AURORA | Two jurors were asked to return for group questioning in the Aurora theater shooting trial while another was released after he discussed a “Fort Laramie hanging” Tuesday.
The two jurors asked to return bring the total over more than a month of individual questioning to 86. Judge Carlos Samour Jr. has said he wants about 130 for group questioning on April 13 and April 14.
All 10 of the other prospective jurors questioned Tuesday were released in relatively short order, with the most colorful being a local artist who seemed convinced that execution was the only appropriate sentence for accused shooter James Holmes.
“This guy has gone way over the top,” the man told the court.
Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding dozens more during a July 2012 shooting rampage at an Aurora movie theater.
The prospective juror, a white man who said he is retired and now works as an artist, said in his juror questionnaire he supports the death penalty for any first-degree murder. During questioning he softened that stance some, but said the theater shooting was such a horrific crime it requires harsher punishment than most murders.
The man recounted a story about a hanging at Fort Laramie where he said the condemned men’s bodies were shot after they died. In the middle of that tale, the judge released him.
Court is scheduled to continue Wednesday morning.