A jury in the US state of Colorado
has spared gunman James Holmes the death penalty for killing 12 people
at a screening of a Batman film in 2012.
He will serve life in jail without the possibility of parole.
The defence team had argued that the former neuroscience graduate student, now 27, was insane at the time.
The
jury agreed with prosecutors that Holmes, though mentally ill, was
responsible for his actions. But it was not unanimous on the death
penalty.
That lack of agreement meant the jury accepted he would receive an automatic life sentence without parole.
One juror later told NBC News
that two members of the jury were "on the fence" about the death
penalty but that another was adamantly opposed on the grounds of mental
illness.
"We ended our deliberations when one absolutely would not move," the juror said.
The
decision of the jury - a panel of nine women and three men - was
revealed by Judge Carlos Samour in a courtroom in the city of Centennial
on Friday.
James Holmes (top left in a tan shirt) declined to testify in his own defence
As
the verdict was read out, Holmes' mother Arlene leaned her head against
her husband's shoulder and began sobbing, the AP news agency reported.
Ashley
Moser, whose six-year-old daughter Veronica died in the attack and who
was herself paralysed, shook her head and then slowly leaned it against
the wheelchair of another paralysed victim.
"We just have to deal
with it and accept it," said Robert Sullivan, Veronica's grandfather.
"He's living. He's breathing and our loved ones are gone. The gaping
void we have for our grand-daughter has been replaced with a new abscess
of him living."
District Attorney George Brauchler said: "I still
think death is justice for what that guy did, but the system said
otherwise. I honour that, and I'll respect that outcome."
During his three-month trial, Holmes declined to testify in his own defence or to make a statement expressing his remorse.
The sentence is expected to be imposed formally at a later hearing.
Killer was 'socially awkward' PhD student
James
Holmes was considered a quiet young man before the attack. He had been
studying for a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Colorado at
Denver, although he was about to quit.
"He basically was socially
awkward, but not to the degree that would warrant suspicion of mass
murder or any atrocity of this magnitude," said Billy Kromka, a research
assistant at a lab where he spent several months.
The FBI said
Holmes had no significant criminal record - local police said he had a
speeding ticket from 2011 - and no links to terrorism.
The
prosecution said he was listening to loud techno music on headphones
during the assault "to block out the screams" as he opened fire. Who were the victims? Profile: Aurora gunman James Holmes In
July, Holmes was convicted on 165 counts of murder, attempted murder
and an explosives charge over the shootings in Aurora, Colorado.
Families
of victims had appeared to be conflicted over whether he should get the
death penalty. Some were worried about the long appeal process that
often follows a death sentence.
On 20 July 2012, Holmes slipped
into a midnight screening of Batman film The Dark Knight Rises armed
with a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol.
He threw smoke canisters and shot at people trying to escape.
Prosecutors
argued the attack was clearly premeditated, with Holmes planning and
amassing weapons for months, as well as booby-trapping his apartment to
kill anyone who tried to enter.
His parents, Robert and Arlene Holmes, insisted their son was "not a monster" but suffered from severe mental illness.
The Aurora shooting victims
Families of victims have been conflicted about Holmes' fate
John Larimer, 27, US Navy cryptologist Jessica Ghawi, 24, aspiring sports journalist Alex Sullivan, 27, restaurant worker Micayla Medek, 23, student Veronica Moser, six Jesse Childress, 29, Air Force cyber-systems operator Alex Teves, 24, former student Matt McQuinn, 27, retail worker Alexander Boik, 18, student Jonathan Blunk, 26, US Navy veteran, working for small flooring company Rebecca Wingo, 32, mobile medical imaging company worker Gordon Cowden, 51, business owner
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