John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial Docuseries Announced at Apple TV+

A new docuseries chronicling John Lennon’s 1980 murder, John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial, is coming to Apple TV+, the streamer announced today. Kiefer Sutherland is set to narrate. A premiere date has not yet been confirmed. The film is also already nominated for Best Narration, Best True Crime Documentary, and Best Limited Documentary Series at the upcoming Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

Lennon died on Monday, December 8, 1980, after he was shot outside his New York home by Mark David Chapman, a troubled fan. Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to the pre-meditated crime, and remains incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York.

Per a statement from Apple TV+, the three-part documentary “was granted extensive Freedom of Information Act requests from the New York City Police Department, the Board of Parole and the District Attorney’s office.” The series also includes interviews with Lennon’s friends and Chapman’s defense lawyers, psychiatrists, detectives and prosecutors. Chapman’s story was previously dramatized onscreen in the 2005 film Chapter 27, which starred Jared Leto.

Also on Thursday, another piece of Lennon’s past made news: “Now and Then,” a track Lennon wrote and recorded before his death that was completed over the years by bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The track was made with the assistance of AI, and was announced today by McCartney as the Beatles final new song.

“There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear,” McCartney said of hearing the song in a press release “It’s quite emotional.” Starr added: “It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”