Batman shooter James Holmes 'sent notebook of plans to psychiatrist before massacre'

James Holmes, the Colorado cinema shooting suspect, sent a notebook detailing his chilling plans for the massacre to a psychiatrist at his university up to a week before carrying it out.

James Holmes appears in court at the Arapahoe County Justice Centre in Centennial, Colorado. Holmes, 24, is accused of shooting dead 12 people and wounding 58 others at a cinema in Aurora, as moviegoers packed the midnight screening of the latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises".

The package containing the spiral-bound book never reached the psychiatrist however and sat unopened in a post room.

It was only discovered by chance after the attack in which 12 people died and 58 were injured during a screening of Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.

When FBI agents opened the book they found its contents included drawings Holmes had made of gun-toting stick-like figures shooting each other.

According to one law enforcement official it was "full of details about how he was going to kill people."

The book was sent to a professor who treats patients in a psychiatry outpatient facility at the University of Colorado.

It was not clear if Holmes, who was studying for a PhD in neuroscience, had previous contact with the professor. The package may have arrived as early as July 12.
While detectives have yet to establish a motive for the crime it also emerged that Holmes bought an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle only hours after failing an oral exam, which was a key part of his PhD, on June 7.
He had previously been a high performing student, but three days later, he dropped out of the university entirely.
Some experts said academic failure could have affected his state of mind.
Psychologist Marisa Randazzo said: "All of those things could actually make dormant schizophrenia come out, and come out relatively quickly."
New details also emerged of Holmes' behaviour during the shooting with witnesses describing how he ordered some victims to "stand up" before shooting them at close range.
Stephanie Davies, 21, who was in the Century 16 cinema in Aurora, Colorado during the rampage, said: "He would shout 'What are you doing? I said stand up!' And he would pick people up. I saw him stand over someone. I just see hair and him holding the shirt and – boom."
Miss Davis and her friend Allie Young, 19, who was shot in the neck, ended up lying in an aisle.
In the months before the attack Holmes was believed to have met several prostitutes. He wrote accounts of some of the encounters on an adult website.
One of the prostitutes, known as "Tiffany," was contacted by the website TMZ and said she had met Holmes twice in August.
"He felt bad that I wasn't getting more customers while in Colorado, so he called a few days later and we met up again," she claimed. Immediately after his arrest Holmes allegedly behaved bizarrely, using police evidence bags as hand puppets while his eyebrows twitched. The bags had been placed over his hands by detectives to preserve gunshot residue.
The weapons and 6,000 rounds of ammunition he assembled were believed to have cost $15,000 (£9,600). He was believed to have bought them with money from a prestigious government education grant which gave him a $26,000 annual living allowance.
Meanwhile victims of the shooting were visited in hospital by the film's star Christian Bale on Tuesday. Bale, who plays Batman, also turned up unannounced at a makeshift memorial to the 12 who died, and joined in an impromptu prayer circle.
Amanda Tyacke, who was there, said: "There were about six or seven of us. And then prayer was over, and I was taking some pictures and realised who I was pretty much standing next to was Christian Bale."
Gunshot victim Carey Rottman, who was visited by the actor in his hospital room, said on Facebook: "Wow!!! Thank you so much for the visit Christian! What a great guy! Still in shock!"
Since Friday's attack firearms sales have surged across America with buyers saying they want to be able to protect themselves.
In Colorado gun sales are up more than 40 per cent. Elsewhere, in the states of Florida, California and Oregon, sales have risen more than 10 per cent.
According to the National Enquirer Holmes had originally planned to shoot dead the stars of the film, including Bale and Morgan Freeman, at its premiere in New York on July 16 but changed his mind because he thought police were suspicious.