James Taylor reveals John Lennon’s killer gave him chilling message about Beatles star day before killing him

‘I knew that I needed to get away from him,’ musician said

James Taylor has recalled a chilling message John Lennon's killer gave him about the Beatles musician the day before he shot him dead.

Lennon was killed by Mark David Chapman in the archway of the Dakota apartment building, where he was living with wife Yoko Ono, in New York City 40 years ago on Tuesday (8 December).

In a new interview, Taylor has shared an unsettling encounter he had with Chapman the day before.

The musician told The Telegraph that Chapman, who was 25 at the time, “was glistening with sweat” and “his eyes were dating all over the place... dilated like crazy”.

According to the “You've Got a Friend” musician, the man who would kill Lennon the very next day “seemed either drugged or in a manic break of some sort”.

Taylor also remembered that Chapman mentioned Lennon to him, ominously saying he was “going to show him” something.

“He was just talking a mile a minute about something he was going to show John Lennon,” Taylor said.

“He was just someone who knew me who I didn’t know; someone who had an agenda that I knew I couldn’t deal with,” Taylor added. “I just knew that I needed to get away from him.”

The encounter happened approximately a 25-minute walk away from where Chapman would kill Lennon. 

Mark David Chapman killed John Lennon on 8 December, 1980 (Rex Features)

Chapman is currently serving a 20-years-to-life prison sentence.

In a recent interview, Paul McCartney said that he “can't get over the senseless act” of Lennon’s assassination, stating: “I rerun the scenario in my head – so much so that I can’t really think about it.”