Bonus Episode: True Crime Catch Up - The Murder of John Lennon
UK True Crime Podcast
UK True Crime Podcast
4.4 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You may have listened to the 'True Crime Round Up' this year, where me and Stuart, host of the British Murders Podcast, talked about all things true crime once a month. Well, due to the popularity of this show we now release it every Wednesday on a separate feed and it is called the 'True Crime Catch Up'. You can listen every week on the usual podcast apps or you can watch us on YouTube. The link below will take you to Spotify, Apply and YouTube and if you enjoy the show, please do follow us there so we can continue to grow the show.
This week, we look at the shocking 1980 murder of John Lennon in New York which shocked the world. What followed raised uncomfortable questions that continue to surface after acts of extreme violence.
In this podcast, we examine the murder and the intense focus placed on The Catcher in the Rye, the book carried by his killer, Mark David Chapman. We explore how quickly media attention shifted from the crime itself to the idea that books, films, and popular culture can influence real-world violence, and whether that connection stands up to scrutiny.
Listen/Watch the True Crime Catch Up
https://audioalways.lnk.to/TrueCrimeCatchUp
Join me at TrueCrimeFest in London in March
https://www.truecrimefest.co.uk/
Watch my YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/@Adam-uktruecrime/videos
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Always True Crime, a podcast network bringing you gripping real-life stories that you won't be able to stop thinking about. |
| 0:08.2 | Discover your next true crime obsession at alwaystruecrime.com. |
| 0:12.4 | On January 6, 1981, 45 years ago this week, Lenin's killer, Mark David Chapman, stood in court and pleaded not guilty by reason |
| 0:23.2 | of insanity. And almost immediately, the focus began to shift, not just to who Chapman was, |
| 0:29.8 | but to what he'd been reading, watching and consuming. Because very quickly this stopped being |
| 0:35.4 | framed as just the murder of a beetle and became a debate about whether books, films and media could be blamed for real-world violence. |
| 0:45.0 | You're listening to True Crime Catch Up. |
| 0:47.7 | I'm Stuart Blues from British Murders, joined as ever by Adam Lloyd from UK True Crime. |
| 0:52.4 | Hello. |
| 0:53.7 | Happy New Year from us both, by the way. |
| 0:55.6 | How long can you say Happy New Year? |
| 0:58.0 | January the 26. |
| 0:59.1 | January 26. |
| 1:00.2 | Yeah. |
| 1:00.4 | Okay. |
| 1:00.9 | Well, we're still within that window, controversial as it may be. |
| 1:04.6 | Regarding true crime catch up, let's get back on board. |
| 1:07.1 | Every week we break down what's been happening in true crime. |
| 1:10.0 | The major stories making headlines and the stranger ones that often slip under the radar. If you like these discussions, make sure you're following the show. Get subscribed on YouTube if you're watching on there. And if you've got a moment, leave us a rating and a review. It's completely free to do and it helps the show reach a much wider audience. Adam, ready for this? Yeah, I'm looking forward to this one. I really am because I know that whenever I go to New York, I don't go to New York lots, you know, I've been maybe 10 times. But whenever I do go, I always head to Strawberry Fields Memorial for John Leland. It's in Central Park, just yards from where he's shot by the Dakota buildings. And whenever you go, it's always packed. Absolutely packed so many people there. I think it just shows again, and we've seen it online these last couple of weeks, haven't we, as the anniversary has come around again. His influence is just immense, isn't it, after all those years? But let's go back in time. And when Mark Chapman was |
| 2:01.9 | arrested at the scene, he was just 25 years old, which sometimes surprises me. For some ways, |
| 2:06.9 | I think he was older than that. And on him was a copy of The Catcher in the Rye, the 1951 novel by |
| 2:13.0 | J.D. Salinger. How do you pronounce it? I would say Salinger, but I honestly don't know. I'm sure we'll get some stick either way. |
... |
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