CENTENNIAL, CO (RNN) - James Holmes will serve life in prison for the murders of 12 people in the 2012 shooting at an Aurora, CO, theater. He wounded an additional 70 people.
The jury that convicted him of murder last month did not reach a unanimous conclusion that he should get the death penalty, which automatically resulted in his receiving life with no chance of parole.
The trial began on April 27. Over the ensuing weeks, jurors reviewed almost 2,700 pieces of evidence and heard the testimony of 302 witnesses. When they began final deliberations on Thursday, the Denver Post reported that Judge Carlos Samour Jr. said the verdict "...may be the most important and serious decision that you will ever be asked to make."
About two hours before jurors ended deliberations, they asked Samour to let them review a 45-minute video of the crime scene taken before the bodies were removed. It showed blood trails, bodies that fell where they were shot, and popcorn scattered on the floor, according to the Post.
The same jury of nine women and three men on July 16, 2015 found him guilty on all 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and possession of explosives, By Colorado law, the subsequent sentencing trial had three phases. The jury first ruled the crime was worthy of the death penalty. In the second phase jurors were unmoved by testimony from the defendant's family and friends that Holmes' mental illness and lack of a previous record merited a penalty of life without parole.
Holmes entered the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises on July 20, 2012 armed with an assault weapon, a shotgun and a pistol. He set off several gas and smoke canisters and opened fire. He continued shooting for seven minutes before police arrived. He killed 12 and wounded 70. The jury found him guilty of 24 counts of murder, 140 counts of attempted murder and one count of possessing explosives.
Holmes, 27, never denied his part in the shooting, but pleaded guilty by reason of insanity.
The night of the murders, Holmes rigged his apartment with explosives to divert emergency crews to the home while he carried out the shooting.
In May, a court-appointed psychiatrist interviewed Holmes and determined he was mentally ill but legally sane. The jury agreed..
Holmes is the son of a mathematician and a registered nurse. He was raised in the California towns of Castroville and San Diego. Defense attorneys said he suffered from mental illness throughout his life. At the age of 11, he attempted suicide.
Holmes said that during his childhood he was terrified by 'nail ghosts' that hammered on the walls at night, adding that he would see shadows and flickers, which would fight each other with weapons.
Defense attorneys failed to prove that he was suffering a psychotic episode during the night of the shootings and was not accountable for his actions.
In 2010, he graduated with the highest honors at the University of California, Riverside, and was a member of several honor societies. He received an undergraduate degree in neuroscience.
