|
 Survivors and their loved ones gathered outside the rain-swept
courthouse on Thursday evening, after Holmes was convicted of
killing 12 people and wounding 70 inside a Denver-area theater. The
third anniversary of the rampage will be this Monday.
"As soon as we heard the first 'guilty' we knew the other dominoes
were going to fall," said Tom Sullivan, 60. His son Alex, called
Sully by his friends and co-workers, had been celebrating his 27th
birthday with friends at the cinema when Holmes killed him and the
others in a hail of bullets.
"We're part of the way through this and ready for the next step,"
Sullivan, 60, told Reuters.
That next step starts on Wednesday when the trial enters the
sentencing phase. Jurors will hear more weeks of testimony, then
decide whether Holmes should be put to death by lethal injection or
serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole.
"I hope to do everything I can to see this guy's privileges are
taken away and he no longer gets to breathe the sweet air that
Coloradans get to breathe," Sullivan said.
Asked if he wants to see Holmes executed, Sullivan replied: "Yes.
Absolutely."
PENALTY PHASE
Prosecutors rarely call for the death penalty in Colorado. Currently
there are three inmates on death row, and only one death-row inmate
has been executed in the state in nearly 50 years.
Two years ago, Governor John Hickenlooper drew fire from some when
he granted a reprieve to the state's longest-serving death row
inmate, quadruple killer Nathan Dunlap. His critics included the
lead prosecutor in the Holmes case, District Attorney George
Brauchler.
Also outside the Arapahoe County Justice Center on Thursday was
Marlene Knobbe, 79, grandmother of slain college student Micayla
Medek, 23. Knobbe said she was "thrilled" with the verdict.
"But I'll wake up tomorrow, and he's still alive, and that's not
right," she said. "I want him to die."
For Sullivan, Knobbe and others forever affected by the massacre,
Thursday's unexpectedly quick verdict ended years of worrying
whether a jury might buy Holmes' insanity plea.
But after hearing from hundreds of witnesses and seeing thousands of
pieces of evidence during the almost three-month long capital trial,
the nine women and three men on the panel returned guilty verdicts
after just about a day and a half of deliberation.
[to top of second column] |
Holmes, 27, remained expressionless, hands thrust into pockets
throughout the hour it took for Judge Carlos Samour to read "guilty"
after all 165 charges. In the packed public gallery behind the
defendant, some victims celebrated quietly, embracing and clapping
each other on the shoulder.
DECISION LATE AUGUST
During the penalty phase, jurors will consider aggravating factors,
such as the murder of a child, the youngest victim, six-year-old
Veronica Moser-Sullivan.
They will also hear mitigating factors presented by Holmes'
court-appointed attorneys, who could even call the gunman's parents,
Arlene and Bob.
The process is expected to last until late August, when the jury
will decide if Holmes should be executed for one of the worst mass
shootings in recent U.S. history.
Jansen Young, a survivor who was wounded in the shooting and whose
boyfriend was killed, said she would accept it if the jury gave
Holmes life in prison. But she said she was pushing for the death
penalty because it was what her boyfriend Jonathan Blunk, 26, would
have wanted.
Also outside court, Sandy Phillips watched some of the survivors
leaving, including one being pushed in a wheelchair. Her 24-year-old
daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was in the theater that night and died
after being hit by several of Holmes' bullets.
"We're very happy that this animal, this monster, will never see the
light of day," Phillips said.
(Reporting by Keith Coffman; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by
David Gregorio)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
