'Why? Why? Why?' Crazed, rant-filled notebook of Dark Knight gunman - including a diagram of attack - revealed after he spent TEN YEARS planning movie massacre that killed twelve
The journal of mass murderer James Holmes was released by the court on Wednesday
- The journal of mass murderer James Holmes was released by the court on Wednesday
- On Tuesday jurors each received a copy in which he details his plan to commit a a massive shooting at a movie theater
- The journal also reveals that he had been thinking about committing murder for 10 years
- Holmes has entered a plea of not guilty by insanity for the July 2012 killing of 12 in an Aurora, Colorado theater
- He sent the journal, which also has eight pages where he just wrote 'Why' to a psychiatrist who was treating him before the rampage
Colorado theater shooting gunman James Holmes' notebook full of scrawled
writings and stick-figure drawings was made public Wednesday, a day
after it was introduced as evidence in his trial.
The 56-page notebook contains entries such as 'What kind of GOD commands
his people not to murder yet cowers behind free will?' and eight
consecutive pages with 'Why?' scribbled on them in ever-larger writing.
Court officials released copies of the writings on a computer file.
Holmes' scrawled plans to attack a movie theater provide the most
comprehensive look yet into what he described as his 'broken' mind.
On Tuesday jurors each received a copy in which he details his plan to commit a a massive shooting at a movie theater
The journal also reveals that he had been thinking about committing murder for 10 years
In these journals Holmes examines what he believes to be the meaning of death
Holmes also describes his struggles staying sane and focused
Attorneys for Holmes believe the notebook proves that their client is not sane
In the notebook, Holmes writes about the many different ways he could
kill large groups of people, and then, 'finally, the last escape, mass
murder at the movies.'
Other ways he considered were at an airport or becoming a serial killer.
The former he ruled was too difficult because of security, and the latter he said would not claim enough lives.
He decides on the movie theater because it is 'isolated, proximal, large.'
Under that he draws out a map as he details his plan of attack.
He also says that he is aware of the '99% certainty' that he will get
caught and estimates that it will take emergency responders
approximately three minutes to arrive at the scene.
This obsession to kill meanwhile he says has been happening for the past 10 years.
Holmes says that for the last seven to 10 years he wanted to commit a mass murder in the journals
The map on right details the mall location near the movie theater and the parking lots
He even decides which movie theater offers him the best chance to kill
From there he looks into how long it would take emergency responders to arrive on the scene
'What kind of GOD commands his people not to murder yet cowers behind free will,' writes Holmes
The journal also seems to outline his mental struggles, as he writes at
one point; 'I could not sacrifice my soul to have a normal mind. Despite
my biological shortcomings I have fought and fought.'
Then there are the eight pages he writes 'Why' repeatedly.
Prosecutors are attempting to use the notebook to undermine Holmes'
claim that he was legally insane at the time of the 2012 attack, which
killed 12 and injured 70. He is charged with multiple counts of murder
and attempted murder.
Holmes mailed the brown spiral notebook to a psychiatrist who was
treating him before the rampage, and it was found a few days later
undelivered in the mailroom at the University of Colorado Anschutz
Medical Campus.
The school computation book has been one of the most important and
closely guarded pieces of evidence in Holmes' death penalty trial, yet
its contents only widened the diverging views of the man responsible for
one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
To prosecutors, it's the diary of a methodical killer, complete with
detailed maps and drawings of auditoriums in the suburban Denver movie
theater and the merits of each as the scene of mass murder.
To defense attorneys, the notebook chronicles the decline of a once-promising neuroscience student consumed by mental illness.
While prosecutors honed in on portions of the journal where Holmes
describes his plans for mass violence, defense attorneys focused on
nonsensical scribbles and odd symbols and the word "Why?" repeated over
several pages.
Then there are eight pages where he simply writes 'Why'
Holmes has entered a plea of not guilty by insanity for the July 2012 killing of 12 in an Aurora, Colorado theater
He sent the journal, which also has eight pages where he just wrote
'Why' to a psychiatrist who was treating him before the rampage
Prosecutors argue that the journal proves Holmes was sane before the murders
Holmes mailed the notebook to Lynne Fenton, a University of Colorado
psychiatrist who treated him, just hours before the July 20, 2012,
shooting at a Batman movie premiere.
Officers found it unopened in a campus mail room July 23, after one of
Holmes' attorneys called police looking for it. The notebook had $400
worth of burnt $20 bills wedged in its pages.
The court fight over the journal ended when Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Now, it will be a key tool for jurors as they decide whether Holmes was
so distorted by mental illness that he couldn't tell right from wrong at
the time of the attack.
A judge gave all 24 jurors copies of the notebook this week, and they began immediately poring it over.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3099671/Court-releases-theater-shooting-suspects-notebook.html#ixzz3bSWfTNvj
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