10 Bizarre Conspiracy Theories About The Deaths Of Music Icons
8. Stephen King Murdered John Lennon
Beatles frontman John Lennon was one of the most popular singers in the world during his lifetime. He was also an outspoken political activist, which made him something of a polarizing figure.
On 8 December 1980, Lennon was shot and killed outside his home by Mark David Chapman, who was outraged by some of the singer's public statements.
Given that former Beatles' controversial political leanings, a number of conspiracy theories emerged following his death. Some of the more popular theories suggested government entities like the CIA and the FBI were involved in the legendary musician's demise.
However, one of the stranger stories associated with Lennon's murder involves the famous horror novelist, Stephen King.
The Stephen King theory emerged sometime around the early-1990s and was spearheaded by a man named Steve Lightfoot. Lightfoot was known for driving a van that had the words 'Stephen King shot John Lennon' plastered on the side. The vehicle also had several newspaper clippings taped to the windows that supposedly supported the notion.
He claims that there are a series of codes encrypted in several popular publications (like Time and Newsweek) that point to the author as Lennon's murder.
According to Lightfoot: "The story about Mark Chapman is a cover-up. Bold print government cryptographic codes that include the killer’s face and true identity, the killer’s alleged name and letter to the editor printed before the murder and Richard Nixon’s book, The Real War, in back issues of Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report magazines printed before, during, and after the night of December 8, 1980, prove that Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan arranged for the author Stephen King, then barely famous, to assassinate John Lennon. That King’s writings draw, dramatically, from the crime and that he taunts us all in his interviews and comments only makes this the story of a lifetime."
He's right about one thing: it would definitely be the 'story of a lifetime.'