James Eagan Holmes- The Joker-Jimmy James
Background:
○ Graduated from the 40th best high school in California, West View, in
2006.
○ Comes from an upper middle class family.
○ Graduated with honors from the University of California in Riverside
in 2010 with an undergraduate degree in neuroscience.
○ His supervisor of an internship at Salk Institute claimed that he was
uncooperative, stubborn, and extremely shy.
○ He unexpectedly dropped out of the University of Colorado a month
prior to the crime.
○ Holmes’ tenant says he has only lived in the apartment for a few
months before the crime.
○ His mother, Arlene, was a nurse, and his father, Robert, was a
software company manager.
○ He most likely didn’t have any social media websites. Either that, or
he deleted everything.
○ He played soccer and ran track.
○ He had a hard time finding a job once
he graduated.
○ He seemed like a all around good, normal person until he committed
this crime.
○ Attempted to join a gun club a month before the orientation, but he
appeared very sketchy with the owner.
○ James Holmes was never in trouble with the law before this crime.
The Crime:
●
●
●
●
July 20th, 2012.
Century 16th movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.
12 dead, 58 wounded.
Jumped into the premiere of the Dark Knight dressed as The Joker
with gas and smoke canisters, then proceeded to shoot at the crowd.
● Booby trapped his apartment with bombs. He is the one who told the
police about the explosives.
● T
his
is
his
mo
st
rec
ent
, and only crime.
Criminal Sentence
○ There is currently talk of the death penalty, but it is highly unlikely
that this will take place.
○ The current status of his punishment is life in prison without parole
(Early release of a prisoner who is then subject to continued monitoring as well as
compliance with certain terms and conditions for a specified period.)
○
166 accounts of attempted and successful first degree murder
(In most states, first-degree murder is defined as an unlawful killing that is both willful and
premeditated, meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim.)
Evidence
○ 911 phone calls and footage from inside the theater.
○ He thought he was going to get away with his crime because in his car
items such as; several backpacks, tire puncturing devices, tear gas, a
.40 caliber gun, and and ammunition were found in his car.
○ When the police caught him, he gave up without a fight.
○ Holmes has admitted to everything.
○
Quotes from Holmes
●
"Rational people act based on incentives for self-fulfillment, including fulfilling
needs of self-development and needs of feeling useful and helpful to others."
●
"The mind is actually tricked into believing an action precedes the event that
caused it."
●
"Looking back ... my life could have gone in a completely different direction had I
not possessed the foresight to choose the path of knowledge."
Social Control Theory
I think that the social control theory mainly describes Holmes’ criminal acts.
Throughout his life, he was always labeled as the shy guy. Being shy is obviously
not dominant in our culture. One is expected to be outgoing and very social. This
could have led to Holmes’ breaking point. He may have felt like an outcast.
Committing this crime could have been him coming out of his shell and claiming
himself as not being shy anymore. A part of the social control theory is when
deviance occurs, it is because the attachment to social bond is weakened and
severed. It could be possible that Holmes couldn’t take being an outcast anymore.
It is also suspected Holmes may have suffered from mental illnesses, but this is not
confirmed as of late.
Rehabilitation
What Holmes did was absolutely terrible. I do not condone his actions in the
slightest. There is currently talk of him receiving the death penalty. I do not think
that this should happen to Holmes. Holmes did not get any sexual, or odd pleasure
from this, he did not appear to be enjoying it, and he was very cooperative with
authorities. The death penalty should only be administered to individuals who get a
thrill out of it, are uncooperative, and have no legitimate reason. Holmes did this
for no reason, but I think that there is a lot more to this case than what we know. I
truly believe that he has a mental illness. Most people in his life prior to this crime
had no bad statements to say about him. I do not think that Holmes deserves to lose
his life over this, because he is not the one who committed the crime. It was an out
of body experience. I think Holmes need to serve life in jail, but get some serious
assistance with his mental health.