The business of the Beatles
A British auction house that planned to sell a bullet from the gun that was used to kill John Lennon in 1980 has now withdrawn the lot.
The auction was scheduled for Wednesday and generated international headlines after it was covered by the BBC last week. The bullet was recovered from the gun long after the British songwriter, singer, musician and former leader of the Beatles was killed by Mark David Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980, in Manhattan, New York.
According to the auction house Anderson & Garland, which is based in Newcastle, the bullet originally belonged to Brian Taylor, who served as a chief superintendent for the Northumbria Police in the UK. The item was given up by his family.
“His family have now decided it is time for another true John Lennon fan to own this historic item,” Anderson & Garland said on its website.
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Mark David Chapman used a Charter Arms .38 Special to kill John Lennon. A bullet from the gun was planned to be sold by British auctioneers. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Taylor was patrolling with the New York Police Department (NYPD) in the Big Apple when a sequence of events eventually led him to the weapon.
“While in New York on patrol with the NYPD, Taylor was involved in a shooting and, being both British and a visitor, he was the only officer unarmed,” the auction house explained.
Taylor was taken to a small NYPD-affiliated museum to see the weapon “by way of an apology”, as the NYPD was aware that he was a big fan of the Beatles.
“There he was allowed to fire the weapon that fired the bullets that shot one of music’s best and most beloved stars, John Lennon,” the lot’s description reads. “The bullet and cartridge were retrieved and given to Taylor as a gift.”
“He had them mounted and hung on the wall of his office for the remainder of his career.”
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Former Beatle John Lennon arrives at the Times Square recording studio before a recording session for his final album ‘Double Fantasy’ in August 1980 in New York City. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images / Getty Images)
It is unknown why the auction house withdrew the item. Typically, items are withdrawn from auction if there are questions about authenticity or if there is a lack of interest.
In an interview with the BBC, Anderson & Garland director Fred Wyrley-Birch acknowledged that the lot was “macabre.”
“[V]ery seldomly do you get something so unusual and unique, it’s difficult to know what it’s worth and whether there’s a market for it or not,” Wyrley-Birch said. “It’s a really interesting piece of Beatles memorabilia that probably can’t be replicated.”
The auction generated some controversy among Beatles fans, who found the potential sale to be in poor taste. Fans on r/TheBeatles, a Reddit community, came together to criticize the auction.
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Mark David Chapman, with head covered, the assassin of former Beatle John Lennon, is protected by heavy security on return to Bellevue Hospital in New York City following a court appearance in December 1980. (Bettman / Getty Images)
“Ew ew ew. Everything about that story disgusts me,” one Beatlemaniac wrote.
“I mean, I could see it being held inside a museum like the Smithsonian in Washington DC, but otherwise it’s really weird for a private collector to buy the thing at auction,” another fan said.
“A true Beatles fan couldn’t possess such a thing,” one comment, which garnered two hundred upvotes, read. “The music is the legacy, not some macabre connection to the very weapon that robbed John’s family, friends, and fans of the life he would have continued to live.”
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Fans of John Lennon gathered one hour after he was shot by Mark David Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980, in New York City. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Anderson & Garland and the NYPD for comment, but has not heard back.
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