CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The “Joker” isn’t laughing now.
Accused gunman James Holmes frequently stared blankly into his lap during an initial court appearance today, following his alleged massacre inside a Colorado movie theater.
His hair still dyed a flaming orange-red, Holmes, 24, said nothing while sitting in court with a female guard close to his side.
Holmes is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and could also face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations. (AP)
James Holmes, left, the suspected gunman in Friday’s Colorado theater massacre, makes his first appearance in court with his attorney Monday. (AP)
Prosecutors asked the judge, which the court granted, for more time to file charges in the horrific case, in which Holmes allegedly shot 70 people – 12 fatally – early Friday in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Holmes is set to be arraigned next week. He was placed on a no-bond hold.
The unshaven, handcuffed Holmes sat in maroon jailhouse jumpsuit as the judge advised him of the case. Holmes sat motionless, his eyes appearing tired and drooping.
David Sanchez, whose son-in-law Caleb Medely was shot in the head and survived, was in court today.
“He looks demonic. His eyes are just crazy,” Sanchez said. “There’s something wrong with that man.”
He also said the death penalty “would be justice served.” Sanchez’s daughter Katie was set to give birth today.
Holmes has been held in solitary confinement at an Arapahoe County detention facility since Friday. Holmes is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and he could also face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Authorities have disclosed that he is refusing to cooperate and that it could take months to learn what prompted the horrific attack on moviegoers.
Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney Carol Chambers said today her office is considering pursuing the death penalty against Holmes. She said a decision will be made in consultation with victims’ families.
Holmes has been assigned a public defender, and Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said the former doctoral student has “lawyered up” since his arrest early Friday, following the shooting at an Aurora theater that left 12 dead and 58 wounded, some critically.
“He’s not talking to us,” the chief said.
Holmes’ hearing is was at court complex, about 13 miles from the Aurora theater.
Courthouse security there was tight today, as uniformed sheriff’s deputies were stationed outside, and other lawmen were positioned on the roofs of both court buildings at the Arapahoe County Justice Center.
Police have said Holmes began buying guns at Denver-area stores nearly two months before Friday’s shooting and that he received at least 50 packages in four months at his home and at school.
Holmes’ apartment was filled with trip wires, explosive devices and unknown liquids, requiring police, FBI officials and bomb squad technicians to evacuate surrounding buildings while spending most of Saturday disabling the booby traps.
Investigators found a Batman mask inside Holmes’ apartment after they finished clearing the home, a law enforcement official close to the investigation said yesterday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.
Holmes, with an undergraduate from the University of California at Riverside, had been a student at the prestigious neuroscience doctoral program at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
He quit the program last month for reasons still unknown.
Holmes recently took an intense oral exam that marks the end of the first year. University officials would not say if he passed, citing privacy concerns.
Amid the continuing investigation of Holmes and his background, yesterday was a day for healing and remembrance in Aurora, with the community holding a prayer vigil and President Obama arriving to visit with families of the victims.
Obama said he told the families that “all of America and much of the world is thinking about them.”
He met with them at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, which treated 23 of the people injured in the mass shooting; 10 remain there, seven hurt critically.
Congregations across Colorado prayed for the shooting victims and their relatives. Elderly churchgoers at an aging Presbyterian church within walking distance near Holmes’ apartment joined in prayer, though none had ever met him.
Several thousand gathered for healing at the vigil last night.
“You’re not alone, and you will get through it,” said the Rev. Kenneth Berve, pastor at Grant Avenue United Methodist Church and a witness to Friday’s horrors. “We can’t let fear and anger take control of us.”
Meanwhile, the owner of a gun range told The Associated Press that Holmes applied to join the club last month but never became a member because of his behavior and a “bizarre” message on his voicemail.
Holmes emailed an application to join the Lead Valley Range in Byers on June 25 in which he said he was not a user of illegal drugs or a convicted felon, said owner Glenn Rotkovich.
When Rotkovich called to invite him to a mandatory orientation the following week, Rotkovich said he heard a message on Holmes’ voicemail that was “bizarre – guttural, freakish at best.”
Rotkovich left two other messages but eventually told his staff to watch out for Holmes at the July 1 orientation and not to accept him into the club, Rotkovich said.
The pastor for the suspect’s family recalled a shy boy who was driven to succeed academically.
“He wasn’t an extrovert at all. If there was any conversation, it would be because I initiated it, not because he did,” said Jerald Borgie, senior pastor of Penasquitos Lutheran Church. Borgie said he never saw the suspect mingle with others his age at church. He last spoke with Holmes about six years ago.
“He had some goals. He wanted to succeed, he wanted to go out, and he wanted to be the best,” Borgie said. “He took pride in his academic abilities. A good student. He didn’t brag about it.”
During the attack early Friday, Holmes allegedly set off gas canisters and used a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol to open fire on theatergoers, Oates said.
Holmes had bought the weapons at local gun stores in the past two months. He recently bought 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the Internet, the chief said.
The gunman’s semiautomatic assault rifle jammed during the attack, forcing him to switch to another gun with less firepower, a federal law enforcement official told The AP. That malfunction and weapons switch might have saved some lives.
Oates said a 100-round ammunition drum was found in the theater, but he said he didn’t know whether it jammed or emptied.
The shooting was the worst in the U.S. since the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas. An Army psychiatrist was charged with killing 13 soldiers and civilians and wounding more than two dozen others.
With AP