‘Batman’ gunman lost girlfriend and failed college before massacring 12
Batman theatre gunman James Holmes meticulously planned the 2012 massacre in Aurora, Colorado, after breaking up with his girlfriend and flunking college, prosecutors said, giving harrowing details of the slaughter.
In opening remarks at Holmes’ trial on Monday, prosecutor George Brauchler gave the first authoritative blow-by-blow account of the killings that left 12 dead and 70 injured.
“On a cool July night... 400 people filed into a box-like theatre to be entertained... and one person came in to slaughter them,” the prosecutor said, pointing at Holmes in a hushed courtroom.
The death toll could have been much higher, Brauchler said - but a gun cartridge jammed in Holmes’ gun, while booby-trapped explosives he rigged at his apartment failed to go off.
The 27-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty due to insanity, listened calmly as the prosecutor set out his case on the first day of his trial, which could see Holmes face the death sentence.
