Ananova:

John Lennon's assassin is to seek parole at a New York hearing after almost 20 years in prison.

Mark David Chapman, now 45, has become a model prisoner and a born-again Christian and is serving life in New York's notorious Attica prison.

He was arrested on December 8, 1980, the day he ambushed the former Beatle outside his Central Park apartment block, killing him with four gunshots.

The parole hearing, which will be held in private at Attica, will be Chapman's first appearance before the board. If granted parole, he could become a free man on December 4 - his earliest possible release date.

But Chapman should not get his hopes up, said lawyer Robert Gangi, who heads the Correctional Association of New York.

He told the New York Daily News: "Each case should be handled individually, but anyone convicted of the murder of a famous person is probably unlikely to ever get parole."

Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, will probably submit a statement in advance of the hearing, said her spokesman.

"I'm sure she will have something to say on the subject," he told the News, noting Ono is apt to confine her statement to official channels. "Before she makes her feelings known to the media, she wants to follow whatever the appropriate protocol is," he added.

Earlier this year, Ono said she worried that parole for Chapman would leave her and Lennon's two sons, Sean and Julian, vulnerable.