Background Information
James Eagan Holmes was born on December 13, 1987, in Riverside, California. Although an academically gifted student, Holmes was a troubled child. According to Holmes’ lawyer, Holmes showcased mental issues growing up, with one incident of attempted suicide at the age of 11 (Fruen, 2021). Despite the mental issues, Holmes successfully earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of California. Holmes later joined the University of Colorado to pursue a graduate course in neuroscience. While at the University of Colorado, Holmes started seeing the University psychiatrist- Lynne Fenton (“James Holmes”, 2021). However, after dropping out from the Denver campus, James Holmes terminated his sessions with the University of Colorado psychiatrist.
In the weeks preceding the mass shooting, James Holmes’ mental issues was again envisaged through the message that he sent to his fellow graduate students. In the early days of July, 2012, Holmes texted his fellow graduate student asking about dysphoric mania- a form of bipolar disorder that combines frenetic energy of mania with the agitation, dark thoughts, and in some instances paranoid delusion of major depression (Goode et al., 2012). In addition, James Holmes warned the fellow graduate that he is ‘bad news’ and that she should stay away from him. Furthermore, in the hours preceding the Denver mass shooting, Holmes sent the campus clinic doctor a notebook that detailed his mental illness and homicidal thoughts; the notebook was however not discovered until after the attack.
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Major Crimes
James Holmes was involved in a movie theatre shooting on July 20, 2012. The shooting took place in Aurora, Colorado at the Century 16 multiplex during the midnight screening of the new Batman movie- The Dark Knight Rises (O’Neill et al., 2021). In the months preceding the shooting incident, Holmes legally bought the guns and ammunition that were used in the attack. In his planning, Holmes stockpiled 6000 rounds of ammunition, a shotgun, two Glock handguns, and a semiautomatic rifle (Fruen, 2021). In addition to that, Holmes purchased a body armor and laced his house with booby traps. After the start of the movie, Holmes locked the movie theatre’s, went to his car, armed himself and wore his protective gears and a gas mask. Holmes then went back into the Century 16 Theatre, threw two gas canisters into the crowd. With most people in the audience thinking that it was a public stance, no one sensed the danger until Holmes started spraying the theatre audience with the shotgun (O’Neill et al., 2021). Holmes continued the attack with the assault rifle and later on the pistol. Holmes eventually took the attack outside, where he fired on people who were running for safety. James Holmes was eventually apprehended a few minutes after the shootings; according to the arresting police officer, Holmes told them that he was “The Joker”.
The primary reason behind the mass shooting was mental illness. According to Holmes’ lawyer, mental illness transformed the brilliant and reserved Holmes into one of the dangerous mass shooters in the recent American history (Fruen, 2021). Holmes become more isolated in the months preceding the attack, quit the neuroscience program. Furthermore, Mr. Holmes had sent threats to one of the University of Colorado’s professors. Holmes mental issues contributed to the increased level of agitation and paranoid delusion, which increased the chances of an individual reading more into things said on TV programs, games, and even in real life (Goode et al., 2012). Besides, according to the court-appointed psychiatrist, William Reid, James Holmes suffered from schizotypal personality disorder, which contributed to his antisocial behavior and the attack.
The Victims
As the aggravated moviegoers scrambled for the exit, Holmes fired into the audiences causing multiple fatalities and injuries. According to the official report, the attack left 12 dead and 70 people wounded (Goode et al., 2012). Ten moviegoers were immediately killed in the movie theatre, with two more individual dying in the hospital. Of the twelve fatalities, one was Veronica Moser-Sullivan, a 6-year-old child (O’Neill et al., 2021). Jessica Ghawi, who had recently survived the mass shooting at a Toronto food court a few weeks earlier was another victim in the deadly mass shooting (O’Neill et al., 2021). According to the attacker, he accomplished his mission, and that the 70 wounded individuals were collateral damage. According to the court-appointed psychiatrist, Holmes regretted the death of Veronica Moser-Sullivan (O’Neill et al., 2021). To minimize the killing of children, Holmes selected the midnight showing of the Batman release; his primary target were adults. To maintain his relevance as ‘The Joker’ during the mass shooting, James Holmes targeted the moviegoers during the Batman movie release. However, after getting into the movie theatre, the shooting was random.
Criminology Theory and Connection
Rational choice theory (RCT), according to most criminologists, imply that criminal acts are based on a self-interested appraisal of the costs and benefits of alternative lines of action, with the choice taken being the one with the highest perceived utility. In other words, criminal acts are guided by heightened levels of rationality and a reduced concern for one’s self-interest; this is also referred to as the self-regarding preference (McCarthy et al., 2014). Contrary to the biological, psychological and sociological explanation of criminal acts, RCT assumes that criminal choose to commit an offense by utilizing similar principles of cost-benefit analysis that can be used in opting for legal behavior (McCarthy et al., 2014). While the theory does not assume that individuals are always conscious of their effort to optimize their interest, it argues that most actions by criminals can be understood as rational. Therefore, individual’s decision to commit a crime is influenced by their preference, and attitude towards risk and time discounting (McCarthy et al., 2014). Before committing a crime, offenders estimate and compare the illegal and legitimate opportunity’s availability, cost and benefits, and potential for achieving similar or comparable outcomes.
Unlike other theories that attempt to explain the source of criminals’ preferences, RCT only focuses on explaining how people’s preferences influence their decisions in relation to crime. Instead of providing factors such as low self-esteem, week social bond, and disadvantaged neighborhood, among other social issues, as reason for committing crime, RCT argues whether a crime is committed from a rational or a suboptimal point of view (McCarthy et al., 2014). Therefore, RCT offers an approach to conceptualize criminal decision-making, and can be combined with the explanation of the origin of given preferences and the availability of relevant tools to realize those preferences to explain a crime.
Although the court-appointed psychiatrist diagnosed Holmes with schizotypal personality disorder, he ruled that he was legally sane; Holmes had mental issues and was anti-social, but was rational (O’Neill et al., 2021). Therefore, James Holmes’ sanity enabled him to conduct a cost and benefit analysis of the alternative lines of action before making the decision to commit the crime. Holmes took significant time to plan the attack- he purchased ammunitions prior to the attack, selected his target, which according to reports, was motivated by its relatively lower levels of security and the need to avoid killing children. In other words, the cost-benefit analysis before the attacked helped James Holmes to successfully select a target that will facilitate the achievement of his ‘mission’. Also, as argued by RCT, criminals are motivated by their personal self-interest (Paternoster et al., 2017). James Holmes was motivated by his personal concern to achieve the ‘mission’ even though getting apprehended was a small price to pay. According to Holmes, he gained nothing from leaving people injured or grieving; raising his “life capital” to 13 was his primary goal.
Holmes’ mental illness can be used to explain the origin of his preferences. Holmes’ mental condition could have made him more agitated and paranoid leading to his actions. Holmes’ decision to take up the character of “The Joker” was as a result of dysphoric mania, which made him to read meanings into trivial things, such as gaming or movie characters. Therefore, while the planning and shooting was based on rational decision-making, the origin of Holmes’ preferences were as a result of his mental illness.
The Outcome
James Holmes was apprehended, and made his first court appearance on July 23, 2012, where he was changed with 24 and 116 counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, respectively (O’Neill et al., 2021). Although Holmes offered to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty, the prosecution refused and chose to continue with the case. Later on, on May 31, 2013, Holmes’ lawyers changed his plea to not guilty on the ground of insanity (“James Holmes”, 2021). After delays due to Holmes’ lawyers request for a continuance, the hearing proceed on April 27, 2015. Holmes’ defense on the ground of insanity was unsuccessful, with the jury deciding that the defendant made rational decisions throughout the mass shooting, and thus did not qualify for the categorization for legal insanity (“James Holmes”, 2021). On July 16, 2015, the jury found Holmes guilty on all counts of first-degree murder and attempted murders (“James Holmes”, 2021). In addition, Holmes was found guilty of possession of an explosive. Holmes was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The defendant avoided the death penalty because the jury failed to come to a unanimous verdict. After a few years of serving his sentence in the Colorado State Penitentiary, James Holmes was transferred to Penitentiary Allenwood, in Pennsylvania, after being attacked by a fellow inmate.
References
Fruen, l. (2021). Who is James Holmes and where is he now?. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4061363/who-james-holmes-where-now-colorado-shooting/
Goode, E., Kovaleski, S. F., Healy, J. & Frosch, D. (2012). Before gunfire, hints of “bad news”. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/us/before-gunfire-in-colorado-theater-hints-of-bad-news-about-james-holmes.html
James Holmes. (2021). Retrieved 27 June 2021, from https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/james-holmes
McCarthy, B., & Chaudhary, A. R. (2014). Rational choice theory and crime. Encyclopedia of criminology and criminal justice .
O’Neill, A. & Cabrera, A. (2021). A look inside the 'broken' mind of James Holmes - CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/05/us/james-holmes-theater-shooting-trial/index.html
Paternoster, R., Jaynes, C. M., & Wilson, T. (2017). Rational choice theory and interest in the “fortune of others”. Journal of research in crime and delinquency , 54 (6), 847-868.
