Report: Theater shooting suspect James Holmes sent notebook to psychiatrist detailing attack

Notebook said to have details about mass shooting

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CENTENNIAL, CO - JULY 23: (EDITORS NOTE: This is a composite image) Accused movie theater shooter James Holmes makes his first court appearance at the Arapahoe County on July 23, 2012 in Centennial, Colorado. According to police, Holmes …
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Posted: 07/25/2012

By: Thomas Hendrick, thedenverchannel.com

AURORA, Colo. - The man accused in last Friday's mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater sent a notebook full of details about how he was going to kill people to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack, according to Fox News .

The notebook was mailed to the professor and sat unopened in a mail room for as long as a week before it was found Monday, the report stated. However, a spokeswoman for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus denied the report, and said the Fox News report was inaccurate.

"Officials at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus can confirm that the suspicious package discovered at the Facilities Services building on Monday, July 23, 2012, was delivered to the campus by the United States Postal Service that same day, immediately investigated and turned over to authorities within hours of delivery. This package prompted the building’s evacuation at 12:26 p.m. and employees were allowed to return by 3:06 p.m.," said Jacque Montgomery.

Sources familiar with the investigation say that Aurora police and the FBI believe that a notebook sent to a CU faculty member, containing what is termed "important information" was sent prior to the theater killings by suspect James Holmes. Police and the FBI are examining the notebook which reportedly contains violent images and notes, Ferrugia reported.

Fox News reported that the notebook was "full of details about how he was going to kill."

Neither Aurora police or federal authorities will comment on the story, citing a court imposed gag-order forbidding them from discussing any details of the investigation.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying it cannot comment further on the theater shooting criminal investigation because of a gag-order issued by the judge overseeing the case.

Speaking generally about campus mail processing, university spokeswoman Montgomery said earlier the U.S. Postal Service mail comes to a central campus mail center and is delivered to the addressed recipient on the same day. The university's mail service is not open on Saturdays, so U.S. mail delivered on the weekend would not be sorted and delivered on campus until Monday, Montgomery said.

Holmes is accused of killing 12 and injuring 58 at a midnight showing of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century 16 Theater in Aurora.

Police believe the attack was meticulously planned. Holmes had four guns with him during the shooting and had bought hundreds of rounds of ammunition, police have said.

During the attack, Holmes allegedly tossed a gas canister into a crowded theater then fired a 12-gauge shotgun at the crowd. As panicked moviegoers ran for the exits, he allegedly switched to a .40 Glock pistol and a .223 Smith & Wesson M&P semi-automatic with 100-shot-capacity drum clip, police said. The gun jammed, likely saving many lives.

Holmes is also suspected of booby-trapping his Aurora apartment with explosives and enough gas that would have consumed the building.

He is being held without bond in isolation in the Arapahoe County Detention Center on suspicion of multiple counts of first-degree murder.

During a Monday morning hearing, Holmes looked disheveled and despondent. He could face the death penalty.