Ono fears for Lennon's sons if killer paroled

Yoko Ono continues to oppose parole for the man who murdered her late husband, John Lennon.

Ono, 77, writes letters to the New York State Parole Board every time thatMark David Chapman comes up for release from Attica State Prison in New York. She did so again this week, the sixth time since Chapman first came up for parole in 2000.

Almost three decades ago, on Dec. 8, 1980, Chapman gunned down Lennon in New York City.

Chapman, now 55, goes before a three-member parole board panel next week. He is serving a sentence of 20 years to life at Attica, a maximum-security prison where he works as a cleaner and has had a clean prison record since 1994.

"I think he could still be an danger to other people, not just to me, Sean and Julian [Lennon's sons],"Ono told members of the U.S. Television Critics Association in Beverly Hills this week while promoting a two-hour documentary about Lennon's life in New York the 1970s.

LENNONYC will debut on PBS on Nov. 22 as part of the American Masters series.

The former Beatle loved New York, his widow said.She referred to the city as both "the city he loved so much but also the city that killed him."

In a previous letter to the parole board, Ono wrote that if Chapman were released, "I am afraid it would bring back the nightmare, the chaos and confusion once again."

"Myself and John's two sons would not feel safe for their rest of our lives."

Reuters said she added in the letter that if released, Chapman would not be safe because of his notoriety.

Robert Gangi, head of the prisoners' rights group Correctional Association of America, said he doubts Chapman will ever be released.

"Given that he committed a high-profile crime and he killed one of the most famous and most beloved figures literally in the world, it's highly unlikely three parole commissioners would vote to grant him release," Gangi told the New York Daily News.