John Lennon's killer has apologised to Yoko Ono.

Mark David Chapman - who murdered the Beatles legend in New York in 1980 - was denied parole for the 11th time last month, and a transcript of the hearing was released this week which reveals his message to the late musician's widow.

He said: ''I knew it was wrong and I did it for glory. One word, just glory. That's it. It was that he was famous, extremely famous. That's why he was at the top of the list.

''I deserve the death penalty. I think that says it all. I'm sorry for the pain that I caused to her (Yoko).''

The 65-year-old criminal - who shot Lennon outside his Manhattan apartment 40 years ago - said he has found faith in jail.

He added: ''If released, I'd want to continue to tell people about the Lord.''

After being denied parole, Chapman is now set to spend at least another two years behind bars for the murder, having lost his latest bid for freedom.

He was originally sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life.

He is currently serving his sentence at Wende Correctional Facility in New York, and the New York State Board of Parole confirmed that his latest parole application was denied following an interview on August 19.

Chapman was first eligible for parole in 2000, but his applications have been persistently rejected and he's next scheduled to appear before the board in 2022.

Chapman previously confessed to feeling ''more and more'' shame every year about killing the music icon.

After making his tenth unsuccessful bid for parole in August 2018, a transcript of the hearing was released by New York prison officials.

He admitted he went through an internal ''tug of war'' about whether or not to go ahead with his shooting plan after meeting the Beatles star before the incident.

But he said he was ''too far in''.

Recalling his state of mind on the day of the shooting, Chapman added: ''I do remember having the thought of, 'Hey, you have got the album now. Look at this, he signed it, just go home.' But there was no way I was just going to go home.''