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‘Dark Knight’ shooter chronicled theater, weapons right up to movie massacre: prosecutors

People gather outside the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., at the scene of a mass shooting.

People gather outside the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., at the scene of a mass shooting. (AP)

Accused “Dark Knight” mass murderer James Holmes took pictures on his iPhone to meticulously chronicle his preparations for the Colorado movie massacre — even mugging for the camera with the muzzle of a Glock six hours before the shooting, prosecutors revealed today.

In front of a packed Colorado courtroom for the third day of the preliminary hearing for the suspected Aurora theater shooter, prosecutors showed photos Holmes took chronicling the weeks leading up to the July 20 rampage that killed 12 people and injured 58.

The shots included interior and exterior shots of the Century 16 theater, along with a cache of guns and ammo and pictures of a flame-haired Holmes posing with weapons.

One image, marked at 6:22 p.m. the night of the shooting, showed Holmes, sporting black contact lenses and sticking out his tongue at the camera. His red-dyed hair was visible under a black cap. In another photo, he is seen with a large, toothy grin, with the muzzle of a Glock visible in the foreground.

The photos were introduced because they illustrate Holmes’ “identity, deliberation and extreme indifference,’’ prosecutors said.

The pictures were shown just before prosecutors finished presenting a parade of witnesses and evidence they hope with convince a judge to order Holmes to trial.

Holmes’ defense team — which had been expected to present its own case, including producing mental health witnesses — opted not to present any evidence, noting “this is not a trial” and telling the judge it was “not the proper venue or the time to put on a show.”

Holmes’ photo-log begins June 29, with shots of the theater, its back doors and hinges. Holmes also had interior and exterior pictures of the theater from July 5 and July 7.

Photos taken in July show Holmes in the right side of a photo, with bomb devices on the left, while a shot taken in his kitchen shows a jar with amber liquid behind a bowl containing black powder, believed to be part of the explosive booby trap Holmes left for cops at his apartment the night of the shooting.

Another image depicts a .223-caliber rifle, an assault rifle with a scope, a pump-action shotgun and a Glock handgun laid out on Holmes’ bed, alongside ammunition and a gas mask, helmet, ballistic vest, leggings and jacket laid out on the bed.

The preliminary hearing ended this afternoon and Arapahoe County Judge William Sylvester will decide Friday if Holmes will go to trial.

During yesterday’s hearing, chilling 911 calls that captured the sound of bullets flying — and a young teen weeping over the body of her dead 6-year-old cousin — were replayed.

Panicked moviegoer Kevin Quinonez was the first to call 911 that night, shouting, “There’s some guy . . . after us!’’ amid the gunfire.

“You can hear at least 30 shots in the background,’’ testified Aurora, Colo., Police Detective Randy Hansen of the 27-second call from Quinonez, who survived.

The second wrenching call came from a sobbing 13-year-old relative of both Veronica Moser-Sullivan, 6, who died in the bloodbath, and the dead girl’s mom, who was left paralyzed.

“My two cousins, they’re sitting on the floor . . . one of them” is not breathing, the stricken teen said.

As the operator tried to give her instructions on CPR, the child replied, “I can’t hear . . . I’m so sorry.’’

A judge has been holding hearings, as required, to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring Holmes, now 25, to trial.

FBI and ATF agents revealed the lengths to which Holmes went to allegedly set a massive booby trap for police back at his apartment.

His sick plan included three jars of homemade napalm and the chemical thermite, which burns so intensely that water can’t put it out.

He put a boom box in a white trash bag outside a Dumpster and rigged it to play 40 minutes of white noise and then blast music, so someone would come over. Holmes wanted a would-be victim to see the remote-control car he placed atop it and start jiggling its controls, which would trigger the explosives, officials said. A man did find the boombox but didn’t trigger the bomb.

It also was revealed that Holmes had actually intended to go into the theater next to the one he entered.

Additional reporting by Kate Sheehy