James Holmes jailed in solitary: ‘All the inmates were talking about killing him’
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ^ | July 21, 2012 | Matthew Lysiak In Aurora, Colo. AND Larry Mcshane
Posted on Saturday, July 21, 2012 5:10:29 PM by Mount Athos
Remorseless mass-murder suspect James Holmes was locked up alone Saturday over fears that the self-proclaimed Joker would become a target for other inmates.
The man accused in the Colorado movie theater massacre was still behaving erratically on the day after his rampage at a midnight screening of “The Dark Night Rises” — the last film in the Batman trilogy.
“Let’s just say he hasn’t shown any remorse,” a jail employee told the Daily News. “He thinks he’s acting in a movie.”
A released inmate said Holmes’ behavior behind bars was increasingly irrational.
“He was spitting at the door and spitting at the guards,” the inmate told The News. “He's spitting at everything. Dude was acting crazy.”
Holmes, 24, was also placed on suicide watch in solitary confinement before eating a jailhouse breakfast of grits and sausage, according to a cafeteria worker.
Two other just-released inmates said the concerns of Arapahoe Detention Center officials over Holmes’ life were well-founded.
“All the inmates were talking about killing him,” Wayne Medley, 24, said as he left the facility. “Everyone was looking for an opportunity. It’s all they could talk about.”
Freed inmate Dima Danilov, 22, said the suspect’s face was covered with a red towel when he arrived at the jail about two hours after 12 people were killed and 58 wounded inside an Aurora, Colo., multiplex.
Holmes — who had dyed his hair red — was also wearing red clothing beneath the black body armor that terrified moviegoers saw when he opened fire early Friday morning, Danilov said.
Jail guards “blacked out his windows with duct tape so no one could see him,” said Danilov. “He was cuffed in the back and had leg shackles. Six officers were walking him.”
The deranged suspected killer, a former honors student and Ph.D. candidate, said nothing and walked slowly to his cell.
Danilov said that if Holmes was released into the general jail population, “he won’t live to see Monday’s court appearance.”
Holmes is due for his first court appearance on Monday morning. He could face the death penalty, if found mentally competent and convicted in the murder spree.
Cops returned Saturday for a second day to Holmes’ suburban Denver apartment, which was rigged with chemical and explosive booby-traps by its jailed tenant before his rampage.
Eleven of the victims shot during the midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” remained in critical condition Saturday at Colorado hospitals.
According to NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the mass killer declared that “he was the Joker, enemy of Batman” after the massacre ended.
Holmes, who came to Colorado from California to continue his education, was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, a Remington 870 shotgun and two .40-caliber Glock handguns.
