James Holmes Prosecution Wants 10 More Charges

Colorado prosecutors in the Aurora theater shooting case are asking a judge to charge accused shooter James Holmes with 10 more counts, bringing the total number against him to 152.

According to the Denver Post, prosecutors also asked Judge William Sylvester of the 18th Judicial District to amend 17 charges, including 16 attempted murder charges and the one count of crime-of-violence sentence enhancement. Casimir Spencer, a spokeswoman for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s office could not comment on the development due to a gag order on the case.

The motions by the prosecution were disclosed in the case’s register of actions, which shows a shorthand summary of case activity. The specifics about the new charges and how the other charges against him would be changed or adjusted were not immediately available, reports MSN.

Currently, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes is facing 142 charges: 24 counts of first-degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder. He is accused of going on a killing spree in an Aurora, Colorado theater packed for the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan’s third and final entry in his extremely successful Batman franchise. He was reportedly decked out in riot gear and carrying several firearms. The July 20 shooting resulted in the death of 12 people, with another 58 injured.

Holmes is a former graduate student in neuroscience, and several reports had him dropping out of the program and making veiled threats to peers and professors in the weeks leading up to the shooting. His apartment was also found to be booby-trapped with explosives after the shootings, and several inside reports have alleged increasingly violent and erratic behavior while behind bars. His first day in court was also viewed as strange, and has become a subject of media interest and speculation.