While fans the world over commemorate the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death with a day of love-ins, rallies and book launches, a planned TV special is casting a shadow on the events for those who were closest to the celebrated rocker.

"I Killed Lennon," a documentary featuring the man who murdered the Beatles' resident poet and peace advocate, is to be aired on Britain's Channel Four Thursday evening and NBC's Dateline on Friday. The idea of shining the spotlight on Lennon's killer does not sit well with his oldest relative.

"I think the decision is absolutely abhorrent," said Stanley Parkes, a resident of Largs, Scotland, in an interview with a British news service. "It is just glorifying a killer. Our family are devastated by that. It should never have been allowed to happen, especially on the anniversary."

Lennon, then 40, was killed by Mark David Chapman, a former security guard now serving life in a New York State prison, on Dec. 8, 1980. 

Parkes, Lennon's cousin, said the timing of the film's release is particularly offensive to the family, as it is always an emotional time of year.

Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has also stated her offense with Chapman's glorification. The tapes were recorded in the early 1990s and feature Chapman describing his obsession with the musician.

"The was a successful man who kind of had the world on a chain, so to speak, and there I was, not even a link of that chain, just a person who had no personality," the bald and rotund Chapman says in the film. "Something in me just broke."

Chapman, now 50, goes on to say he hoped the murder would make him famous, one of the key reasons Parkes doesn't want him glorified in the media.

Channel Four is defending the documentary, saying neither Chapman nor his family received payment for the interview, and that the program is more about the mind of a murderer than the death of John Lennon.

Chapman's infamy has also been propelled forward in the book "Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman." There are also plans for a Hollywood movie on the days leading up to the killing, to star Jared Leto and Lindsay Lohan.

Queen Elizabeth Hotel prefers to celebrate Beatle's life

For many Canadians, thoughts of the eccentric rock star lead directly to Montreal's Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel, where Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their 1969 Bed-in for Peace and wrote the song "Give Peace a Chance."

The hotel offers a "Give Peace a Chance" package, complete with the same bathrobe, food and music that the couple had in their room between May 26 and June 2 of that year, but chooses not to commemorate Lennon's death.

"We follow the example of Yoko Ono, who celebrates the anniversary of his life and birthday, but not when he died," explained the chain's regional director of public relations, Joanne Papineau, on Wednesday. "But we will definitely hear about it from our guests and the media."

It may not be officially celebrated at the Queen Elizabeth, but that doesn't mean it's not remembered. Every year since his death, a bouquet of red and white roses has appeared outside Suite 1742, benefactor unknown.

Victoria hosts one of many Lennon exhibits worldwide

Book publishers and museum curators have had no shortage of material with which to cash in on the Lennon mania that has returned with this milestone anniversary. With his superstar status, a band member whose wife was a photographer and a wife of his own famous for joining his publicity stunts, John Lennon was never far from the lens of a camera.

As part of the "Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era" exhibit currently showing at Victoria's Royal B.C. Museum, photographer Gerry Deiter will recount the eights days he spent at John and Yoko's infamous bed-in (Thursday at 1:30 p.m.).

The Paris Music Museum is also hosting a Lennon exhibit to coincide with the anniversary. The exhibit includes a photo collection and a series of guitars played by the songster.

Saitama, Japan has an entire museum dedicated to the international sensation, where an annual memorial display is almost always over-run with flowers in Lennon's tribute. The museum has a six-day event schedule, "John Lennon Days 25," which includes a question and answer period with a hotel manager claiming to be one of the few Japanese people to meet Lennon personally.

Strawberry Fields not open forever for anniversary service

The area of New York's Central Park famous for its 'Imagine' mosaic, Strawberry Fields, won't be allowed to stay open past the park's usual 1 p.m. curfew, despite pleas by memorial event organizers to dismiss the closing time for one night only.

According to vigil organizers, the curfew clampdown only began with the 1993 election of former mayor Rudolph Giuliani. They say the event usually attracts up to 500 people, but on the 20th anniversary, the park was overflowing.

"Instead of clamping down, the city should make an effort to help us make it a better effort," said organizer Tom Leighton. "For 15 years after John died, thousands of people came and they stayed for several days."

A vigil is also planned in Los Angeles at the location of Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The event, where 25 candles will be lit in a flaming peace sign, is set to begin at 6 p.m. The LA and New York events will both hold a moment of silence around 8:15 p.m. (Pacific Time) to match the hour Lennon was shot outside the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan.