James Holmes and a Very Dark Night

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering the victims of the Aurora Colorado Dark Knight Rises mass movie theatre shooting with me today. On July 20, 2012, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes opened fire during a midnight screening of *The Dark Knight Rises* at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. He released tear-gas canisters and fired into the audience, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. The victims who died ranged in age from six to 51. Police arrested Holmes outside the theater shortly afterward. Investigators discovered that he had also rigged his apartment with explosives, creating a separate threat that required evacuation and specialist intervention. Evidence showed that he had spent months preparing for the attack. Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense argued that he was experiencing severe mental illness, while prosecutors maintained that he understood his actions were wrong. Court-appointed psychiatrists concluded that he was mentally ill but legally sane. On July 16, 2015, a jury rejected the insanity defense and convicted him on all 165 counts, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, and an explosives charge. The jury could not unanimously agree on the death penalty, meaning Holmes would receive life imprisonment without parole. On August 26, 2015, Judge Carlos Samour formally sentenced him to 12 consecutive life terms, one for each person killed, plus 3,318 years for the attempted murders and explosives offense.