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James Holmes Spared Death Penalty For US Cinema Killings

US gunman, James Holmes, who killed 12 people at a screening of a Batman film in 2012 has been spared the death penalty. On Friday, … Continue reading James Holmes Spared Death Penalty For US Cinema Killings


holmesUS gunman, James Holmes, who killed 12 people at a screening of a Batman film in 2012 has been spared the death penalty.

On Friday, a jury was unable to reach a unanimous sentencing verdict, which resulted in life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty for Holmes, who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2012 shootings.

He was convicted last month of 24 counts of first-degree murder, two for each of the slain victims.

The defence team had argued that the former neuroscience graduate student, was insane at that time.

The jury in the US state of Colorado agreed with prosecutors that 27 year old 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.