Dark Knight assassin slapped with 24 murder charges
July 31, 2012  09:47
James Holmes, who was arrested behind a suburban Denver multiplex minutes after the July 20 shooting at a packed showing of The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 people, was charged on Monday with 24 counts of first-degree murder, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

The former graduate student also faces 116 counts of attempted murder in one of the worst outbursts of US gun violence in recent years. 

Fifty-eight people were wounded in the attack, some of whom remain in critical condition.

Prosecutors have said a decision could be months away on whether to seek the death penalty against Holmes, 24, who made his second court appearance on Monday. 

Colorado has three men on its death row and but has not executed a condemned inmate since 1997.

Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers' office charged Holmes with two counts for each victim -- one for carrying out the crime "after deliberation" and the second for "malice manifesting extreme indifference to human life."
« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES