The Aurora theater shooter spoke to his ex-girlfriend, Gargi Datta, about homicidal thoughts in the months leading up to the July 2012 massacre that left 12 dead and 70 injured. Datta didn鈥檛 think he was being serious.
鈥淲hat do you want to do?鈥� Datta asked the shooter, James Holmes, by instant message. These messages were first presented in court during the prosecution鈥檚 opening statement.
鈥淜ill people, of course,鈥� Holmes wrote back.
鈥淲hy don鈥檛 you kill me and Ben?鈥� Datta typed.
鈥淚 told you I can鈥檛 do that. If I did that I鈥檇 get caught and I couldn鈥檛 kill more people. I鈥檇 also lose the rest of my life,鈥� the shooter replied.
Datta has been waiting for at least two days to take the stand in the trial that will determine the shooter鈥檚 fate: institutionalization in a mental health facility, life in prison or death. Today, Datta took the stand in the last hour of the day.
Datta and the defendant went to a film festival in Denver for their first date in October 2011. The relationship was meant to be casual, said Datta, who didn鈥檛 know that she was the first woman with whom the shooter had sex.
Datta estimated the couple saw each other for four to six months, during which time they went on hikes, played board games, watched movies at home and went out to dinner together. Datta said Holmes was very shy and quiet in class, but he was talkative and more open with her.
鈥淒id he display a wide range of emotion?鈥� prosecutor George Brauchler asked Datta.
Datta avoided looking to her right, where the shooter sat in concealed shackles just 10 feet away from her. In the time she knew the shooter, she said, he never displayed any highs and lows, he was usually very calm and friendly with everyone and he never showed any obvious changes in hygiene, appearance or behavior until their last interaction in late spring 2012.
The defendant wrote in his personal notebook 鈥� along with detailed plans of the mass killing and a self-diagnosis of mental illness 鈥� that he suffered from mononucleosis (the kissing disease) in the spring of 2012. His ex-girlfriend testified today that he never mentioned the illness to her nor did he exhibit any symptoms of physical illness. Datta, who was physically intimate with the shooter that spring, said she did not experience symptoms of the highly contagious disease.
Just before Datta鈥檚 testimony, former Arapahoe County Coroner Michael Dobersen took the stand to present the autopsy photos and reports of six of the 12 deceased victims: Jessica Ghawi, A.J. Boik, Matthew McQuinn, Rebecca Wingo, Gordon Cowden and Alex Teves. Family members and loved ones of most of these victims were in the courtroom, including Sandy Phillips, mother of Ghawi.
Phillips left the courtroom before her daughter鈥檚 autopsy photos were displayed. When she returned, her face was red and her eyes were puffy.
鈥淐an I get you anything?鈥� somebody asked the grieving mother.
鈥淎 guilty verdict,鈥� Phillips said.
Datta鈥檚 testimony will resume tomorrow morning. The defense is expected to begin making its case at the end of this month and aims to persuade the jury that the defendant was severely mentally ill at the time of his crime, rendering him unable of forming a culpable state of mind or knowing right from wrong.
Editor鈥檚 Note: CU News Corps will remember the victims of the tragedy with every post via this graphic.
