A true collector’s item: The bullet from the weapon used to murder ex-Beatle John Lennon will be auctioned next week at an auction house in the north of England.
A macabre souvenir is to be auctioned in the north of England next week. As the auction house Anderson and Garland in Newcastle upon Tyne announced, a bullet that was fired from the murder weapon used in the murder of ex-Beatle John Lennon is going under the hammer at auction. It is estimated that the collector’s item will fetch 1,500 to 2,000 pounds (approximately 1,750 to 2,300 euros).
The piece, framed with a bullet casing and souvenir photo and dated 1984, belonged to a British police officer. According to the information, he received permission to fire the weapon during a business visit to New York. This is said to have been a kind of compensation because he was said to have come under fire during the visit with colleagues from the NYPD (New York Police Department).
“As an apology and because it was known that he was British and a Beatles fan, he was taken to a small museum in the forensic department (…),” it said on the auction house’s website. There he was allowed to fire the weapon.
The bullet and shell were collected and given to him as a gift. He framed them and hung them on the wall of his office, where they remained until the end of his career. “His family has now decided that it is time for another true fan of John Lennon to own this historic item,” the website continued.
John Lennon was shot dead by Mark David Chapman in December 1980 in front of an apartment building in New York’s Central Park. The now 68-year-old assassin is serving a life sentence.
Source: Stern
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