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On December 8 1980, I was assigned

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to the 20ths precinct. I was a patrolman in a radio car

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And I got a call that there was shots fired at 1 W.

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72nd street. There was a man pointing

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and he said "That's the man doing the shooting."

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And at that point we realized that this was for real.

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So I peeked in and saw a man with his hands up.

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So I threw this guy up against a wall and at that point

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Jose says to me he shot John Lennon. And I said "You what?"

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(shot)

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This is a work of art by John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono.

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I was thinking about all these windows in the world

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And there's so many windows that have bullet marks

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and bullet holes.

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So I wanted to make a symbolic gesture of one bullet hole

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And also you have to see it from the front. You have

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to see it from the back.

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When you see it from the front you're the shooter.

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When you see it from the back, you're the victim.

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And I did it and then I saw it. And I said " Oh my God! I saw that!"

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"That night"

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At 10:50 p.m. on Monday December the 8th, 1980, John Lennon was murdered

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At the Dakota Building in New York

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"Late this evening, one of the world's great entertainers

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and musicians, John Lennon of the Beatles.

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Was shot outside his New York home."

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The shockwaves of John Lennon's murder were felt

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around the world.

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Switched on the radio and 'Imagine' was playing. It was like a knife through your heart.

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You knew it was true.

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It was a shattering blow.

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Stunned. I just couldn't... I just saw him.

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Total shock. Absolute shock.

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"Imagine all the people"

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I could not believe it. I mean I was shocked and then I was

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saying to myself, "Who did this?"

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And why anyone would hurt John?

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And then it struck me that I might have a picture of the kiler.

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On January 1969, eleven years before John died, the

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Beatles held their last ever concert.

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On the roof of their office building on Saddle Row.

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It was the end of an era.

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John Lennon profoundly influenced a generation. And beyond.

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What do you know happened here? What do I know happened?

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The record label was run from here I suppose.

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I don't know much what happened here.

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Yeah. one last gig

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"Dont let me down."

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I see this house and I was in that queue.

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It was his voice, man. It makes me sad

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It makes me angry. It makes chilled. You know? It was

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his voice really.

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"Nobody ever loved me like she do."

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I thought, :right? I want to be in a band like that.

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why can't I make music like that

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"One two three four"

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John's whole life after he walked away from the Beatles

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was an escape from the insanity of Beatle-mania

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In 1971, he found his refuge with Yoko in New York

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the city in which he was, nine years later, to meet his fate

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(singing) New york city baby

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Yeah the last time I saw John we were in Madison

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Square Garden. He said, "I can walk down the street, walk through the park. People pass me-

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'Hi John' and keep on walking". He said "I love it."

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And I thought to myself, John's found peace at last.

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Singing: all we saying is give peace a chance.

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Peace had come at a price.

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John's political activism had a real effect on young people.

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And the President himself saw Lennon as a threat.

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Nixon was determined to deny John his green card

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There's a piece of tape somewhere of Nixon's

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henchmen saying "You know this guy could sway an election."

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This was preserved.

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And the first step was to kick him out.

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And they were very eager to do that.

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(Singing I would like..)

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It's August 1980, with his struggle for permanent residence long behind him,

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John is about to embark on a new musical venture

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with Yoko. They're snapped leaving the Dakota,

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on the first day of recording their album "Double Fantasy"

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They can have no idea it will be their last.

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Their coproducer is Jack Douglas.

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The idea of this album was a play, a dialogue between a man and his wife.

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A man who had been through the sixties. It was about

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"Well here we are. We're turning 40. And everythings ok. We can still do this.

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We can still have our voice. We managed to make it through

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all those terrible years. And now let's look to the future."

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(singing) Even after all these years.

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By September 1980, the album "Double Fantasy" is nearing completion.

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He listened to it very intently. And I saw this smile come on his face.

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And he yelled out, "Mother! Tell them we have a record!"

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Mother was John's nickname for his wife.

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He made me laugh all the time. I wasn't trying to make

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him laugh.

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But it seemed like he was laughing all the time about me.

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Just the fact that I'm saying something serious. And he said, "You're so tiny and you're saying these things."

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And you know, that made him feel funny I suppose.

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To his fans, John could be kind.

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In November 1980, the fan later to take the last picture of John alive, is granted his first photo opportunity.

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So he says, "Well let's take it now."

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"Let's get it the hell over with. You never know

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if we'll get another chance to do it."

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And this was 21 days before he gets murdered.

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So, I mean, I was like a kid under the Christmas tree

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on Christmas morning.

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And when I stood next to him, John put his right arm

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around my shoulder. And I couldn't believe

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that he pulled me to him. And when he did that. He

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gave me the idea and I held on to his fur collar.

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Cause I was holding it almost to make sure

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it wasn't a dream.

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Like, he wasn't going to disappear on me.

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The most iconic image of John Lennon in

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New York was taken by his friend, photographer

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Bob Gruen. Friday December the 5th, three days before he dies.

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John phones him

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He was in a good mood, very playful.

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The next day he asked me to come back, cause he

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had gotten a new jacket. He wanted some pictures of the new jacker, a very fancy Yamamoto jacket.

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and so we stayed up all night talking while they were working in the studio.

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And it wasn't until dawn that we were actually out on the street

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I think it was Saturday morning, December 6th

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and we took a bunch of pictures there and um

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and that was the last time I saw him.

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Later that Saturday, December 6th John gives a radio

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interview to BBC DJ Andy Peebles at the Hit Factory recording studio in Manhattan.

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There was my hero.

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I remember he put his arm around my shoulder and said "Thank you for coming."

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And I felt like saying, "What do you mean, thank you for coming?"

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(Recording)

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When I left England I still couldn't go on the street.

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It was still Carnaby Street and all that stuff was going on.

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We couldn't walk around the block, go to a restaurant, unless

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you wanted to do the business of the star going to the restaurant garbage.

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I can go right out this door now and go in a restaurant.

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You want to know how great that is?

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And towards the end of the interview, for some perverse reason

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it just flashed through my mind- ask him about security.

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And he came out with the classic quote, you know, "i can walk down the street

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and people say 'hi John, how are you, how's the baby?'"

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And I can see him now saying it with such conviction.

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He could never ever have dreamt

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what would ensue in 48 hours.

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Never ever have dreamt. Pfft.

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It's Monday the eighth of December, 1980.

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At 10:00 a.m. John leaves the Dakota building for his favorite

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local barber.

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He just wanted a haircut.

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I dunno maybe I have those hairs still.

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I used to keep his hair.

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Well the day started with the Liebowitz photograph.

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As the photographer Annie Liebowitz completes the photo shoot

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for Rolling Stone magazine and the cover that was

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to become world famous.

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John's fan, the amateur photographer Paul Garesh,

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arrives as usual.

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I got to the Dakota around 11:45 in the morning

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and when I got there, it was a nice mild day for December 8th.

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The only other person there was a guy standing

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with a long overcoat with a fur collar. And a fur hat.

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And he had a scarf on and he was holding "Double Fantasy"

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under his elbow

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And he says to me "Are you waiting for Lennon?"

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And I said, "Yeah"

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And he said, "My name's Mark. I'm from Hawaii."

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And I said, "I'm Paul. I'm from New Jersey."

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And he said "Oh. Do you work for him?"

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And I said "No"

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He said "I came all the way from Hawaii to get my album signed."

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So I said, "where are you staying while you're in the city?" And with that he seemed to change his whole demeanor. From like a dope to an aggressive person.

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And he said, "Why do you want to know?" And I said "go back where you were standing and leave me alone."

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We were doing a sort of interview with RKO radio you know.

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12:40 p.m. the RKO radio team from San Francisco with radio host Dave Sholan arrived with expectation for the interview that lies ahead.

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We drive up to the Dakota which is a very impressive building. I mean it takes your breath away.

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and then we're ushered into this incredible space. This beautiful room where you take your shoes off which is a wonderful custom.

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And sit down on the couch and Yoko was there. And I look up to the ceiling and notice these clouds that are painted on Lovely.

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Meanwhile Paul Goresh goes inside hoping to pick up a copy of John's 1965 book A Spaniard in the woods, which he's left for John to sign.

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John was coming in from walk He said I will sign it for you today I promise. So I went back outside at my post.

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When I went back outside, the guy with the overcoat was there and he was alone on the other side of the yard.

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He came over to me and said "You know what, I want to apologize to you. I owe you an apology for the way I acted. You're in New York and you never know who you can trust these days."

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Monday December the 8th 1980, it's 1:25 p.m. John Lennon begins a 2 and a half hour interview with radio journalist Dave Sholan

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It's the last interview he will ever give.

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The door opens and John appears. Does this little jump in the air and proceeds to say "here I am folks. the show is ready to begin."

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He spreads his arms out and comes right over. He could not have been more upbeat.

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In the interview John ranges over his whole life story from his Liverpool years to his relationship with Yoko and their son Sean.

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He was born on Oct. 9th which I was. So we are almost like twins.

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So now I have more reason to stay healthy and bright.

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Around 1978-9, around then, he said "I feel very lonely. Because there's not a man that I can talk to. About being a house husband. They must have some kind of group session or something for those men.

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and I said " well. I suppose there should be. But we couldn't find one."

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and one day I saw John sitting in bed and crying and I said "what happened?"

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and he was reading a book called The First Sex and its a book about how women don't get credit at all for what they did in history.

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and he said I didn't know that we would do this to women. He has a very soft heart you know.

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Seems to me, correct me if I'm wrong, that John came from a background that was very macho.

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Very macho. Oh I was surprised. But you know, I think that was normal in those days for guys.

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This is the Liverpool pub where John used to meet his art school friends.

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One of these was Thelma Pickles. She was 16 and John 17.

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Well of a romance I suppose it was in a way. A youthful romance.

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John lived here in a house known as Mendips with his aunt Mimi who brought him up in the absence of his mother Julia.

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He got up to the kinds of things young people get up to He had a very pristine bedroom.

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He once asked me if I knew that making love expended the same amount of energy as going for a 5 mile run.Which I didn't know and I don't know to this day is true but I believed him.

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And then it became a euphemism.

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One evening there was a party at the art school where they were both students.

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He said "Come on. Let's go for a five mile run. So we went upstairs to the Art history classroom. When we got inside there were at least three other couples.

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I said "I'm not staying here and he absolutely whacked me one. I didn't speak to him after that. I didn't care who he was, how funny he was, how interesteing he was. I was not going to be hit by a lad."

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John's relationships with women were often controversial.

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By 1970 he had become one of the most famous people in the world.

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His early marriage with Cynthia with whom he had a son Julian, was over. But Yoko proved unpopular.

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The reason for the Beatles splitting up, with precious little evidence ascribed to her.

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The hostility directed toward Yoko didn't dimish when they moved to New York.

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I felt terrible about me but then I was feeling guilty about him. He was really getting it as well.

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Because his records were not selling too well either. And it was all because he was with me in a way.

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Because we were together almost 26 hours a day. And I think it was very unusual for John to be like that.

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And for any rocker, they kind of sneak out. There was none of that. Because he was worried that I might do it.

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He was laughing about it. Because you know, I'm an artist. He was afraid I might be sort of free about things. You know. Unlike other women.

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I probably was. But i wasn't free about that sort of thing.

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In fact it was John's misbehavior with a woman at a party which in 1973 made Yoko realize they needed time apart.

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I call it my lost weekend. It lasted 18 months. When the feminine side of me died slightly. And she said "get the hell out".

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Give me 30 seconds to just be in this space.

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Elliott Mintz was a Los Angeles based reporter who had become a friend of John and Yokol

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Yoko thought it would be best for John to go off on his own and for the two of them to part as a seperation.

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She suggested he leave New York and go to Los Angeles.

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That choice was partially based upon the fact that I was here and that somehow I might be able to look after him. Talk about a burden.

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In the first couple of weeks he did what people do in this city if you're a bachelor and by former profession you happen to be a Beatle.

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He liked the action. For a short time he liked the parties.

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He liked the nightclubs. He liked the drinking. He didn't mind the attention of the ladies.

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I can tell you this. A week, two or three, into the experience the only thing he wanted was to figure out a way of getting back with Yoko.

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And I would say to Yoko, look he keeps saying to me "tell mother" he referred to Yoko as mother, "tell mother that I'm ready to come home."

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and I would say that to Yoko and Yoko would say No he isn't. I will let you know when he is.

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After 18 months apart, John and Yoko reignited their relationship.

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That's when in l975 their son Sean was born.

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John was a changed man.

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and he wraps up his historic interview with Dave Sholin on December the 8th by saying he is entering a new phase in his life.

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Because I always considered my work one piece whether it was with the Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie, Yoko Ono and I consider that my work won't be finished until I'm dead and buried.

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and I hope that's a long, long time.

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So we ended this interview, said our goodbyes, all took photos. I had my photo taken with John and Yoko which I treasure more than anything.

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We wrapped up the gear adn then headed on down to our car. We were going right to the airport.

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It's 4 p.m. and still hanging around at the entrance, fan and amateur photographer Paul Goresh sees the RKO team coming out of the building with their recording equipment.

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Now a little bustle of people start coming out and noticing a lot of silver cases so I figured John will be coming out soon.

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The next thing, John comings walking out looking for a car that was going to take he and Yoko over to the record plant

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So he turned to Jose and said "Jose, where's my car?" and he said it's not here yet Mr. Lennon.

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Im looking around and I'm thinking, This is pretty amazing. Here's John Lennon outside in New York.

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I thought of that and dismissed it quickly. In this town, it's no big deal and that was it.

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He said to me "dont forget your book. Did you get your album signed?"

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I said "I'll get the album signed tomorrow. I'll get the book before I leave."

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and as he was talking to me, the man with the overcoat approached from the left.

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He didn't say a word he just held the album out in front of John.

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and John turned to him and looked at the album and said "do you want it signed?"

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and the guy nodded. He didn't say a word. Just nodded. It looked like a picture. So I snapped a couple of pictures.

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the first picture I took was John signing the album and looking at the album.

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He nodded, looked at the album and just backed away.

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So John was saying, "well our car isn't here. You're going to the airport? Yeah. Would you mind giving us a ride?"

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Hop on in, we're heading the same direction.

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So, as he was getting in the limousine, I took a picture.

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And, that turned out to be the lst picture of him alive.

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He got in the limousine and he was facing me. and as he was pulling away, John turned and wave to me.

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I waved back and smiled at him. And I would never see him again.

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It's now 5:05 pm, on Monday December the 8th.

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John Lenon is given a lift to his recording studio by his intervier.

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He causually asks about his relationship with Paul McCartney

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He says," Well, he's like a brother. I love him. We certainly have our ups and downs and quarrels.

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But at the end of the day when it's all said and done, we would do anything for each other.

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So, that was grea to hear.

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We dropped John and Yoko off at the studio and said our goodbyes.

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While John and Yoko were busy at the studio, a few blocks away at central park

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a young ABC newsman was in a motorbike accident. It is to make him a key figure in the nights events.

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The cops came, the ambulance came.

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And I remember riding in the ambulance an the doctor was saying Your lucky.

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It's a monday night, it's quiet.

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There is another doctor at the E.R, your gonna love her.

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She's friendly, and she'll fix you up 1,2,3.

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Back at the studio, John and Yoko put the finishing touches on the final record they will ever record.

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It's title is The Sound Significance.

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The last thing we did was record Walking On Thin Ice.

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It's still hard for me to think about it, because it a song that just came to me.

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When you hear the song, it's about us.

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You know, and how we will be remembered and will remember.

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How we will turn to ashes. Why was I singing that?

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Really weird?

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And, John loved that song and he said Yoko this is your first number one.

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you just got your first number one.

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We finished the mix that night, and I walked him down to the elevator.

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Um, and I said to him " well I'll see you in the sterling house, the master house, at 9am.

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And he was all smiles cause of the song, and Yoko was smiling.

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the elevator doors closed.

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The last music that John ever records is the guitar work of that track.

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And then when we were in the car, I said shall we then go to a resturant before we go home than?

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And he said "I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep."

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I was thinking that he's probably asleep by now, but okay let him see him.

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So, But you know even if we went to the resturant, it wouldn't have changed anything.

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It didn't make us avoid anything.

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Horrible

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And, the car stopped and we got out of the car.

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It was really, it was really terrible.

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I was a patrolman in a radio car, and I got a call that there were shots fired at 1 West and 72nd street.

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There was a man pointing into the vestibule and he said that the man that is doing to shotting.

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and at that point we realized that this was for real.

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So I peeked in and saw a man with his hands up.

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So, I threw this man against a wall, and at that point Jose says to me " That's the man that shot John Lenon."

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I took a turn around to see what was going on behind me.

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And I saw two of my fellow police officers carrying out a body out.

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Face up, blood coming out of his moulth.

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At that point, I looked and I recognized John Lennon.

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Two police cars, one with John and one with Yoko, rushed to the hospital.

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Emergency room Doctor. Lynn is on stand by.

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I actually got here before the patient, I didn't know exactly what had happened.

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Everyone there was ready.

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Through the doors, two police officers walked in. We didn't have locks back then, but we do today.

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And these police officers were carrying this body over their shoulders. It was lifeless.

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It was a very busy night, other people came in, swaggering in with very minor problems.

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There was a waiting room full of people.

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And there was a gentleman about an hour before Lennon cam in, with a motorcycle accident

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And it turned out he was a reporter.

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The Doctor comes in, and I am filthy with everything.

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And she says, I'll take you into x-ray. See what the damage is.

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I said okay.

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And at that moment, the door behind me slams open, and a man walks in saying we have a gunshot in the chest.

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The doctor says whernis it coming in, he says that it's hitting the door right now.

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She says I'm sorry, Allen, I've got to take care of this.

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No problem, I understand. And at this point I can hear footsteps as the door opens agaid.

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And in walks a stretcher. Five six policeman walk in carrying a stretcher.

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We positioned that body on a stretcher in front of us.

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It was clear that there were three gun shot wounds in the right upper chest area.

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And one under the left arm

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It was also clear that there was no breathing.

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We immediatly didnt know that it was john lennon.

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As part of our routine we took his identification out of his pocket.

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It said John Lennon but the nurses said that this doesn't look like John Lennon. I can't be.

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Almost imediatly after, yoko Ono entered the Emergenct departent.

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We knew who we were dealing with, we had a very important person in our midst.

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And it was our job to try and resesitate him.

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Two police officers are standing over my bed and one says to the other

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"Can you believe it? John Lennon."

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I open my eyes and look up and say

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"Excuse me sir, what did you say?"

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He says, "I didn't say anything." And he moves away.

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well, did he say John Lennon? Did he say Jack Lemon?

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Did he say some other name of someone we don't know?

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Then I hear crying and again I look behind me.

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And in is walking a asian woman with a full length mink coat.

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I knew that she was Yoko Ono, so it had to be John Lennon.

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Allen Wise manages to get to a payphone and calls his news desk with the information

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that John Lennon had been shot, is in the hospital. Condition unknown.

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A british freelance radio reporter Tom Brook is living in New york at the time.

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On that day, I was at home. I lived down in Greenitch Village.

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And I got a call from Jonathan King, and he told me that he had just heard a new report.

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that there had been a shooting at the Dakota Building and that possibly

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John Lennon was involved.

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Well, when I heard that I thought that this could be a very big story.

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So, I let home very rapidly with my tape recorder and the radio

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Called up a cab, went up 8th Avenue and arrived here. Probably around 11:15.

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My girlfriend came in... came in, ashen faced and said

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John had been shot.

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And, I mean, I was stunned.

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I said, I just saw him.

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She said that he was shot at the Dakota.

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He is at Roosevelt Hospital, so I ran downstairs with her.

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And we got a cab and went up 8th avenue to Roosevelt Hospital.

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A local news cameraman the moment, record producer Jack Douglas arrives.

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My name is Jack Douglas, I was just with him.

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Is Yoko here, is Fred here?

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Yes, they are here.

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Okay

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So, I had a special number that the Dakota desk. You know, the place where they all admit the

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people. The security gate.

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And I called that num ber and I said hi.

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It's Elliot. I just want to make sure that everything is okay.

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The person hung up the telephone.

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And that had never happened before.

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So I made a quick telephone call to American Airlines.

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To book one seat on the last flight from L.A to New York.

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And I'm sitting on the gurney and I am able to look into the room

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and watch them work on John.

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And John is lying there on a bed and he is surrounded by the medical staff

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All his clothes are off, and I just remember that there was a lot of blood.

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What we found was the all the blood vessels that had left the heart and the aorta had been damaged.

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We tried to find a place where we could stop the bleeding. I literally held John Lennon's heart in my hands

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Tried to massage it to get his heart going agian.

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trasfused the blood.

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But it was clear that with all of the vessels destroyed that there was nothing that we could do that evening.

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About 11:10-11:15 taht night we pronounced John Lennon dead.

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I think everyone of us in the rrom that evening realized at that moment, where we were

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what we were doing and who we were dealing with. A

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A lot of people began to cry.

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We reminded the staff to be sure not to say anything to anyone.

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Until appropiate press announcement had been made.

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We sold all thr staff uniforms that may have had bloodstains on them.

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Washed all the equitment and linens that had blood.

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Secured the medical records.

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And suddenly out of every room in the emergency department, security officers came in