NEW YORK • It was his 10th bid, but the man who shot John Lennon nearly 38 years ago failed yet again to win freedom from a sentence that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.

A state board denied parole to Mark David Chapman, 63, after a hearing.

He would have to wait another two years before it considers him for release again, the New York authorities said.

Chapman, who had previously said he was severely troubled when he shot the former Beatle and was seeking to gain notoriety, is serving 20 years to life.

Lennon had ended a musical hiatus with the release of his Double Fantasy album, when he returned to his home on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Dec 8, 1980, after a night-time recording session.

Chapman was waiting for him outside and shot him four times in front of his wife Yoko Ono.

Ono, 85, has steadfastly opposed parole for her husband's killer.

She had previously said he posed a risk to her, Lennon's two sons, the public and himself.

At his previous parole hearing in August 2016, Chapman described his younger self as a sociopath with low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts who was trapped by the inescapable idea of killing Lennon to gain fame.

"I was obsessed with one thing and that was shooting him so that I could be somebody," said Chapman.

"And 35 years later, I see what a horrible decision that was and how selfish it was," he added, according to a transcript.

REUTERS