Colorado Movie Massacre

A Colorado jury sentenced movie rampage gunman James Holmes to life in prison on Friday, rejecting the death penalty for the 27-year-old who entered a midnight showing of a Batman film wearing a gas mask, helmet and body armour and shot dead a dozen people.

James Holmes, the Colorado movie massacre gunman, could face the death penalty after jurors found on Monday that aggravating factors including the cruel nature of his crimes counted for more than mitigating ones such as mental illness.

The father of the Colorado movie massacre gunman pleaded on Tuesday for his son's life, showing the jury photos of family vacations during the days when he said James Holmes was "a really excellent kid" who is mentally ill and not to blame for his July 2012 rampage.

The judge in the Colorado movie massacre trial asked jurors on Monday if they saw reports of last week's deadly shooting at a Louisiana cinema, and whether they could remain impartial as they decide the fate of Aurora gunman James Holmes.

Jurors in the Colorado movie massacre trial found on Thursday the prosecution had proved aggravating factors that, the state has argued, make the 2012 rampage so heinous that the gunman, James Holmes, deserves be put to death.

Jurors deciding whether Colorado movie massacre gunman James Holmes should be executed began the punishment phase of his trial on Wednesday, considering aggravating factors including his murder of a six-year-old girl.

The Colorado city of Aurora has asked a judge presiding over the criminal case of last summer's movie theater massacre to lift a gag order barring police and emergency personnel from publicly discussing the rampage, a court filing made public on Wednesday showed.

As officials this week laid out the most detailed portrait yet of last year's Aurora movie theater massacre, they also mapped sometimes paradoxical behavior by the man accused of the rampage, James Holmes.

The former graduate student accused of shooting a dozen people to death at a Colorado movie theater last summer sat impassively in court on Monday as police recounted the nightmarish mix of blood, tear gas, screams and flashing strobe lights they found in the darkened cinema.

The suspect in the Colorado movie house massacre that claimed 12 lives was once a gifted honours student who sought to "positively contribute to the world," according to newly released reference letters accompanying his application to an Illinois graduate programme.

A bloody movie theatre massacre cast a shadow over this corner of Colorado, but the golden Olympic performance of local teenager Missy Franklin has proved a light in the darkness.

The Colorado movie theater complex that was the scene of a massacre earlier this month didn't have any uniformed security guards on duty the night of the shooting, even though other theaters operated by the same company did provide such protection for the busy premiere of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.

The man accused of Friday's movie theater massacre in Colorado mailed a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people" to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack, FoxNews.com reported on Wednesday.

University of Colorado officials were looking on Sunday into whether James Holmes used his position in a graduate programme to collect hazardous materials, but school officials weren't saying whether they knew the suspect in a movie theatre massacre was anything more than a hard-working student.

A Colorado jury sentenced movie rampage gunman James Holmes to life in prison on Friday, rejecting the death penalty for the 27-year-old who entered a midnight showing of a Batman film wearing a gas mask, helmet and body armour and shot dead a dozen people.

James Holmes, the Colorado movie massacre gunman, could face the death penalty after jurors found on Monday that aggravating factors including the cruel nature of his crimes counted for more than mitigating ones such as mental illness.

The father of the Colorado movie massacre gunman pleaded on Tuesday for his son's life, showing the jury photos of family vacations during the days when he said James Holmes was "a really excellent kid" who is mentally ill and not to blame for his July 2012 rampage.

The judge in the Colorado movie massacre trial asked jurors on Monday if they saw reports of last week's deadly shooting at a Louisiana cinema, and whether they could remain impartial as they decide the fate of Aurora gunman James Holmes.

Jurors in the Colorado movie massacre trial found on Thursday the prosecution had proved aggravating factors that, the state has argued, make the 2012 rampage so heinous that the gunman, James Holmes, deserves be put to death.

Jurors deciding whether Colorado movie massacre gunman James Holmes should be executed began the punishment phase of his trial on Wednesday, considering aggravating factors including his murder of a six-year-old girl.

The Colorado city of Aurora has asked a judge presiding over the criminal case of last summer's movie theater massacre to lift a gag order barring police and emergency personnel from publicly discussing the rampage, a court filing made public on Wednesday showed.

As officials this week laid out the most detailed portrait yet of last year's Aurora movie theater massacre, they also mapped sometimes paradoxical behavior by the man accused of the rampage, James Holmes.

The former graduate student accused of shooting a dozen people to death at a Colorado movie theater last summer sat impassively in court on Monday as police recounted the nightmarish mix of blood, tear gas, screams and flashing strobe lights they found in the darkened cinema.

The suspect in the Colorado movie house massacre that claimed 12 lives was once a gifted honours student who sought to "positively contribute to the world," according to newly released reference letters accompanying his application to an Illinois graduate programme.

A bloody movie theatre massacre cast a shadow over this corner of Colorado, but the golden Olympic performance of local teenager Missy Franklin has proved a light in the darkness.

The Colorado movie theater complex that was the scene of a massacre earlier this month didn't have any uniformed security guards on duty the night of the shooting, even though other theaters operated by the same company did provide such protection for the busy premiere of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.

The man accused of Friday's movie theater massacre in Colorado mailed a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people" to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack, FoxNews.com reported on Wednesday.

University of Colorado officials were looking on Sunday into whether James Holmes used his position in a graduate programme to collect hazardous materials, but school officials weren't saying whether they knew the suspect in a movie theatre massacre was anything more than a hard-working student.