Brooke Cowden softly closed her eyes at the recognition of justice for her father, Gordon, who took her to the movies that night and whose body she had to step over to escape the gunfire. Sandy Phillips pressed to her lips the green scarf she wore every day during the trial, the one that belonged to her slain daughter, Jessica Ghawi. The scarf made her feel like Jessi was giving her a hug, Phillips said.
Kathleen Larimer crumpled forward in her chair, then leaned back and let the tears for her son, John, wash over her cheeks. At long last, she exhaled. Shooting survivor Joshua Nowlan, wearing a short-sleeve shirt that revealed the bullet scar on his right arm, waited 50 counts to hear the first of the charges pertaining to him. He closed his eyes and nodded his head in stoic approval.
Holmes — now 27, bearded and several pounds heavier than the red-haired wisp who shuffled into the same courtroom for his first appearance — put his hands in his pockets and appeared to show little emotion.
In the second row of chairs behind him, his parents stared blankly at the seatbacks in front of them. Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued that the shooting, planned for months in advance, was a calculated act by a selfish man who wanted to kill others to make himself feel better. Holmes, a former neuroscience graduate student at the University of Colorado, had recently broken up with his girlfriend, failed a crucial exam and dropped out of school.
The word "Why? But the notebook includes many signs of lucidity as well, demonstrated by Holmes' ability to plan the attack and carry it out. There is a logic, even if it seems warped. His thoughts, however off, hold together, Reid noted. They aren't scattered or disorganized. Holmes rejected using bombs as well as chemical or biological agents as his weapons. They were too complicated. He might blow himself up. He thought about serial killings but ruled them out, again listing his reasons: "too personal, too much evidence, easily caught, few kills.
He focused instead on a mass shooting, mostly because he believed he could actually pull it off with "maximum casualties. Instead, he chose a movie theater because it would be crowded and there would be a limited number of exits. He seems to have spent considerable time "casing the place" and sketching detailed maps into the composition book. Holmes faces counts, almost all alleging murder or attempted murder.
The murder counts carry a possible death penalty. Holmes had offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, but Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler rejected any plea deal, stating, "For James Eagan Holmes, justice is death. Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and the court appointed two psychiatrists to conduct independent evaluations; both concluded he was sane, Brauchler told jurors in his opening statement.
In many states, it is left to the defense to prove insanity. But in Colorado, prosecutors bear the burden of proving a suspect sane. They must show that Holmes knew what he was doing was legally and morally wrong. Reid videotaped his sessions with Holmes, some 22 hours in all. Most of the recordings were played last week in court. As the trial's focus shifted in the sixth week of testimony to Holmes, the seating area reserved for shooting survivors and relatives of the dead thinned noticeably.
Sandy Phillips, the mother of Jessica Ghawi, said it was difficult to hear Holmes attempt to justify what he has done. He's so devoid of any human kindness, expression, empathy. That's hurtful," she said. Her husband, Lonnie, agreed. He decided he wanted to live. He didn't want the pain and misery.
He wanted to protect himself, and it's all about him. Voices of Aurora: Coping with grief, conquering life. It is disconcerting to see Holmes, dressed in street clothes, sitting stiffly at the defense table under a screen showing him sitting just as stiffly in jailhouse blues. On the screen, he speaks with Reid, who recorded his interviews with Holmes last summer.
Holmes speaks in short phrases, volunteering little information. James Holmes' parents in court every day In court, Holmes swivels in his chair but otherwise shows little animation. He parents sit stoically, several rows back. His father, Robert, a mathematician with degrees from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, chews on his fingernails.
His mother, Arlene, a nurse, looks straight ahead, occasionally writing in a notebook. James Holmes trial: His parents, changing hair color, medication. It's first time the public has heard Holmes talk about the now-infamous mass shooting, one of the worst in recent history.
After his arrest, he ended police questioning after eight minutes by asking for a lawyer. To some he comes across as cold, to others he seems completely disconnected. It is unusual for a suspect in a mass killing to survive and go to trial, much less describe an attack in detail.
Usually, the suspects die by their own hand or are killed by police, an outcome popularly known as "suicide by cop. And so, earlier this week, the jury heard him describe what it was like to walk into a packed movie theater, toss a tear gas grenade into the crowd and open fire. Jurors also heard him explain why he felt he had to do it. The victims had to die, Holmes said, so he wouldn't.
He told Reid about gearing up, donning bullet-proof pants, gloves and a gas mask and slinging the AR rifle over his shoulder, tucking the Glock into his belt and picking up his loaded shotgun. He said he couldn't see well in the dark because of the gas mask. As he stepped out of his car outside the theater, he said he called a mental health hotline at the university. It was one last chance to "stop the mission" and back out. But no one picked up the phone.
Even if someone had tried to talk him down, Holmes said, he or she likely would have been "overruled. He felt "calm and collected" as if he was on "autopilot" as he started shooting. He knew he was well-prepared. He doesn't remember hearing gunshots or panicked screams; he had techno music blasting through the ear buds he wore.
He didn't view his targets as people. He didn't even know them, he said. They were just "amorphous" numbers, sacrifices to his peculiar point system. Jurors have also learned about Holmes' family and what makes him tick. He has believed since he was a teenager that his mind was "broken. Brauchler said in his opening statement that Holmes killed to make him feel better about himself after a series of personal setbacks, including failing at school and breaking up with his girlfriend.
James Holmes' notebook lists pros and cons of crime Holmes wrote in his notebook that he studied neurology in college and grad school in a failed attempt to fix his own "broken mind. His childhood was haunted by night terrors in which "Nail Ghosts" hammered on the walls. Shadows and "flickerings" danced in his peripheral vision. He has been depressed and obsessed with murder since about age 14, he says, because it was the only viable alternative to suicide.
No voices commanded Holmes to kill. The idea was completely his own, he told Reid. He said he considered carrying out the mass shooting at the movie theater since the day he bought the shotgun -- May 28, according to court records. He listed a host of physical maladies -- from schizophrenia to Asperger's to restless leg syndrome -- in a section called "Self-Diagnosis of a Broken Mind.
He studies himself and his "physical shortcomings" in the mirror obsessively. But perhaps the biggest symptom of his broken brain, he said, was the difficulty he has forming his thoughts into words.
He simply cannot communicate, and contact with other human beings makes him very uncomfortable. Developed with middle and high schoolers in mind, each episode dives into how musicians from a wide variety of genres, cultures and eras express feelings in music. Learn how to explore music more deeply with Music Blocks!
Our newsletters bring you a closer look at the stories that affect you and the music that inspires you. Listen Live. Need help? Search Input. Holmes was sentenced to life in prison without parole by Judge Carlos Samour Jr. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. You care. The Battle of the Carols is on! For classical stars Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason, representation matters.
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