Document Reveals James Holmes Is In Solitary Confinement
DENVER (CBS4) - The Department of Corrections won't say where convicted Aurora theater shooting killer James Holmes is now being imprisoned, but a document turned over by the attorney general's office to prosecutors reveals Holmes is in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison in another state.
Holmes is allowed out of his cell only for an hour a day. He does not go outdoors at all.
For killing 12 and injuring dozens of others Holmes was sentenced to life plus 3,000 years in prison.
Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler has joined with victims of the July 20, 2012, massacre in trying to learn about where and how Holmes is now being incarcerated.
"I think the victims far and away want to know as much as possible who visited this evil upon them and their loved ones," Brauchler told CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger.
The document from the state of Colorado indicates that in the unnamed location Holmes is allowed to do calisthenics.
He has no access to exercise equipment.
He has no contact with other offenders.
Holmes is in solitary confinement even though Colorado has moved away from that following the murder of a the head of the Department of Corrections by a man who had been released from prison after solitary confinement.
"One of the questions Coloradans get to ask is not just where Holmes is, but did we send him away because we turned off our ability to house him and protect him here where he committed these crimes," Brauchler said.
Holmes was originally held at the Colorado State Penitentiary then eventually moved out of state after he was attacked by inmate Mark Daniels.
Since then, victims in the case have been trying to learn his whereabouts. Among them Theresa Hoover, the mother of A.J. Boik who was one of the dozen killed at the theater by Holmes. She spoke with CBS4 after a hearing in June where a state subcommittee declined to get involved in the the victims' quest to find out where Holmes is being held.
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"I don't think it's fair for the victims to not know where he is and our tax dollars shipped off to another state," she said at the time.
The state of Colorado document also indicates Holmes is not allowed to get married or have conjugal visits, he is not permitted access to the internet, social media or dating sites and mail is not forwarded to him.
Brauchler said he does not mind at all that Holmes is being held in solitary confinement.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
