BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – John Lennon’s killer will go before the parole board for a third time next week to seek release after 24 years in prison.

Mark David Chapman, 49, is serving 20 years to life for shooting Lennon outside his Manhattan apartment in 1980 as the former Beatle returned from a recording session.

He was denied parole in 2000 and again in 2002, coincidentally on what would have been Lennon’s 62nd birthday.

In 2002, Chapman told the parole board that he had spent too much time alone in the months leading up to the shooting.

“I made a big mistake by getting jobs that I worked all night, where I just had time to think; the airport, walking around the tarmac all night. And too much time to think and not enough activity,” he said, according to a transcript of the 20-minute hearing.

The parole board said then that Chapman had “acceptable” behavior in prison but that didn’t guarantee he wouldn’t pose a threat to society.

Chapman lives in a housing unit separate from the general population for his own safety at the Attica Correctional Facility, about 30 miles east of Buffalo, and works as a clerk, according to corrections officials.

In advance of next week’s hearing, a letter was sent to the parole board on behalf of Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, requesting that Chapman be denied parole, according to a source close to Ono, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.

In 2000, when Chapman first became eligible for parole, Ono said she opposed release because she was concerned for the safety of herself and her children.

Also opposed to parole are a host of Lennon fans who have signed various on-line petitions.

“He silenced a wonderful voice for the people…There should be life with no more parole hearings,” wrote Raina from Raleigh, NC, on one.

“If he is set free, something will surely happen to him,” wrote a New Yorker. “This is New York, “accidents’ happen.”

Parole officials said the hearing is expected to take place Oct. 5 or 6.