Cinema Gunman: Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty

Colorado state prosecutors have announced they are to seek the death penalty against Aurora gunman James Holmes.

The much-anticipated disclosure comes four days after prosecutors publicly rejected an offer by Holmes' attorneys that the former neuroscience graduate student would plead guilty to avoid execution.

Prosecutors had said the defence proposal was not a valid plea bargain offer, although they could still agree to a plea before the case goes to trial, which has been delayed until next February.

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said: "It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death."

Holmes' attorneys are expected to argue he is not guilty because he was legally insane at the time of the July 20 shooting that killed 12 people and wounded 70 others.

The shooting took place during a screening of a Batman film

They balked at entering that plea last month, saying they could not make such a move until prosecutors made a formal decision on the death penalty.

Survivors and families of the victims are uncertain about what happens next.

If the case goes to trial, "all of us victims would be dragged along potentially for years", said Pierce O'Farrill, who was shot three times.

He said: "It could be 10 or 15 years before he's executed. I would be in my 40s and I'm planning to have a family, and the thought of having to look back and reliving everything at that point in my life, it would be difficult."

Investigators carefully searched Holmes' Denver apartment

Investigators say Holmes methodically stockpiled weapons and ammunition for his assault on a packed midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, and rigged his apartment to explode and distract any police who responded.

The massacre was repeatedly cited by gun control advocates who pushed a hotly-contested package through the Colorado state Legislature last month.

The bills include a ban on the sort of high-capacity magazines that Holmes allegedly used to spray the theatre with dozens of bullets in a matter of seconds.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Denver on Wednesday to highlight the legislation as part of his push for tougher gun control following December's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

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