Story highlights
NEW: Holmes' psychiatrist warned campus police he was dangerous
The former neuroscience student faces 166 charges in connection with a theater shooting
The July 20, 2012, shooting left 12 dead; prosecutors are seeking the death penalty
When James Holmes’ psychiatrist warned campus police at the University of Colorado how dangerous he was, they deactivated his college ID to prevent him passing through any locked doors. After a deadly movie theater assault a month later, the question of what else could have been done hung in the air.
Papers released by prosecutors Thursday are allowing a peek into the troubled mind of the alleged Aurora theater killer. They roughly trace his path from abandoning psychiatric treatment to amassing guns, clips and nearly 1,000 high-caliber or high-power bullets.
Dr. Lynne Fenton told university police that Holmes talked about killing people.
The warnings didn’t stop the spray of gunfire weeks later, on July 20, 2012, that took the lives of 12 people and wounded dozens more at the premiere of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises.”
It is unclear what was done with Fenton’s information.
Eyewitness recalls the ‘darkest night’
He threatened his psychiatrist
Along with the collection of firearms that police turned up with search warrants prosecutors have released, they found a Batman mask, a movie ticket receipt and detailed photos of the theater. Holmes also had “numerous photos” of himself with his hair dyed fire orange.
Fenton, who works on the medical campus, contacted police in June about Holmes, according to a search warrant affidavit.
“Dr. Fenton was advising that she had been treating Holmes, and that Holmes had stopped seeing her and had begun threatening her via text message,” the affidavit said.
Holmes mailed her a frightful package. Inside were $400 in burned $20 bills, a sticky note with an infinity sign, and a spiral notebook containing a placard. Written on it: “James Holmes, Of Life,” according to the documents.
Despite her warning and on top of the torment she’s already endured, Fenton could face more than a dozen lawsuits that blame her and the school for improperly handling Holmes’ treatment.
At least 14 people have filed legal documents indicating they are planning to sue the University of Colorado Denver and Fenton for negligence.
Prosecution pushes death penalty for Colorado theater shooting suspect
A long, deadly list
The prosecution documents released Thursday give a macabre portrait of the arsenal Holmes acquired before the alleged shooting:
– Nearly 1,000 bullets or shotgun rounds; he had ordered at least six packages from Bulkammo.com at the end of June.
– Two semi-automatic pistols, one with a laser sight
– An assault-type rifle
– A shotgun
– Multiple ammunition clips
– A 90-round magazine
– A magazine carrier
– Paper targets
– Materials to booby trap his apartment
– Multiple cellphones and computers
– Black army boots
– A black coat
– A black combat helmet
– A gas mask
The next pretrial hearing in Holmes’ case is scheduled for Wednesday.
With numerous counts of murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses, the former doctoral student in neuroscience faces a total of 166 charges.
Prosecutors, who made the documents public, want the death penalty.