A decision on whether to release him will likely be made public by the end of the week, said department spokeswoman Linda Foglia.

Chapman's interviews with the parole board will take place at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Alden, New York, where he is being held, she said.

Chapman, 57, is serving a prison sentence of 20 years to life for shooting Lennon four times in the back outside the musician's New York City apartment building on December 8, 1980. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

He has come up for parole every two years since 2000 and has been turned down each time.

After his last hearing in 2010, the three-member parole board cited in written comments to Chapman, the "disregard you displayed for the norms of our society and the sanctity of human life."

Ahead of that hearing, the parole division received dozens of letters arguing against Chapman's release, including one from Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, who said she believed Chapman posed a risk to her, Lennon's two sons, the public and himself.

Chapman was transferred in May to Wende from Attica Correctional Facility, where he had been held for 31 years.

A corrections spokesman said at the time that Chapman was placed in protective custody at Wende but the reason was not made public. Wende is located in western New York state, east of Buffalo.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Jackie Frank)