Colorado cinema shooter James Holmes is being held alone in a cell in
a southern Colorado prison, where he is more closely monitored and has
fewer privileges than other inmates, officials confirmed Monday.
Holmes
is not in maximum security at the Colorado State Penitentiary but is
more heavily supervised, which is not uncommon for those convicted of
murder or for new prisoners, Department of Corrections spokesperson
Adrienne Jacobson said. She confirmed that Holmes was moved from a
processing facility to the prison, though the transfer happened quietly
last week.
Holmes will stay at the prison in Canon City until
officials find more suitable housing for him in a unit that provides
even stricter supervision for the safety of staff and other inmates.
Jacobson would not give further details about how he is being housed.
A
judge in August sentenced Holmes, 27, to life in prison without parole
after jurors failed to agree he deserved the death penalty. He was
convicted of murdering 12 people and trying to kill 70 more in the July
20 2012, massacre at a crowded movie theatre in suburban Denver.
Citing
safety concerns, officials did not post Holmes' photo and location on
the corrections department's website, where other inmates' information
is publicly available.
Difficulties ahead for him
Holmes'
life sentence means he can try to earn his way into less restrictive
housing, unlike inmates on death row, Jacobson said.
But documents
released separately on Monday that detail Holmes' three years in a
county jail show some of the difficulties ahead for him and authorities
trying to house him. The jail logs and other documents released by the
Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office in response to an open-records request
by The Associated Press illustrate the problems caused by his notoriety.
Less
than a month after Holmes' arrest, sheriff's deputies caught him using a
spoon to pry the screws out of a handicapped railing inside a cell. He
told a deputy he needed "metal" to use a "club" to protect himself
because "other people that come out of their cells hate him and he is
afraid they may hurt him", according to a report.
The deputy
assured Holmes he was safe, but the incident led deputies to search
Holmes' cell and mattress and remove the metal railing.
Deputies
were on alert again in September 2012, when a man called the jail asking
to talk to "his friend" Holmes or he would "kill more people like
Holmes did and would show no remorse", records say. The man told
deputies he had explosives and planned to "blow up the jail to free
Holmes."
Sheriff's deputies identified the caller and sent it for investigation, but the reports don't say what happened.
Sympathisers
In
April 2013, a fellow inmate told his girlfriend during a recorded visit
that he "didn't want to kill him (Holmes), he just wanted to hurt him,"
and if he ever saw Holmes walking to court, he would try, documents
say. The reports don't show what action sheriff's deputies took.
Another inmate passed Holmes a note asking for his autograph.
Deputies
also faced groups of young female "sympathisers" who travelled to
Colorado to attend Holmes' court hearings. A police officer at the movie
theatre where the attack took place notified deputies after three women
who said they were Holmes' cousins said they wanted to go see him at
the jail, according to the documents.
People from around the world
sent Holmes letters of support. But a log says he received just 10
visitors during his three-year stay, mostly mental health experts who
examined him for trial. One doctor, Bhushan Agharkar, saw Holmes twice
but was never called to testify.
His mother saw him three times.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Colorado cinema shooter held alone, closely watched in cell
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