"Death of A Beatle" shows up on DVD

An update on NBC Dateline’s claim that the tabloid magazine will feature exclusive audiotaped interviews with John Lennon’s killer:

We reminded you that the tapes were unleashed five years ago in John Parsons Peditto’s film, Death of A Beatle. (Tabloid Baby’s Burt Kearns produced the film). The two-hour film aired on Court TV in October 2000.

Well, we just found out that the film was released on DVD last week— beating Dateline to the punch a second time!

Unfortunately, it seems to be available only in international formats. Google the title. They’re selling it as a deluxe, “limited edition” two-DVD set in Australia, in Germany as “Killing A Beatle,” and in Russia-- under a Russian title!

Here’s the description from Australia’s sanity.com.au:

“…DEATH OF A BEATLE, an extraordinary documentary film… celebrates the remarkable life of the 20th century icon while investigating the motivations, forensic evidence and tragic final actions that forever linked John Lennon to Mark David Chapman; the deranged man who shot and killed Lennon on December 8, 1980 outside his home in New York City. A Stunning 2 DVD set, DEATH OF A BEATLE features rare archival footage including never-before-seen photographs from Lennon’s time with the Beatles, his extraordinary solo career and of the public’s overwhelming display of grief at the news of his murder, while close friends and collaborators including Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles, Live Aid Promoter Harvey Goldsmith, musician and humorist Neil Innes and BBC radio personality Andy Peebles…”

This is from a German site:

“…In KILLING A BEATLE wordt het verhaal rond de moord op John Lennon verteld. Naast enkele bekenden van Lennon komt moordenaar Mark David Chapman aan het woord over het hoe en waarom. Als Beatle-fan in het algemeen en Lennon-fan in het bijzonder was ik daarom extra benieuwd naar de DVD-uitgave. Er is een ding dat meteen opvalt bij het zien van KILLING A BEATLE. Bij de aftiteling staat dat de documentaire voor de serie Mugshots van Court TV is gemaakt, al in 2000. Dat verklaart dan wel dat het meer een Mark David Chapman-documentaire was dan een Lennon-documentaire. Geeft op zich niet, maar de vormgeving van de hoes doet anders vermoeden. Men probeert zo natuurlijk de dvd te slijten aan Beatlesfans. Maar nergens op de hoes staat vermeld dat het om een tv-docu uit 2000 gaat…”

Legendary journalist and producer John Parsons Peditto always seems to be a step or two ahead of the pack. Watch out for his latest documentary, BIN LADEN’S ESCAPE. It will rock your world and show you things you did not know. More on that ahead. Meanwhile, let’s see if Dateline tries to take credit for that one, too.

(Click to see Court TV’s Death of A Beatle page, with clips)