The Day John Lennon Died 2010 (full documentary)

Total shock!

Absolutely shocked!

Imagine all the people

I could not believe it, I mean I was shocked. And then I'm sayoung to myself:7

who did this? Why anyone would hurt John? Then it struck me I might have a picture of the killer.

Don't let me down...

On December 8th, 1980 I was assigned

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

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

72nd street. There was a man pointing

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

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

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

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

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

(shot)

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

I was thinking about all these windows in the world

And there's so many windows that have bullet marks

and bullet holes.

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

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

to see it front the back.

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

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

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

"That night"

On december the 8th, 1980, John Lennon was murdered

At the Dakota Building in New York

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

and musicians, John Lennon of the Beatles.

Was shot outside his New York home."

The shockwaves of John Lennon's murder were felt

around the world.

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

You knew it was true.

It was a shattering blow.

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

Total shock. Absolute shock.

"Imagine all the people"

I could not believe it. I was shocked and then I'm

saying to myself, "Who did this?"

And why anyone would want to hurt John?

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

In January 1969, eleven years before John died, the

Beatles held their last ever concert.

On the roof of their office building on Saddle Row.

It was the end of an era.

John Lennon profoundly influenced a generation. And beyond.

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

The record label was run from here I suppose.

I don't know much what happened here.

Yeah. one last gig

"Dont let me down."

I see this house and I was in that queue.

It was his voice, man. It makes me sad

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

his voice really.

"Nobody ever loved me like she do."

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

make music like that

"One two three four"

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

was an escape from the insanity of Beatle-mania

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

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

(singing) New york city baby

Yeah the last time I saw you we were in Madison

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

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

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

Singing: all we saying is give peace a chance.

Peace had come at a price.

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

And the President himself saw him as a threat.

Nixon was determined to deny John his green card

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

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

This was preserved.

And the first step was to kick him out.

And they were very eager to do that.

(Singing I would like..)

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

John is about to embark on a new musical venture

with yoko. This was snapped leaving the Dakota,

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

They can have no idea it will be their last.

Their coproducer is Jack Douglas.

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

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

"Well here we. We're turning 40. We can still do this.

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

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

(singing) Even after all these years.

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

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

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

Mother was John's nickname for his wife.

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

him laugh.

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

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

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

To his fans, John could be kind.

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

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

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

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

And this was 21 days before he gets murdered.

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

on Christmas morning.

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

around my shoulder. And I couldn't believe

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

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

Cause I was holding it almost to make sure

it wasn't a dream.

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

The most iconic image of John Lennon in

New York was taken by his friend, photographer

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

John phones him

He was in a good mood, very playful.

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

had gotten a new jacket, a very fancy Yamamoto jacket.

and so we stayed up all night talking

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

I think it was Saturday morning, December 6th

and we took a bunch of pictures there and um

and that was the last time I saw him.

Later that Saturday, December 6th John gives a radio

interview to BBC DJ Andy Peebles.

There was my hero.

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

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

(Recording)

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

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

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

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

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

You want to know how great that is?

And towards the end of the interview, for some reason

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

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

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

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

He could never ever have dreamt

what would ensue in 48 hours.

Never ever have dreamt. Pfft.

It's Monday the eighth of December, 1980.

John leaves the Dakota building for his favorite

local barber.

He just wanted a haircut.

I dunno maybe I have those hairs still.

I used to keep his hair.

Well the day started with the Liebowitz photographer.

As the photographer Annie Liebowitz completes the photo shoot

for Rolling Stone magazine and the cover that was

to become world famous.

John's fan, the amateur photographer Paul Garesh,

arrives as usual.

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

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

The only other person there was a guy standing

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

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

under his elbow

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

And I said, "Yeah"

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

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

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

And I said "No"

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

So I said, "where are you staying while you're in the city?"

On December 8th

1980 I was assigned to the 20th precinct

I was a patrolman in a radio car and I got a call

that there were shots fired at 1 W 72nd st

uh, there was a man pointing and he said that's the man doing the shooting and at that point we realized this is for real

so i peeked in and saw a man with his hands up so i threw this guy up against the wall and at that point Jose says to me he shot John Lennon, and he says "you what?"

[gunshot]

This is a work of art by John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. I was thinking about all these windows in the world and there are so many windows that have, ah, bullet marks, you know, bullet holes.

So, I wanted to make a symbolic gesture of on bullet hole and also you have to see it from the front and you have to see it from the back because when you see it from the front you're the shooter, when you see it from the back you're the victim.

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

At 10:50 pm on Monday December the 8th, 1980 John Lennon was murdered at the Dakota building in New York.

Late this evening one of the world's great entertainers and musicians John Lennon of the Beatles was shot outside of his New York home.

The shockwaves of John Lennon's murder were heard around the world.

I switched on the radio and "Imagine" was playing. You Know, that was like a knife through your heart, you know it was true.

It was a shattering blow. Stunned.

I just couldn't, I just sighed.

Total shock.

Absolute shock.

[music] Imagine all the people...

And I could not believe it. I, I mean I was shocked and I'm saying to myself "who did this, and why anyone would hurt John."

Then, then it struck me that I might have a picture of the killer.

[music]...and the world will live as one. [music ends]

In January 1969, eleven years before John died, the Beatles held their last ever concert on the roof of their office building in Saville Row.

It was the end of an era.

John Lennon profoundly influenced a generation, and beyond.

What do you know happened here?

What do I know? The record thing was, the record label was wrong for me, wasn't it? I suppose.