BATMAN shooting suspect James Holmes ‘played puppets’ with two paper bags placed on his hands by forensic officers, just moments after allegedly killing 12 people in a Colorado cinema.
As a detective interviewed the suspect police had stopped outside the theatre, he started pretending the paper bags – meant to preserve gunshot residue – were puppets.
The former neuroscience graduate student also tried to jam a staple into an electrical outlet; played with a cup on the table and an officer noted his eyes were dilated.
Prosecutors are trying to show Holmes should face a trial for the July 20 attack at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.
He faces more than 160 felony charges for allegedly killing 12 and injuring 70.
Defence attorneys however, say Holmes is mentally ill. They have not elaborated but said they might call witnesses later in the week who could discuss Holmes’ mental health.
The description of Holmes after the attack, given by police detective Craig Appel, seemed to undercut prosecutors’ attempts to show Holmes as methodical, spending two months to assemble his arsenal.
The first recorded purchase: two tear gas grenades, ordered online May 10.
Holmes also bought two Glock handguns, a shotgun and an AR-15 rifle, along with 6,295 rounds of ammunition, targets, body armour and chemicals, prosecutors said.
He dyed his hair bright orange, then bought a scope and non-firing dummy bullets on July 1, the visit and the new hair colour documented in security video.
Finally, he purchased glycerin and potassium permanganate from a Denver science store and at some point, he also improvised napalm, as well as thermite – a substance which burns so hot that water can not extinguish the blaze.
Holmes’ purchases were split between two planned attacks, prosecutors said – the cinema shooting and a booby trapped apartment that would have blown up if anyone had entered.
