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NEW YORK — The police officer who arrested John Lennon's killer is selling letters written to him by the man 30 years ago.
Stephen Spiro said the four letters, written by Mark David Chapman, mark the only times he has received letters from someone he arrested. Chapman was convicted in the Dec. 8, 1980 murder of former Beatle John Lennon and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
Chapman shot Lennon outside The Dakota apartment building in New York City, hitting the singer four times in the back. He remained at the scene reading "The Catcher in the Rye" until police arrived and arrested him. He later claimed the book was his statement.
In the letters, Chapman repeatedly tells Spiro that what happened the night of the murder would be explained if the cop read "The Catcher in the Rye," according to CNN.
"Besides wanting to be your friend, there are two reasons for this first letter. First, is there any way that you can help me locate my copy of The Catcher in the Rye that was taken from me on the night of my arrest? Second, in the patrol car on the way to the stationhouse, I remember you telling your partner — very excitedly — that you KNEW something big was going to happen to you on that evening. Do you remember this? I would like you to tell me more of this if possible."
Chapman also appeared to have taken to the officer, expressing the hope the two could be friends and telling Spiro he was a great cop.
The letters, written between January and May 1983, will be on sale for $75,000 on the Moments in Time website beginning Monday.
"They've been in my possession for 30 years, and I'm 66 years old, and I'm saying, you know, what am I going to do with these things? So I figured I'd sell them," Spiro told CNN.
Spiro told CNN he wrote Chapman back a few times, but it was Chapman who stopped the correspondence. He said he plans on donating some of the money from the sale to a local shelter for battered women.
