'Dark Knight' Theater Shooting Trial Update: Convicted Killer James Holmes Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole
The Aurora Theater shooting trial came to a close on Wednesday after a Colorado judge sentenced convicted killer James Holmes to life in prison without parole.
The presiding judge handed the 28-year-old mass murderer the maximum sentence, ordering him to serve 12 consecutive life terms without parole, plus 3,318 years behind bars. Judge Carlos A. Samour then ordered Holmes be removed from the Centennial courtroom.
"Sheriff, get the defendant out of my courtroom, please," he said.
Last month, the jury in the high profile trial rejected Holmes' insanity plea and convicted him for fatally shooting 12 people while injuring 70 others inside of an movie theater showing "The Dark Knight" in July 2012.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Samour, Jr. also expressed his contempt for the former neuroscience graduate student and his hideous act.
"It is almost impossible to comprehend how a human being is capable of such acts," Samour said, according to The Associated Press.
Samour went on to describe Holmes as an angry quitter who gave up on life and made a conscious choice to redirect his hatred onto innocent strangers.
"Eventually, the defendant quit on life. Had he just quit on life, it would have affected him and him alone. Perhaps his parents, perhaps his family, and that would have been the end of it. But he didn't just quit. He decided since he was quitting, he was going to take people with him," Samour said.
The judge was forced to sentence Holmes to prison rather than the death penalty since the jury delivered a split decision earlier this month. According to the prosecution, 11 jurors favored death but one voted for life without parole. As a result, he could not be put to death since Colorado law mandates that all jurors vote in an unanimous to impose capital punishment.
Nonetheless, Samour asserted that he believes that the trial was fair.
"I believe in the system," Samour said. "I said that before, and I'll say it again. I believe in the system."
The prison where Holmes will be housed has yet to be determined.
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