ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Aurora police detectives testified Tuesday afternoon about James Holmes’ bizarre behavior during their first interrogation of him following the massacre that left 12 dead and 58 others shot at the Century 16 theaters.
Detective Craig Appel took the stand at the suspect’s preliminary hearing and detailed how Holmes moved his hands like they were talking puppets, how he played with a Styrofoam cup and repeatedly flipped it over and how he found a staple on the table and tried to push it into an electrical outlet.
In a 10-minute span shortly after midnight on July 20, dispatchers said they received 41 emergency calls from a movie theater in Aurora. Unfortunately, most of those calls were drowned out by gunfire.
Details from those 911 calls began the morning portion of the second day of the preliminary hearing for suspected Aurora theater shooter James Holmes.
Like Monday, which saw several Aurora police officers provide tear-ridden testimony, Tuesday’s proceedings began with a bombardment of emotion, as the victims who made those phone calls listened silently and often times appeared overwhelmed.
That emotion soon gave way to technical jargon, with an FBI bomb technician describing the elaborate series of booby traps found at Holmes’ apartment. Before the morning session broke for lunch, representatives from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and the Aurora Police Department took the stand to describe the weapons Holmes acquired before the attack along with his mental state.
The preliminary hearing for Holmes is expected to last the entire week, as all of the 166 counts are recounted. After it concludes, Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester will determine whether there is enough evidence for Holmes to stand trial.
Perhaps the toughest moment for victims to relive Tuesday morning was a call that came from Kaylin Bailey, the 14-year-old cousin of Veronica Moser-Sullivan and Ashley Moser. Dispatchers were attempting to give the teenager instructions on how to give her two relatives CPR.
“It’s too loud … I can’t hear you,” Ashley was heard saying through sobs on the tape. “I’m so sorry.”
Veronica would eventually die, becoming the youngest of the 12 who lost their lives in the massacre.
