Celebrity News July 24, 2012
James Holmes: His Booby-Trapped Lair, 'Mentor' and Puppets
New reports about James Holmes' booby-trapped apartment, former “mentor” and odd behavior at his arrest offer a bit of insight into the suspect's life. He allegedly opened fire on a sold-out midnight showing of “Dark Knight Rises” early Friday morning.
ABC News released a virtual video of Holmes' booby-trapped apartment calling it a “bomb factory” and a “death trap.” A waist-high tripwire can be seen running across the front door of his Aurora, CO apartment, attached to two explosive liquids and ready to blow.
In the living room, police found 30 potential bombs connected by a jumble of wires all running to a control panel in the kitchen of the 800-square-foot apartment. The elaborate equipment could have set off a deadly chain reaction if anyone had tried to enter the student housing unit before the bombs were disarmed.
Once inside, police found bullets and 10 gallons of gas along with Batman memorabilia (including a mask) and a Soldiers of Misfortune video game poster. The most telling piece of evidence acquired might be his computer.
Many reports paint a picture of James, who studied neuroscience at UC before dropping out in June, as a “brainiac.” His ex “mentor,” John Jacobson, told the L.A. Times he was actually just a “mediocre student.”
Jacobson hired Holmes as an intern at Salk Institute in San Diego when the alleged gunman was 18. “He should not have gotten into the summer program. His grades were mediocre. I've heard him described as brilliant. This is extremely inaccurate.” He added, “My experience with him was quite bad.”
In a video of Holmes presenting a science project around the time of the internship, he named Jacobson as a “mentor.” Jacobson said that is completely “not true. That's almost slanderous. I was never his mentor.”
Jacobson says he saw James as a “shy, pretty socially inept person” and “didn't see any behavior that would be indicative of violence then or in the future.”
That “shy” guy now stands accused of murdering 12 and injuring scores of others. Sources are now revealing some of his bizarre behavior after the arrest.
Insiders told Denver's Call 7 that cops put evidence bags over Holmes' hands to preserve gunshot residue and that he used them as hand puppets.
The sources also said he sat wide-eyed with his eyebrows twitching and acted completely detached when he was told about the shooting spree.
