Lennon's Death

A crowd gathers outside The Dakota apartment building in New York on Dec. 8, 1980, hours after reports that former Beatle John Lennon has been fatally shot.

A distraught Yoko Ono is supported by David Geffen of Geffen Records, right, and a police officer as she leaves Roosevelt Hospital in New York late Monday night, Dec. 8, 1980, after learning that her husband, John Lennon, has died. Lennon was shot outside his apartment in New York.

Yoko Ono, widow of John Lennon, and their son, Sean, withdrew from public view soon after Lennon's murder on Dec. 8, 1980 in New York. Here, they are shown in London, England on March 20, 1986.

Police lead Mark David Chapman, head covered, from the 20th Precinct in New York on Dec. 9, 1980. Chapman ultimately was convicted of murdering singer John Lennon on the evening of Dec. 8, 1980, as the former Beatle returned to his apartment building from a recording session.

Corrections officers escort Mark David Chapman, with coat over head, into the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York on Thursday, Dec. 11, 1980. Chapman, charged with murdering former Beatle John Lennon three days earlier, was returning from an appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court.

Mark David Chapman was a member of a YMCA group in Fort Chaffee, Ark., in 1975. Chapman was convicted of shooting former Beatle John Lennon in New York on Dec. 8, 1980. A quarter century after Lennon's death, a clearer picture has emerged of the mentally disturbed killer, though some would prefer that Chapman's name be omitted from Lennon's legacy.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney, center, holds up the hands of the late John Lennon's son Sean, left, and his wife, Yoko Ono, after John Lennon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Jan. 19, 1994.

Yoko Ono stands before a poster of her late husband, John Lennon, at the premiere of the DVD containing 20 songs and some previously unreleased footage and home movies of Lennon, at a London cinema on Oct. 14, 2003.

Dr. Stephan Lynn, emergency room director of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, poses in the emergency room at the hospital, Nov. 30, 2005. Lynn was the attending physician the night John Lennon was admitted after being shot outside The Dakota apartment building, Dec. 8, 1980.

In a photo taken Nov. 30, 2005, Dr. Stephan Lynn, emergency room director at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, holds a copy of the Jan. 22, 1981, Rolling Stone magazine story reporting his announcement of the death of John Lennon. Lynn was the attending physician the night John Lennon died on Dec. 8, 1980.

A makeshift peace sign made of flowers lies atop the "Strawberry Fields" memorial to John Lennon in New York's Central Park, Wednesday Dec. 7, 2005. The memorial is near The Dakota, the building where Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, lived and where he was murdered 25 years ago.

Robert Cruz, background, a tour guide with New York Party Shuttle, shows a group of tourists the "Strawberry Fields " memorial to John Lennon, marked with a makeshift peace sign made of flowers in New York's Central Park, Wednesday Dec. 7, 2005.

The top from a two-piece tracksuit once owned and worn by Beatle John Lennon is displayed at the Proud Galleries on November 29, 2005 in London, England. The tracksuit is to be auctioned on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005.

A Beatles White Album signed and drawn on by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 is on display at Christie's Auction House, Nov. 21, 2005 in New York. The signed album was expected to bring $8,000 to $12,000 at auction.