude altar to his life and Lennon obsession on his hotel dresser. He buys a copy of Catcher In the Rye, also part of the plan, and writes this on the inside: "This is my statement.” He signs it “Holden Caulfield.” He chats with the doorman outside the Dakota, but misses Lennon entering the building. Eventually, he meets an amateur photographer, Paul Goresh, and strikes up a conversation with him and doorman Jose Perdomo. At one point, Sean Lennon, John's son, emerges with his nanny. The killer shakes the boy's hand.
October 27th, 1980: He buys a gun at a store in Honolulu, HI, near where he was living at the time.
October 30th, 1980: He boards a plane for New York City. When he lands, the killer has a meal and spends the rest of the day walking around the Dakota building where John lived, striking up a conversation with the doorman (who gave out no useful information) and trying to find the windows of the Lennons' apartment. Finding that the bullets he needed for his gun were illegal in New York, he flies to Atlanta to visit a friend, sheriff's deputy Dana Reeves. Dana gives the killer the bullets, thinking they're for his own personal protection in New York.
November 10th, 1980: Arriving back in New York, the murderer sees the movie "Ordinary People" and has a revelation that stops him from committing the murder. He calls his wife in Hawaii, confesses everything, and flies home.
December 6th, 1980: Still disturbed by his mental problems, the killer returns to New York again, telling his wife that the trip was now a career move. He checks into the YMCA and walks to the Dakota, where he meets two fans who often talked to John outside the building. The killer gives up waiting and returns to the Y just fifteen minutes before John arrives. On the way, he purchases a copy of John's new album, "Double Fantasy," as part of his plan.
December 7th, 1980: Moving to the Sheraton on 52nd Street, the murderer again waits in vain three hours for John outside the Dakota.
December 8th, 1980: The murderer awakes and constructs a crude altar to his life and Lennon obsession on his hotel dresser. He buys a copy of Catcher In the Rye, also part of the plan, and writes this on the inside: "This is my statement.” He signs it “Holden Caulfield.” He chats with the doorman outside the Dakota, but misses Lennon entering the building. Eventually, he meets an amateur photographer, Paul Goresh, and strikes up a conversation with him and doorman Jose Perdomo. At one point, Sean Lennon, John's son, emerges with his nanny. The killer shakes the boy's hand.
