Examining the possibility that someone might have turned Mark Chapman into a mind-controlled assassin requires looking at the basics of the crime itself. In establishing a prima facie case, prosecutors and police often look at whether the suspect had a motive to commit a crime, the means to commit the crime, and the opportunity to commit the crime.

Since the Manchurian Candidate hypothesis points the finger at the CIA as the real impetus behind John Lennon’s death, we would have to determine whether someone in the US and/or UK governments—or more likely, someone who could manipulate the government—had motive, means and opportunity to program Chapman. But even if one establishes that there were dark, sinister forces that wanted Lennon dead, had the wherewithal to institute a plot against him, and the chance to do so, one would still have to link these aspects to the actual deed. So proponents of the CIA-killed-Lennon viewpoint would not only need to establish motive, means and opportunity, but establish a connection as well.

I won’t go into how tenuous these connections are or not. Otherwise, the motive, means and opportunity become disturbingly clear.