Theatre gunman not a ‘monster,’ mum writes in new book

The mother of accused Colorado theatre gunman James Holmes prays for her son’s victims daily, calling out the deceased by name: Jon Blunk, AJ Boik, Jesse Childress, Gordon Cowden, Jessica Ghawi, John Larimer, Matt McQuinn, Micayla Medek, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, Alex Sullivan, Alex Teves, Rebecca Wingo.

“The first time I prayed for them by name and by wound, I was shaking, overcome,” Arlene Holmes writes in a new book. “Kept praying; made it through the list. Please, victims, please, feel my prayers. I pray for you by name.”

The book, titled “When the Focus Shifts: The Prayer Book of Arlene Holmes 2013-2014,” was released March 9. The diary-like pages don’t offer any great insight on the case or her son’s mental condition. Most entries share her personal prayers — for victims, families, prosecutors and public defenders alike — courtroom observations, thoughts on mental illness and her own guilt.

Caren Teves, whose son Alex was killed in the theatre, called Arlene Holmes’ words an “insult to our son’s memory and to our family."

“I struggle to understand how this individual could possibly pray for, by name, the thousands upon thousands of innocent people who continue to be directly impacted by her son’s evil, premeditated acts,” she told Yahoo News. “The release of this book is nothing more than a calculated attempt to influence members of the jury. Almost three years after Alex was executed in that theater, she has never even extended the decent act of a simple apology.”

News of the book comes less than a month before her son’s death penalty trial is to begin. Jury selection is in the final stages, and opening arguments are scheduled for April 27.

James Holmes surrendered to police minutes after killing 12 people and wounding 70 others at a midnight screening of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises” on July 20, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but faces a possible death sentence if jurors don’t agree he was insane at the time.

Bob and Arlene Holmes recently gave their first interview since the rampage to the Del Mar Times, a community newspaper near their California home.

In an online story published Monday, Arlene said she began the prayer journal in 2013 as a way to cope with the events of the tragedy. The book, she said, will hopefully bring attention to mental disorders and her opposition to the death penalty.

“The images of red hair, black eyes help to justify everyone’s hatred,” Arlene writes on January 11, 2013. “I don’t believe Satan took my son. I believe mental illness exists. [I’m] praying for those who have been written off as evil.”

In the forward, Arlene writes that proceeds will go to medical and mental health services and not to her son’s defence.

“There are many reasons for publishing my prayer book, but money is not one of them,” she writes. “My son’s defense team had no advance knowledge of this book and never advised me nor influenced me to publish a book.”

Marcus Weaver was injured by a shotgun blast in the theater and lost a good friend who was seated beside him. He recalls Holmes storming the theater with smoke bombs, an assault rifle, a shotgun and a pistol.

“That’s not the work of the person who has a mental illness,” Weaver told Yahoo News. “That is the work of someone who is very calculated. They keep pushing this agenda for us to give him life. It hasn’t changed, and it won’t change. It is up to the jury now to see what we all know.”

Attorneys on both sides are under a gag order not to discuss the case.

The defence recently requested the trial be moved, claiming that media coverage is making it difficult to pick an impartial jury. In court filings made public Monday, prosecutors argue against a change. They say a letter Holmes’ parents wrote to The Denver Post in December — presumably to garner sympathy for their son — could have been unforgettable for potential jurors.

Throughout the 116-page book, Arlene Holmes makes reference to sleepless nights and often expresses guilt for not recognizing her son needed help.

“Awake each night from 2:00 to 6:00 a.m. because every night is July 20,” she writes on January 8, 2013. “I can never forgive myself for not knowing that this would happen. How could I have known? [I’m] praying for the victims who sat through the preliminary.”

Preliminary hearings in the case were held in January 2013. Over the course of several days, prosecutors presented disturbing evidence investigators had been gathering. In court, photos from the suspect’s iPhone showed Holmes posing with guns and homemade bombs and making creepy faces in the weeks and hours before the massacre.

“What were you thinking, Jim? And what are you thinking now?” his mother writes in a January 12, 2013, entry titled “Preliminary Hearing Memories.”

“Praying for Jim in jail; please don’t commit suicide,” she continues. “You lived so that we could understand you and others could study you and learn to prevent future tragedy.”

Twice in the book Arlene Holmes makes note of the public calling her son a monster.

“My son never harmed anyone,” she writes in an entry titled “Memories” on March 22, 2013.

“He never committed a criminal act. He never stole anything. He was not interested in drugs. He did not gamble or stay out late. He loved animals and children. He was responsible. People think he is a monster, but he has a disease that changed his brain.”