Updates from May 26 in the Aurora theater shooting trial:
4 p.m.:
More from James Holmes’ notebook:
Entries in the notebook about how to commit a mass murder, and where, were very methodical, listing pros and cons for venues, locations and methods of murder.
He decided on a movie theater because targets would be “random,” which he underlined three times.
“The cruel twists of fate are unkind to the misfortunate(sic)”
He talked about failed relationships,saying that they were not the cause for him wanting to murder people, but that they were “expediting catalysts.”
He cased the theater for some time, noting which theater he thought would produce the most casualties. He noted that most theater goers walked to the right when entering a theater. He noted that Theater 1o had double doors that could be locked, “increasing casualties.”
Jurors were each handed copies of the notebook, and each juror appeared to read the books intently. The judge gave them 10 minutes, but they read for about 20 minutes before witnesses began commenting on the book.
The only reference to the movie he chose was “Embraced the hatred, Dark Knight Rises.”
Defense counsel said the book reveals that he was sinking into insanity, pointing to a “self diagnosis” of his “broken mind.”
Holmes talked about episode of catatonia that would last for hours sometimes. He said that on some mornings, when he knew the catatonia was imminent, he would tall himself, “Bambi, you must get up.”
He talked about pulling on his hair so frequently, for so many years, that he would cause bald spots, so he would alternate areas that he pulled on his hair.
2 p.m.
Police Detective Sgt. Matthew Fyles has read a passage in a notebook kept by Colorado theater shooter James Holmes detailing his “obsession to kill” since he was a child and how to carry it out.
Holmes dismissed biological warfare and serial murder in favor of a “mass murder/spree” in the notebook and considered attacking an airport but didn’t want to be mistaken for a terrorist.
“The message is there is no message,” Fyles said Holmes wrote.
Holmes said his problems at school shouldn’t be viewed as the reason for his attack, saying the “causation is my state of mind for the last 15 years.”
Fyles also said Holmes also wrote that he needed to research firearms along with the law and mental illness.
1:50 p.m.
Copies of James Holmes’ notebook are being given to each juror but Judge Carlos Samour says they won’t be able to keep them.
12:35 p.m.
Testimony from a detective is revealing new details about a package containing a spiral notebook that James Holmes sent to his psychiatrist before his deadly 2012 attack on a Colorado movie theater.
Detective Matthew Fyles said Tuesday the notebook was sent in a white bubble mailer with 16 “Forever” stamps depicting various scientists.
The trial broke for lunch before the notebook itself could be discussed, but prosecutors have said it contains Holmes’ detailed plan for the shooting that left 12 people dead and 70 injured and a descriptions of his hatred of mankind.
The mailer was sent with four rows of stamps, with each row containing four stamps of the same scientist.
It also contained twenty $20 bills, some of which were dispersed throughout the notebook. The bills were all burned to some extent.
Authorities also found a sticky note marked with a circle with the numeral one and the infinity sign inside — the same symbol found on a calendar in Holmes’ apartment on the date July 20. 2012, the day of the shooting.
8 a.m.
AURORA | Prosecutors in the Aurora theater shooting trial said Tuesday morning that later in the day they could show jurors the notebook accused shooter James Holmes mailed to his psychiatrist the day of the shooting.
Deputy District Attorney Karen Pearson said Tuesday morning that prosecutors could reveal to jurors the notebook — which prosecutors have said includes plans for the shooting as well as bizarre writings — as early as today.
The first two witnesses the prosecution called were the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus mailroom employee who found the notebook and a CU Anschutz police officer who assisted with the search.
The notebook is expected to be an important piece of evidence for both the prosecution and the defense. Prosecutors are expected to say it shows how detailed Holmes’ plans for the attack were, while the defense will say it shows the depths of his psychosis at the time of the attack.
Prosecutors said last week that they will likely shift their focus in the coming days from the horror in the theater — which they have detailed over the first several weeks of trial with testimony from victims, survivors and first-responders — and focus on Holmes’ mental state.